Aiden McCollum is Streamlining Club Management

At Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Daytona Beach Campus, students in the David B. O’Maley College of Business (O’COB) are part of a community dedicated to entrepreneurship. They benefit from resources such as the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Volusia Innovation Hub, established to support the development of new businesses.

O’COB students routinely share their experiences in business creation during their studies, contributing to one of the most effective environments for launching startups, products or services. The 2025 TREP EXPO at O'COB featured a panel of five student entrepreneurs, each having successfully founded their own business.

Meet Aiden McCollum (’25), a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering student and entrepreneur at Embry-Riddle's Daytona Beach Campus.

What is your business, and what inspired you to start it?

I'm the founder and CEO of Postillion, an all-in-one club management platform. When I served as treasurer for my college rocket club, I discovered how challenging it was to handle the club’s finances and thought there must be a better solution. So, I decided to create Postillion.

I've been able to significantly expand the platform and pitched my company at the 2024 TREP Expo, becoming a finalist at Launch Your Venture. Since then, I've continued to improve the system over the summer, processing around $10,000 in payments and expanding its use to several campuses.

What was your “Aha!” moment?

My "Aha!" moment was unforgettable. Around 2 a.m., I was struggling to balance our club’s budget, and I couldn’t account for three missing cents. While it seemed minor, it meant something was off in my Excel sheet, requiring me to spend five hours searching to find the error. I spent the rest of the night looking online for any tool that could help, but there was nothing — and that’s how I set out to start another business.

What helps you balance classwork, student life and business?

One of the biggest challenges is finding time to develop and launch a product. Many people have ideas but turning them into even a basic product is difficult. Prioritizing and managing your time to create something worth selling is one of the hardest parts of building a business.

Managing my time comes down to one key habit I picked up from a friend's advice: only smart or foolish people are awake at 5 a.m. During my internship, I'd wake up around 4:30 or 5 a.m., work on my business until 9, do my job from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., then fit in more business tasks before bed at 10 or 11. It is tough, but working early before emails or classes helps me accomplish most of my tasks in just a few hours.

What is one lesson you’ve learned?

Entrepreneurship involves frequent rejection. I stayed motivated by telling myself I was just a few “no’s” away from success. For every “yes” I’ve heard, I’ve heard “no” 100 times, so it’s important to keep searching for those who truly support your vision. Learning to handle rejection in pursuit of meaningful opportunities has been essential for my growth.

One mistake I made early on was not having the right team. At first, I thought I could handle my software business alone, but it took more time and led to unnecessary mistakes. Finding skilled partners — developers, consultants, mentors, investors — takes effort and persistence. Bringing someone into your business is challenging since it’s deeply personal, but the right person can make a huge difference, validate your mission and accelerate growth.

Eventually, I found people who understood my goals, including a mentor who suggested I focus on revenue instead of funding — advice that helped me build a self-sustaining business without outside investment.

How do you define success?

When you start a business, it’s easy to think that hitting certain revenue targets means you’re successful. But I had to move away from that mindset because what truly matters is meeting my customers’ needs.

I used to be my own customer, so seeing my product help people — saving them hours of time and thousands of dollars — brings me real happiness. To me, that impact is far more valuable than reaching any specific revenue milestone, because it means others don’t have to struggle the way I did.

What makes Embry-Riddle so special?

When deciding which university to attend, I was drawn to Embry-Riddle because of its unique industry connections and excellent Aerospace Engineering programs. I was extremely interested in the Experimental Rocket Propulsion Lab (ERPL), where I eventually took on several leadership and technical roles.

Through my involvement in ERPL and the incredible resources on campus, I obtained internships at Collins Aerospace and SpaceX. During my time at SpaceX, I worked on the Falcon Ground Segment Operations team in mission control as the primary ground station operator for over a dozen Falcon launches, the Merlin Flight Operations team in Hawthorne, California, as well as the Raptor Test Engineering team, where I conducted critical engine tests for the Raptor engines for both Starship and the Super Heavy booster.

After graduation, I will join the Starship Launch Pad Fluids Systems team at SpaceX, where I will work on critical fluids ground support equipment to launch Starship out of Cape Canaveral.

Embry-Riddle's high academic standards and practical, hands-on learning through internships have enabled me to transition directly from college into my dream job. I think that’s pretty special.

If you’re passionate about transforming lives or supporting groundbreaking startups, get involved with Embry-Riddle’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship — you could make the next big breakthrough.