Anyone who’s ever tried it knows just how difficult it can be to turn a thought in your head into something practical and useful to society.
With enough hard work, planning, and commitment, however, ideas can indeed manifest into reality. Such is the case for Albert Pinkhasov, YU alumnus (SYMS ’07) and founder of the up-and-coming website Accomplysh that provides the opportunity for students to participate in an interactive academic experience. Students can create an account that leads into a world of note sharing, study sessions, and question/answer forums, all organized by courses, interests, or majors.
Years ago, Pinkhasov realized that students tend not to know many of their classmates personally; at best, he noticed, they know them by name and face. Collaboration, according to Pinkhasov, brings out great ideas, helps students to understand certain topics better, and allows groups to progress at a faster pace than does working independently. He also saw that posting printouts on walls in dorms and school buildings advertising textbook sales, or asking questions on Facebook where a comment or post can easily be lost in a thread or newsfeed, was a disorganized and often inconvenient way to exchange information. Thus the idea for Accomplysh was born.
For Pinkhasov, Accomplysh, though simple in its title, was the perfect name for his platform. “It took a while to finally come up with a name that would reflect the goal of the website,” he said in an interview. “To help students accomplish their goals and excel in school.”
Initially, Pinkhasov, who majored in information systems at Sy Syms and had experience with computer programming, created the foundation of the website by himself. At a later stage, he then hired several programming assistants that were able to help out with the website design and programming, as well as the upcoming Accomplysh app for the iPhone and Android devices. The goal was not only to create a successful website, but to provide a platform with many tools that are interconnected and parts of a greater mechanism.
Every semester, students can find their individual courses on Accomplysh. For each course, there is a page where students can see a class list, ask questions and help each other with assignment preparation or test reviews. Being able to upload notes and access notes that students have uploaded in previous semesters are features that users may find helpful or convenient. Additionally, students can create personalized academic calendars that can help them count down to important tests and allow them to track the amount of information they need to cover.
Students can also connect with each other based on their hobbies or particular interests in a certain area of study, allowing opportunities for joint projects by students with different skills. “You can bring student musicians together,” Pinkhasov said. “You can bring computer science majors together with graphic designers and create an amazing project.”
Senior Michelle Levine, who works with Pinkhasov on marketing and promoting Accomplysh, pointed out the unique goals of the website. “It’s a really exciting and innovative project and it provides an organized way for students to interact both socially and academically with their peers,” she said.
The path to creating an actual website from his initial idea was not necessarily a simple one; it took Pinkhasov about two years to get the site started. “In short, I would say it was a combination of having faith, vision, commitment, research, flexibility, and a lot of work,” he said. He also commented on the nature of startups in general. “The startup world is very competitive; technology advances at an immense pace…it’s like fashion. If you don’t keep up, you will be left behind.”
Dean Michael Strauss, associate dean of Sy Syms, commented on Pinkhasov’s work ethic and commitment to the website over time. “I have been working with Albert for the last several years on a number of different projects,” Dean Strauss said. “I found him to be extremely creative, very passionate about his work; driven—in fact, relentless—yet very practical in his approach. Accomplysh is an example of his desire to always find ways to simplify a much-needed process. In this case: help students excel in school.”
In the near (and far) future, the goals for Accomplysh are to keep improving the services available on the website, add new features and raise awareness about the usefulness of the site. Further development of apps for the website will increase availability and accessibility of features for students.
What will Accomplysh accomplish next?