Alumni
Alumni Events and Reunions
Business Directory Spotlight: Jake Pelayo ’17 & Sebastian Brunet '17
When Jake Pelayo '17 and Sebastian Brunet '17 became friends at RE, they never thought they'd end up creating a company together after they graduated. They recently launched ARO - All Restaurant Offers, the only app that consolidates restaurant deals and personalizes them to every individual user.
Name: Jake Alexander Pelayo
Class Year: 2017
Business Name: ARO - All Restaurant Offers
Job Title: CEO and Co-Founder, ARO
Where did you go to college/university?
Babson College, Boston, Massachusetts
What was your major?
Bachelor of Science in Business with a focus in Entrepreneurship.
Where do you currently reside?
Coral Gables, Florida
What keeps you busy during the week?
As a small team, each of us wears many hats. I’m kept most busy in differentiating between the everyday to-do lists, and where we see our company in 18 months. Every day, we ideate on how to support and continuously streamline the connection between our restaurant partners and hungry users, easing the pain of restaurant discoverability. Tangibly, this looks like weekly in-person meetings at some of Miami’s best restaurants, strategy-intensive deep dives with the team, and the occasional filming of content (with plenty of direction from our Creative Director, Isa).
How did Ransom Everglades prepare you for your future?
RE creates a positively competitive culture where it’s not cool to fall behind or not take an interest. My experiences after graduation made me appreciate RE’s community all the more, as it has equipped me with the drive to connect with like-minded, ambitious people outside of our community.
I also gained a best friend, and business partner.
What’s one of your favorite Ransom Everglades memories?
One of my fondest memories at RE is the faculty vs. student dodgeball game. It was as absurd as it sounds, but this memory speaks directly to the type of community RE builds. Our teachers knew the best way to teach us how to level the playing field, would be to show us how — dodgeball just so happened to be the medium, and I think that’s really special.
What song was on repeat your senior year?
"T-SHIRT" by Migos
Words of wisdom for your fellow alumni:
There are times when you need to make sacrifices for your future. To make the right ones, you need to take a moment every day to reflect on whether your choices and sacrifices are still aligned with what you identify as loving and living your life — because the future is never promised, and time’s the one thing you can’t pay to get back.
Name: Sebastian Olivier Brunet
Class Year: 2017
Business Name: ARO - All Restaurant Offers
Job Title: CTO and Co-Founder
Where did you go to college/university?
University of Colorado Boulder
What was your major?
Computer Science Engineering
Where do you currently reside?
Coconut Grove, Florida
What keeps you busy during the week?
I’m the only developer. Most start-ups make outrageously high initial investments in development, especially in the software space. As our only developer, yes, I’ve taken on quite the load, but it’s also the reason we’ve been able to make such a concerted effort on the marketing and business development front.
As a software engineer with no experience in mobile app development, it only made sense to go at it alone on the first go.
How did Ransom Everglades prepare you for your future?
The RE community taught me that I would need to exceed my limits to know where they lie. The network of individuals I grew up with and the extended RE community is as reliable as it is trustworthy.
I also gained a best friend and business partner.
What’s one of your favorite Ransom Everglades memories?
I always appreciated the freedom to ask questions freely in class, no matter how absurd. One that sticks out to me was asking Mr. Natland to reconcile the Marvel comic universe with our understanding of modern physics—he made a convincing case.
What song was on repeat your senior year?
"Gimme Shelter" by The Rolling Stones
Words of wisdom for your fellow alumni:
There are enough people in the world who will tell you “no,” so why add yourself to that list? If you encounter something you fail at, it's not because you can’t do it. It’s because you can’t, yet.
Company name: ARO - All Restaurant Offers
Phone: (786) 383-1230
Website: aroapp.ai
Middle School
2045 South Bayshore Drive, Coconut Grove, FL 33133Phone: 305 250 6850
Upper School
3575 Main Highway, Coconut Grove, FL 33133Phone: 305 460 8800
Founded in 1903, Ransom Everglades School is a coeducational, college preparatory day school for grades 6 - 12 located on two campuses in Coconut Grove, Florida. Ransom Everglades School produces graduates who "believe that they are in the world not so much for what they can get out of it as for what they can put into it." The school provides rigorous college preparation that promotes the student's sense of identity, community, personal integrity and values for a productive and satisfying life, and prepares the student to lead and to contribute to society.