February 21, 2012
Keeping up with the news just got easier, thanks to Donald
Daszkowski ’98NDC.
Daszkowski
is CEO and Founder of Comunitee.com, an online social news agency
that uses behavioral targeting to deliver personalized news to the
user. It’s a way of cutting through the clutter of what’s happening
all over the world and highlighting the stories in which the user
has previously shown the greatest interest.
“The name of my company is a mixture of the words community and
committee,” he said, “and that really sums up what we’re all about.
Basically, it’s a social news network that encourages people to
read news with their friends. Right now, 77% of Americans consume
news online. The theory behind Comunitee.com is that if enough of
your friends like something, the assumption is that you’re going to
like it as well. Our goal is to make news more of a social
experience.”
With the increased importance of social media as a communication
vehicle, the assumption that individuals are becoming grouped
according to mutual activities and interests is being validated
every day. Daszkowski is convinced that this self-selection process
will ultimately determine how information, including news, will be
consumed in the future.
“What happens on our site is that a person sets up an account,
invites friends into their community and creates a small community
of friends,” he explained. “Then you check your community every day
to see the stories that your friends are reading. It’s going to
show you all of the news that your friends are reading, and display
your news in accordance with your likes and those of your friends.
The more you use our site, the more it learns about what you and
your friends like, and the more it starts to show you relevant news
content.”
Firmly believing that hard work is the key to success,
Daszkowski began his first full-time job during finals week of his
last semester at St. John’s. He started working as a Computer
Programmer, but soon realized that he wanted to strike out on his
own and develop entities that reflected his creativity and
foresight. He credits his St. John’s education with providing the
foundation that allowed him to bring everything together.
“The University was definitely helpful in developing my
entrepreneurial spirit,” he said. “My studies in Computer Science
and Business were a great combination. St. John’s allowed me to
look at the big picture and gave me the motivation to move forward
into my own business. I had the resources and the confidence to go
out on my own as an entrepreneur, and fortunately I’ve been pretty
successful at it so far.”
This dynamic and energetic alumnus continues to maintain close
ties to St. John’s, both personally and professionally. His older
brother Walter (’94CBA) graduated from the University, as did many
of his friends, including the godfather of his child. He is
grateful for what the University has done for him, and makes it a
point to live by the values that he first encountered as a student
on the Staten Island campus.
“I’m a firm believer in helping out as many people as I can,” he
said, “because I know that one day it’s going to come back to me.
And even if it doesn’t, helping people wherever we can is just the
right thing to do. St. John’s taught us that we should try to make
everything a little better for everybody, and I’ve always made a
real attempt to live by those words.”
True to his entrepreneurial spirit, Daszkowski sees the future
as a challenge to be embraced. He is confident that there will be
many opportunities available to him in the days ahead, and looks
forward to using his talents and creativity to make a lasting
difference in the world. For the moment, however, his attention
remains on his latest initiative.
“Right now my main focus is Comunitee.com,” he noted. “It’s
still early for this venture and I’m trying to do whatever I can to
make it a success. I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m sure
it will be challenging with enough excitement mixed in so that it
can be fun as well. For me, that’s what being an entrepreneur is
all about – making things happen and having fun at the same
time!”