After camp, Sam Sanders and Michael Shaw stayed connected on Facebook, but it wasn’t until they realized they were both attending Syracuse to study business did they team up.

Although Michael and Sam have very similar business goals which brought them together in business, they joined Delta Sigma Pi for different reasons. Michael joined Delta Sigma Pi to help him stand out in the Syracuse community. He also wanted the opportunity to expand his personal network. Sam wanted to grow, personally and professionally, while being able to share his knowledge and experiences with like-minded individuals. Delta Sigma Pi gave him a group of peers that he could count on for advice and growth. 

Before pledging his freshman year, Sam was walking to a class presentation in a suit. It was a hot September day. When he finally arrived, he was tired and dripping with sweat. He asked himself “Why can’t clothing do more for you than just be fashionable?” He was determined to find an answer so he began to research clothing that could provide health benefits. Sam did not have the scientific background, so Michael joined him to help with research and product development. The two became industry experts through endless hours of research. And what they don’t know, they outsource.

The company came to fruition with the Couri Hatchery and Student Sandbox incubators at the Whitman School of Management, which both brothers graduated from in May. “Our current product’s material raises stamina and endurance, boosts speed and strength, allows for quicker recovery, relieves stress on the body, and regulates temperature,” explained Sam. According to their website, wundershirt.co., the shirt “contains multiple ingredients including optically responsive minerals that are embedded into the fabric that allow the shirt to enable increased oxygen and blood flow levels. These active ingredients are very small; in fact, they are smaller than a human hair. The materials react to light and heat.”

In the beginning stages of creating Wundershirt, other brothers supported Sam and Michael with their goals. “Delta Sigma Pi gave us the network and tools to succeed. It was beneficial to speak to brothers on campus, as well as professional speakers the chapter brought in, and use them as a sounding board. Furthermore, having other brothers on campus who have started businesses allows us to support each other and will continue going forward,” said Michael. “The power of people is everything,” Sam continued. “Personal relationships and how you manage and communicate with people will help determine how you will shape your life.”

Starting a new venture in college is no easy task. “When working with a startup, we have to explore every possible option and possible lead we have,” said Michael. “Sometimes the biggest success can come from the most unlikely sources.” The two would schedule meetings to specifically talk about business. Time management and learning how to prioritize activities were important skills they both learned while in school. Sam learned to plot activities on a graph to help him prioritize. “I label the x-axis Importance and the y-axis Time Sensitivity. I then plot all of my activities I need to do, completing the time sensitive and high important items first.”

If you watched the summer Olympics, you may have spotted their shirts in Rio. These brothers contacted English-speaking countries with ten or fewer athletes to pitch their product. They were hoping to equal out the playing field so that all countries have equal access to top technology, which typically countries with a small number of athletes do not have access to. After many emails and phone calls, representatives from Olympic Track and Field Teams from St. Kitts and Nevis, U. S. Virgin Islands, Bermuda and Trinidad and Tobago all purchased their shirts.

So what is next for WunderShirt? “I believe Wundershirt will one day become the future of clothing. We will be looking to explore other cutting edge fabrics that will help customers get the most out of the clothes they wear,” claimed Sam.


Michael Shaw and Sam Sanders, both Syracuse, created Wundershirt, a company selling T-shirts that help enhance performance during sports and exercise.


By: Heather Troyer