Why We Built Wingman

Wingman started with a spreadsheet, and a nagging fear of missing something.

When my son was in high school, I started looking for summer programs that would help him explore his interests and make the most of the few summers he had before college. What I quickly discovered was that finding the right opportunities was surprisingly difficult.

Programs often opened applications months before summer. Websites weren't always updated until close to the deadline. And there was no easy way to know which opportunities were actually a good fit for him: his interests, goals, schedule, and budget.

So I built an Excel sheet.

I tracked programs, checked websites, watched for applications to open, and tried to keep up with deadlines. And no matter how carefully I kept track, there was always that nagging question:

What if I missed something?

That experience made me realize there were really three problems to solve: finding what fits, finding what's worth it, and knowing when to act.

Find What Fits

There are thousands of programs, internships, research opportunities, competitions, volunteer experiences, and other ways for students to spend their time. But a giant database isn't particularly useful if students have to sift through all of it themselves.

Wingman is built around the student, not the search box. We build a picture of what a student cares about and use it to surface opportunities that are relevant to them, rather than asking them to endlessly search for themselves.

And we're investing heavily in the database behind that experience. We're continually expanding beyond the obvious, well-known programs to find opportunities that students might otherwise never encounter.

Go Beyond the Usual

Some of the most valuable opportunities aren't hiding on the first page of Google.

A research program at a major university might be easy to find. A prestigious summer program might already be on every college-admissions list. But what about the local museum looking for student volunteers? A small research lab? A community organization? A local business looking for a student interested in a particular field?

Or even something as simple as a local farmers market looking for a student to help with operations, marketing, or community outreach.

Those opportunities may not look like traditional "high school opportunities," and they often aren't collected in the big databases. But they can be exactly the kind of experience that helps a student explore an interest, build relationships, and discover something they genuinely enjoy.

That's why we're deliberately working to make Wingman's database broader and more local, not just bigger. We want to surface opportunities that are hyperlocal, overlooked, and relevant, not simply the ones that are already famous.

Know What's Worth Your Time

Finding an opportunity is only half the problem. How do you know whether it's actually good?

We're working to give students more context than a program's own marketing page can provide. We look at signals from the broader community and try to give students a sense of what other people think about an opportunity, so they can make a more informed decision about whether it's worth their time and money.

And Don't Miss the Deadline

Then there's the clock.

High school is a remarkably short window: four years and three summers. Applications open and close constantly, often months before students are even thinking about their next summer.

Wingman keeps the deadlines in view, helping students know what's coming up and when they need to act.

Because we don't think students need another database to search.

They need a wingman that can say:

"Here are the opportunities that fit you. Here's what other people think about them. And here's when you need to act."

Wingman started as something I built for my own sons. I'm opening it up to other families because I believe this process shouldn't require endless Google searches, spreadsheets, bookmarks, and calendar reminders.

There are only so many summers. Only so many chances to try something new.

Wingman helps students find what fits, discover what they didn't know existed, and make sure they don't miss their chance to go after it.