MARKETING
TROYLABS
Making startup culture impossible to ignore on campus.
ROLE
Head of Creative
TEAM
TL Studio
TIMELINE
Feb 2025 - Ongoing
SKILLS
Marketing
Film Production
Content Strategy
THE CONTEXT
What is TroyLabs?
TroyLabs is USC's flagship, student-run startup accelerator. It runs on team of 45 members across five internal divisions—design, product management, engineering, marketing, and finance—each working directly with 6 startup clients each semester to build and grow their products.
Since 2016, TroyLabs has helped build over 70 companies, raised $3M+, and successfully run two core programs: BUILD, where those five divisions work directly with startup clients; and DEMO, SoCal's largest student-run entrepreneurship conference with 1,000+ attendees and 50+ tabling startups.
THE PROBLEM
A brand without a creative voice.
TroyLabs had the programs, the talent, and the numbers to back it up—but no dedicated team to tell our story. Content was an afterthought.
So I helped found TL Studio, TroyLabs' first in-house content team, to give the brand the identity it deserved.
From recruitment to event marketing, every piece of TL Studio content was built to serve a specific TroyLabs initiative.
THE ASSETS
"Says Who?" Campaign
A hyped recruitment reel spotlighting every TroyLabs team in our BUILD initiative—daring USC students to prove what they could build in 10 weeks.
The reel helped draw in 300+ applications for the Spring '26 cohort.
"Andy's Lemonade" Campaign
A narrative short film inspired by the visual language of Laufey's Madwoman music video—tapping into the soft, nostalgic storytelling Gen Z can't stop consuming. The wholesome flair was intentional: DEMO is for everyone and all founders starting somewhere.
The reel helped draw in 1,000+ attendees for the startup conference.