John Failla, '15

While still in middle school John Failla’s sister brought him on all of her college tours. When they made their stop at University of Richmond, he knew that was where he wanted to attend school. About seven years later during his sophomore year at Richmond, he applied to the Robins School of Business. At the time his grades were too low to be admitted. However Dean Nicholson knew he simply had not found his niche yet, placed himself as his academic advisor, and gave Failla an override into the business school.

Once he began taking additional business classes, he found inspiration in Professor Eric Martin’s New Venture Creation class. Martin, who is also the director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program at the Robins School, tasked the group with creating a business idea. Failla thought about everything he experienced growing up, from teaching lacrosse to being tutored in math. He realized that college students could leverage their skills to teach others something they love while making money. During the course of the semester, Martin would guide the class through the steps of inception to launch. While Failla has made his project a reality, Martin continues to serve as a mentor and advisor of his start-up for the past four years. 

Failla named his start-up Trilogy Mentors and the mission is simple. “We help parents ensure the academic, athletic and musical success of their children by connecting families to qualified, local university students,” he explains. Unlike other companies, Trilogy Mentors is the first to pay college athletes to teach the sport they play! Education majors are getting first-hand experience for their resumes and music majors can share their passions.

Although the start-up was important to Failla, he had a different career path in mind. It wasn’t until his senior year that he realized he had a viable business opportunity. During exam week in the spring semester of his junior year, he flew to New York City for a few interviews. Throughout the day, he slowly began to realize that this life wasn’t for him. When he returned to campus, he sat down with Martin and revisited his start-up idea. Martin gave him ten “to-do’s” to test the idea's potential. Upon successful completion of the list, he was given ten more. This process continued throughout the summer. Once senior year rolled around, Failla was confident in his business.

Failla’s advisors Martin, John Adams, former chief executive officer of The Martin Agency and Executive in Residence at the Robins School, and Mark Cross, former senior vice president at MeadWestvaco and Executive in Residence at the Robins School, were all connections made through the Robins School. He credits his ability to start a business at such a young age to their guidance as he navigated through unfamiliar waters. Being a Robins School alum has also given Failla the ability to connect with influential community members and other Richmond alumni.

“John Failla is the quintessential UR entrepreneur—he sees what could be and asks why not. He is persistent. And he works with passion. From its start in the New Venture Creation class, Trilogy Mentors showed promise. What has set John apart is his dedication to execution, willingness to go the distance for a sale and ability to deeply understand his potential customers’ needs. Entrepreneurship holds no guarantees. Each venture is full of risk. But with John’s spirit, I feel confident that he will find startup success several times in his career,” Martin expresses.

Perseverance has continuously paid off for Failla. He is motivated to succeed and has positioned Trilogy Mentors to receive valuable backing from key community members. This New York native may even fulfill his life-long goal of becoming owner of the New York Mets!

Any alumni interested in fostering the University of Richmond entrepreneurship community, contact John Failla at John@TrilogyMentors.com