Exponent was founded in 2022 by serial entrepreneur Will Schneller to explore the frontiers of emerging technology and help founders navigate this rapidly changing landscape. With a background in design from Iowa State University, Will began his professional journey as an Art Lead at ISU’s Virtual Reality Application Center while simultaneously exploring the entrepreneurial path as a budding freelancer.
In 2015, Will spun-out Substrate from ISU to reimagine how traditionally challenging science topics like organic chemistry were learned. Shortly thereafter, Will was selected to attend the Fall 2015 National Science Foundation’s I-Corps accelerator cohort hosted at the University of Michigan. That transformative experience instilled in him a customer-centric mindset, and led to raising millions of dollars in non-dilutive federal grants to build a cross-disciplinary team and an effective gamified learning app loved by students.
Following his tenure with Substrate, Will became a mentor at Drake University’s Business Clinic and continues to deliver proven entrepreneurship methodologies to hundreds of student and underserved entrepreneurs. Will has also invested in a handful of early-stage technology startups (DigiBuild, Mercury, and others), reviewed small business funding proposals for the National Institutes of Health, and has contributed to community outreach efforts like the monthly web3dsm meetup and Roasted Reflections.
Exponent builds on the lessons learned throughout Will’s entrepreneurial journey, his desire to support fellow founders, and seeks to bring a human-centered approach to harnessing exponentially impactful technologies.
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