Originally published by Tim Smith, Director of Innovation Partnerships and Pledge 1% Boston on the Boston Foundation blog.
Brendan Ciecko is the founder of Cuseum, and a proud early member of Pledge 1% Boston. Growing up in Massachusetts, he got his entrepreneurial start as a teenager and has always been dedicated to making our region more vibrant and engaging. Brendan built and scaled a successful company in the fast-paced music industry and was named one of America’s top entrepreneurs by Inc. Magazine – all before he could legally buy a drink.
In his 20s, his attention turned to museums. “Museums should be easy to access and enriching for all,” says Brendan, who is driven to help museums improve their digital engagement. As more visitors turn to their smartphones, Cuseum enables museums to offer a “digital docent” to meet this demand and improve visitor experiences. Founded in 2014, Cuseum can now be found in some of the most renowned institutions in the world, including the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, and the Institute for Contemporary Art in Boston. Cuseum recently launched a new digital membership fulfillment product to help institutions save time and money as well as increase member renewals and satisfaction.
As part of its mission, Cuseum has also developed tools to help museums address accessibility and inclusion with the support of multiple languages, assisting in mitigating a common barrier for diverse populations. Additionally, Cuseum has introduced elastic pricing models that make it possible for organizations of every shape and size to take advantage of their platform.
Early backers of Cuseum include Paul English (a fellow Pledge 1% Boston member), Techstars, Boston Syndicates (BOSS) and a lineup of savvy and successful tech industry leaders and investors. As Brendan has supported various nonprofits and community initiatives throughout his life, joining Pledge 1% Boston was an easy decision.
“As entrepreneurs and problem-solvers, we have an obligation to give back and drive positive change around us” he explains. Making the decision to pledge 1% toward the common good was totally aligned with the goals and culture of Cuseum.”
Brendan is also an emerging thought leader around ways that the nonprofit community can look to the innovative models of accelerator and incubator programs. Check out his recent opinion piece in TechCrunch.
5 Fun Facts About Brendan & Cuseum:
- Brendan has a Platinum record for his work with OneRepublic.
- Cuseum’s office is filled with whimsy… including artwork by Gary Baseman and Boston artist Pat Falco.
- Brendan is a graduate of the “School of College Dropouts.”
- At the age of 19, Brendan managed an alternative hip-hop group signed to Warner Bros. Records.
- Brendan is married to his high-school sweetheart and fellow do-gooder, Elizabeth Dobrska, who is Managing Director of TUGG and a member of the Boston Foundation’s Innovation Economy Leadership Council.
