By Shandana Mufti

Among Netflix’s original programming is Chelsea Does, a series starring comedian Chelsea Handler. The documentary series follows Handler as she explores topics and experiences that she’s not entirely familiar with, including marriage, drugs and Silicon Valley. The Silicon Valley episode features a familiar CCIS face: alum Tony Scherba (BS, Computer Science/Business ’11), who co-founded app development company Yeti just before graduating.

“This was a unique experience to do what we do and have it broadcast,” Tony says of the experience. “We’ve never done a documentary before. It was definitely kind of a break from the mold for us.” The connection between Yeti and Handler’s production company was made by a former Yeti client, and camera crews arrived at Yeti’s office after just a few phone calls.

Gotta Go, the app created on the show helps Handler escape uncomfortable situations – like bad dates – with scheduled texts or phone calls that claim there’s an emergency she must attend to. Other Yeti apps include one that connected an electric skateboard to the internet via smartphone, and another that helped companies building TVs source and manage different parts from around the world. “Definitely much more technical than a funny app that texts and calls you,” Tony says of the latter.

Yeti was founded in 2011, just months before Tony and co-founder Rudy Mutter graduated from Northeastern. Both had dual majors in computer science and business and were enrolled in the entrepreneurship track for business, so starting a company at some point was a natural move. The company’s first deals were negotiated while Tony and Rudy were still in school. “Literally the week after [we graduated], we flew down to Florida to have our first kick-off meeting with one of our clients,” Tony says.

Tony’s co-ops laid the foundations for Yeti. In fact, his first co-op employers – MIT’s Economics department – later became one of Yeti’s first clients, when the fledgling company was hired to build the department’s website.

His second and third co-ops were at Prod4Ever – now Icon Interactive – where he worked with music industry clients including Bob Dylan and Dave Matthews Band, for whom he built websites. Later, as iPhone frenzy took hold and mobile apps became the rage, he taught himself to build iPhone apps – among his first assignments was one for Britney Spears. During his two co-ops there, Tony built and led the company’s mobile department and went on a profit share with the owners.

“I really enjoyed the fact that I was able to do the theory of business and the theory of computer science alongside doing the actual application of it,” he says. “I was actively involved with helping build a business while also learning business fundamentals at school. For computer science, I was actively building products that people were using and learning about how to build them better at school.”

CCIS’s academics paired with practical, hands-on co-ops provided Tony and Rudy with experience to look back on when launching Yeti, and which has helped the company succeed. Yeti currently employs 14 people; by the end of 2017, Tony hopes to have a staff of 40. They’re booking new clients, looking for a lease on a larger office space, and planning Yeti’s future.

Building things – both Yeti the company and the apps Yeti creates – remains the most rewarding part of Tony’s work. “That’s what I’m all about, what my whole company’s all about. We’re building products for people that actually have big impacts,” he says. “For me, I’m building a business at the same time. It’s all about building. Building something and then seeing it work.”