From Idea to Reality: Three Seniors Create App to Bring Students Together

April 17, 2025

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Ace Ballera-Balicoco (’26)

With college students becoming more attached to their phones, three Gonzaga seniors wanted to create an avenue for people to get out and connect with others.

Maximilian Brown, Max Volle and Cooper Stepanian launched the Muv app in October 2024. The app shows students all the events happening on GU’s campus, making sure they know everything going on around them.

“In essence, we built an app that helps people find fun events to do on campus and in their local community where their campus is,” Brown says.

The goal of Muv is to encourage students to get out and enjoy the community, instead of staying inside or doomscrolling on social media.

“Instead of lying in bed on TikTok, you’re out meeting friends,” Volle says.

The app started off as a business project Brown and Volle did as sophomores. A part of the Hogan entrepreneurship leadership program, the pair was responsible for creating a business plan and a strategy for executing that plan. It was not until Stepanian joined the team that Muv gained traction as an actual business.

Nolan Kyhl, a student at Notre Dame University and high school friend of Brown, also joined Muv around the time Stepanian did to help build the app.

The group spent more than a year designing the app, with no indication of how popular their idea would be. Brown and Stepanian focused on app development while Volle homed in on the business side of things.

“We all work really well together,” Volle says. “We each have unique skillsets, and we compliment those strengths well.”

The team experienced plenty of difficulties during Muv’s creation, picking up new skills along the way.

“[A difficulty was] learning how to build a mobile app,” laughs Stepanian. “It was difficult learning all the ins and outs to build something that was a viable product.”

Since launching the app, Muv has partnered with various local businesses in Spokane such as Zola, a local bar. The team learned that Zola’s owner, Jordan Piscopo, was also interested in connecting with GU students and bringing them to his bar and quickly reached out in hopes of a partnership.

Muv and Zola partnered to throw an event called “Zags Night At Zola,” with discounted food, drinks and entertainment. The event was a success, lighting up downtown Spokane with around 600 students.

“Other business owners around were asking Jordan, ‘What’s going on at your place?’” Volle says. “It’s a random Thursday, and there was a line up and around the building.”

The students credit that night, with help from Piscopo and Zola, as Muv’s break-out point.

From developing Muv to partnering with businesses, the students have found joy throughout the process.

“Our software is a pathway to actual experiences,” Brown says. “The actual value is the lived experiences.”

As their senior year ends and the group prepares to go their separate ways, they are excited to see how Muv continues to impact the GU community while also expanding its reach to other colleges across the country.

Reflecting on their journey, the group says they gained an understanding of the importance of community and hope other student entrepreneurs take notes.

“You need community to help you,” Stepanian says. “Talk to professors, do programs like Gonzaga’s New Venture Lab, make sure to use your resources.”

The group also advises any students thinking of starting a new business or project to just try it.

“Go for it, we’re at that time of our lives where you can afford to fail,” Volle says.

“That jump into creation is so rewarding, and I think everyone has some niche talent they can pursue,” Brown adds.

If you are interested in learning more about the Muv app, visit their Instagram @themuvapp or their website, or download the Muv Mobile app.