Meet Sandboxer Ryan Buckley. Ryan, 28, has studied at Berkeley, Harvard and MIT, and has founded several start-ups, among which B2G Media, a political technology consultancy, and Scripped, a popular screenplay crowdsourcing service. Find Ryan on Twitter and Facebook.

1. Tell us the story of your latest project / occupation.

My most successful project has been Scripped.com, a software product with a lively writing community around it where 100,000 screenwriters have come to write scripts and get them read by Hollywood studios. We have found that it’s much easier to work with independent producers than major ones because of restrictions imposed by other interests such as the guilds which basically are film industry’s unions. Now I fashion myself a liberal, but they make my business very difficult and slow to grow. There are people in studios who want to do business with us but can’t because guild rules won’t allow it. And it’s the young writers in Texas, Kansas, and around the world who suffer because of it.

2. What are you doing and how did you get there?

I’ve taken a job at a fast-moving startup in San Francisco called Rapleaf. It is a marketing data technology firm that helps business better understand and cater to their customers. It is interesting work and as a full-time sales guy I have plenty to learn. Wherever I ultimately wind up, I will owe a debt of gratitude to Rapleaf for teaching me these valuable skills.

3. Tell us about the biggest successes and failures in your life. What worked, what didn’t, and what did you learn?

I wrote my Sandbox application about the failures I’ve experienced since college. I’ve started four companies and folded three of them; one I was able to sell to my partner and one is still happily running. However I don’t fault myself for trying. Other failures perhaps are more related to lack of trying. That is why I am excited to join this network. I am a year and a half away from 30 – I hope this network can help me turn small successes into great ones.

4. What do you want to achieve in a) the next year, b) the next 10 years?

This year I hope to help Scripped reach new heights: I’m excited to help the team launch two new products this quarter, grow our product revenue, and start to pay well-deserved dividends to our shareholders. In 10 years I want to be in or running for public office.

5. What was your most inspring moment during the last two weeks?

In the last two weeks I have been inspired by my guitar. My fingertips have hardened again and I feel the wash of relaxation come over me, like a good workout. When I play guitar consistently my stress is lower, I’m happier, I sleep better, and I work harder. I’ve been playing now for over 15 years and it’s a pretty basic part of my life. I’m good at it, so I need to remember that its something important for me to keep up.

6. How could other Sandboxers and the outside world support you and why would that be exciting for them.

I’m looking for inspiration, successes, and more stories that will compel me to keep driving Scripped forward. In exchange I commit to doing the same. And if anyone has aspirations to make it in Hollywood, I can certainly help!

Ryan’s favourite:
-book: Tao Te Ching
-movie: Back to the Future
-place on earth: Pinecrest, CA
-travel destination during last year: Vermont
-food: I love all kinds of Salad
-drink: Old Fashioned (anything with whiskey)
-quote: “Will it not be employment enough to watch the progress of the seasons? ” Henry David Thoreau

We recently had the pleasure to welcome Raymond Abelin to a dinner with the Zurich community. Currently Director of the Nanyang Technopreneurship Center at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore (NTU), one of the best entrepreneurship programs with a focus on technology. He was visiting Switzerland last week and contacted us to help him get in touch with some of the most interesting young entrepreneurs in town. We talked of course about entrepreneurship, and about the challenge to teach it in academic institutions. Raymond teaches creative thinking and we exchanged opinions about cultural differences between the West and Asia, where entrepreneurship is often a mindset that needs to be developed.

Raymond is a person with a very large experience in a wide range of domains: he began his career in Hollywood’s entertainment industry in the 1970′s, animating Scooby Doo series for Hanna Barbera Productions, moved to writing and directing, real estate, design and now to the academic field as a Professor and program Director at NTU.

Antoine is a Co-Founder and the CEO of Sandbox. Besides the discussions, he also very much enjoyed the delicious pizza of Michelangelo in Zurich.