Rafael Ilishayev

MY GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: Making the first delivery for goPuff [an on-demand delivery service co-founded with fellow Drexel student Yakir Gola in 2013]. On the way there I got into a car accident and ran the rest of the way to our first customer’s house. He lived next door to a 7-Eleven. At that point we knew that we had something special. Note: GoPuff delivers convenience store items ranging from snacks to contraceptives to anyone’s home in under 30 minutes and since its launch it has expanded beyond Philadelphia to more than 20 cities coast to coast.

HOW DREXEL HELPED: Drexel taught me the fundamentals of business, how to be a leader and most importantly — how to be a better listener. These are definitely things that you acquire with experience, but Drexel helped lay that foundation for me.

MY HOPE FOR THE FUTURE: We are disrupting the convenience store industry and recreating consumable impulse use in a digital world. Personally, I hope my story inspires the students of the Drexel community to never be afraid to chase their dreams and to always be resilient when faced with opposition. If you want to solve a problem, you have to put your head down and be laser-focused on getting it done.