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"I'm not going to leave the computer until I figure something out, and I'm going to change the world now," Hassan recalled thinking immediately after watching the movie. "At the time I was not a social networking guy. I thought Facebook was a waste of time. Then I got on and I thought, 'Why not create an atmosphere where kids can get their work and answer some of their social needs?' "
Hassan set about building a prototype site. He called Schafer, who hooked him up with Bill Rubacky, who had worked at a Bethesda software firm called Epok and had experience in the Web 2.0 space. Rubacky was skeptical.
"It really didn't sound that interesting," Rubacky said. "Everybody's trying to be the next Facebook."
He nevertheless agreed to give Hassan 30 minutes of his time. The meeting lasted four hours.
Not everyone was as easily won over by Hassan's vision. Hassan later visited John Burke, a partner at venture capital firm True Ventures, which has an office in Great Falls. Hassan was searching for money, and True Ventures had backed young entrepreneurs before.
"He only saw his product from a user standpoint. There was no business model," Burke said. "My skepticism revolved around: 'How is he going to make money around this? How is he going to get professors to sign up? How is he going to get universities to switch horses midstream?' "
Hassan found a more receptive ear in Scott Birnbaum. Rubacky introduced Hassan to Birnbaum, an Epok co-founder in his late 20s who was getting his first investment fund off the ground. Birnbaum was nervous about making a mistake with his first fund. But he also saw hints of his background in Hassan's story.
"I saw an opportunity to help him navigate the difficulties of building a company," Birnbaum said. "It's a roller-coaster ride. You start out and get pumped about your idea. You do research and you realize there are probably five or 10 people out there doing the same thing."
Eventually, a business model emerged. Hassan decided to try to gain enough of a following that advertisers would find the site enticing. Birnbaum decided to take the risk, writing a check for $500,000 to fund Daylert through 2007.
But Hassan first had to graduate.
In spring 2007, when the Virginia Tech shootings occurred, Hassan was taking in nine classes to graduate as soon as possible.
He left Blacksburg on a Friday in May and moved back home that weekend.
