Szafranski Studios

Press & Mentorship

Resources

Press, recognition, and mentorship stories from the Studio. Open any card to read the full article.

Auto Ninjas2025

Transparent Car Buying

As co-founder and CTO of The Auto Lease Ninjas, Chris Szafranski built the SaaS cloud platform behind a more transparent way to buy and lease a car — honest, up-front quoting that puts the numbers in the buyer's hands.

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Interior of a new car with cognac leather seats — the kind of purchase The Auto Lease Ninjas makes transparent.
BBC2018

Women's Safety XPRIZE

Chris Szafranski served as hardware team lead on Soterra, a finalist team in the Anu & Naveen Jain Women's Safety XPRIZE — advancing to the semi-finals on a minimal budget.

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The Soterra safety device — a compact white handheld unit with a blue keypad and status LEDs that summons help without a smartphone or cellular coverage.
Forbes2018

Safety Device for Women Wins $1 Million XPRIZE

Forbes coverage of the Women's Safety XPRIZE launched by Anu and Naveen Jain — the competition in which the Soterra team competed as a scrappy, low-budget contender.

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A woman surrounded by a glowing network of connection and safety icons — visualizing a discreet device that summons help anywhere.
Auto Ninjas2025

Developing Future Leaders

Anya Kumar '26 Lehigh CSB Major spent 10 weeks at the intensive Auto Ninjas Summer Internship program which catapulted her to recognition and success by applying her skills to real world problems and a novel AI solution. With guidance and recommendation of our Founder Chris Szafranski, she was accepted into the prestigious NYU Stern School of Business - Shanghai where she continues to develop her leadership mindset and entrepreneurial skills.

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Anya Kumar and Chris Szafranski at the Pioneering Assembly.
Startup Academy2023

Finding Your Path

Startup Academy students heard from entrepreneurs Diana Nicholas and Christopher Szafranski on finding your path — candid lessons from building something new.

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Christopher Szafranski and Diana Nicholas speaking to Startup Academy students.
Auto Ninjas2024

Leading the Internship Program

Leading the internship program at Auto Ninjas — mentoring the next generation of builders, from first commit to startup pitch at the Lehigh @ Nasdaq Center.

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Christopher Szafranski with interns at the Lehigh @ Nasdaq Center.
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