UT Alumnus Makes Front Page of Wall Street Journal

UT alumnus Paul Szoldra ’12 was on the front page of The Wall Street Journal this morning. The U.S. Marine veteran is raising heads for his satirical website, the Duffel Blog, with a reputation for being a military version of The Onion.

“Prank and File: These Military Reports Are Out of Line,” by Dion Nissenbaum, was posted online the evening of April 21 and appeared on April 22 on page A1 of the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal.

Szoldra is a U.S. Marine veteran who served eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps and graduated from UT with an entrepreneurship degree in 2012.

While a student, Szoldra started CollegeVeteran.com, an online resource specifically for veterans and military members who are in the process or thinking about going to school. He competed in the Sykes College of Business’ CREATE (Creating Real Entrepreneurial Actions Through Education) program with the idea, placing second in the eight-week business plan pitch competition that takes students through a business boot camp. Szoldra also participated in UT’s Spartan Accelerator, a program designed to help current students and recent alums grow their business ideas.

Szoldra started the Duffel Blog about a year ago as a way to drive traffic to CollegeVeteran.com. Szoldra’s Facebook page for the blog has more than 47,000 followers and according to Nissenbaum’s article, Szoldra said a half-million people visit the blog each month.