Seven years ago, Emma Parven ’18 couldn’t stop thinking about a question.
Not a business question. A human one.
Why, in a world where technology has made almost everything easier, had meeting new people become so hard?
She noticed it everywhere. A glance exchanged across a coffee shop. Two people lingering a little longer than necessary in conversation. The countless “what if” moments that seemed to happen every day – yet rarely turned into anything more.
“We’ve become so protected by a screen,” Emma says. “I kept thinking about all these moments where people were interested in each other, but fear, uncertainty, or timing got in the way.”
That question eventually became Radius, a New York City-based startup that helps people discover mutual interest in real life, in real time. Instead of endless swiping, the app is designed to help people connect with someone they’re already sharing a space with and then put the phone away and start a conversation.
Recently, Radius was named one of three winning companies at a pitch competition during NYC Tech Week and is currently closing its pre-seed investment round.
But the story of Radius didn’t begin in a startup accelerator or a venture capital office.
It began with a student who came to the Lacy School of Business knowing she wanted to study marketing and hoping to find a community where she could grow.
Originally from Washington, D.C., Emma was looking for something that felt different from home. She wanted a strong business school, an engaged campus community, and an environment where she could build meaningful relationships.
“When I visited Butler, it just felt like an easy fit,” she says. “I wanted a place that had community, a great business school, and people who genuinely cared about each other.”
At Lacy, Emma found more than a major. She found opportunities to test ideas, solve problems, and think like an entrepreneur long before she considered becoming one.
One experience has stayed with her.
In LSB’s Real Business Experience (RBE), students are given the opportunity to launch and operate a real business. For Emma, that meant creating a product, selling it, pitching it, and learning firsthand what it takes to bring an idea to life.
“I remember thinking, ‘What do you mean I have to build something from scratch?’” she says with a laugh. “At the time it felt impossible. But having an experience like that at 19 years old was incredibly impactful. It taught me how ideas become real.”
Looking back, it’s easy to see how that experience planted seeds for what would eventually become Radius.
Emma launched her career in marketing and business development, quickly climbing the ranks in New York. By 26, she was serving as a senior director, managing more than 10 employees, overseeing multimillion-dollar accounts, and leading partnerships with major brands.
From the outside, everything looked exactly as planned.
Inside, however, the idea for Radius never went away.
For seven years, she carried notebooks filled with sketches, concepts, and questions. She refined the idea repeatedly, trying to understand what it could become.
“There was never a perfect moment,” she says. “I didn’t wake up one day and suddenly know exactly what to do. I just reached a point where I knew I was ready to take a calculated risk and bet on myself.”
Leaving a successful career wasn’t easy.
Neither was building a company.
Emma spent months translating ideas from her head onto paper, teaching herself enough coding to communicate with developers, researching the market, creating prototypes, and navigating the uncertainty that comes with building something no one else can see yet.
What surprised her most wasn’t the complexity of the product.
It was how much progress depended on people.
For a long time, Emma kept the idea to herself, worried someone might steal it or dismiss it. Looking back, she believes that hesitation slowed her down.
Everything changed when she started talking about Radius openly.
A chance conversation at a friend’s event led to a key advisor who now serves on the company’s board. One connection led to another. Investors, developers, mentors, and supporters began appearing in unexpected places.
“Once you start putting yourself out there and talking about what you’re building, the right people come into your life,” Emma says. “That’s when everything started to move.”
Today, Radius is focused on helping people create meaningful real-world connections while navigating a culture increasingly centered on digital interactions. The company is executing grassroots growth strategies throughout New York City and steadily building momentum with users and investors alike.
For Emma, though, success isn’t defined solely by funding rounds or user growth.
It’s about solving a problem she deeply believes matters.
“The confidence doesn’t come from knowing everything,” she says. “It comes from believing in the problem you’re trying to solve.”
That perspective shapes the advice she offers today’s Lacy School of Business students – especially those carrying around ideas they aren’t sure they’re ready to pursue.
“Of course you’re going to doubt yourself,” she says. “You’re going to overthink it. You’re going to imagine every possible reason it won’t work. That’s normal.”
What matters, she says, is learning to trust yourself enough to take the next step.
“If you have an idea and there’s a deep knowing inside you that it’s something you should pursue, that’s worth paying attention to. The people who succeed aren’t necessarily the smartest people in the room. They’re often the people who simply don’t give up.”
She also encourages students to take advantage of one of the most valuable resources available to them at Butler: people.
Reflecting on her college years, Emma remembers a guest speaker who offered to connect with students after class. She sent an email, never received a response, and never followed up.
Today, she wishes she had.
“My advice is simple: follow up,” she says. “People are busy. Don’t be afraid to reach back out. Showing genuine interest isn’t bothering someone, it’s showing that you care.”
It’s a lesson that feels especially fitting coming from the founder of a company built around connection.
Whether she’s encouraging users to start a conversation, helping investors understand a vision, or advising Lacy students with ideas of their own, Emma believes growth begins the same way:
By taking the chance to reach out.
