A 16-part series highlighting student entrepreneurs pursuing their business ventures as part of the CYstarters 2026 summer cohort. Through this program, students have the unique opportunity to prioritize the development of their own startup or business idea. Each individual receives $6,500 and access to resources such as mentorship, networking opportunities, and educational sessions on entrepreneurship and business startup.

“I never really thought about starting something, I just did it because I love it.”

Isaac Kenyon

That’s what Isaac Kenyon, a recent Iowa State computer engineering graduate, said about his business, Neoko Music. Like 69% of U.S. entrepreneurs, Isaac started his business in his bedroom.

“My room was probably five to 10 degrees hotter than the rest of the apartment,” Isaac said. “And loud, too.”

In his room was his growing collection of computers and servers, making it hotter and noisier than the rest of the space. For Isaac, Neoko Music started as nothing more than a hobby and a place to store music he had created.

“It was just a website for myself,” he said. “I put all of my stuff on there. It makes it easier to share one link with someone.”

He first shared the website with his music producing friends. “It was interesting to get their feedback on it, and then to be like, ‘Yeah, this is something useful,’” he said.

Isaac enjoyed growing up in Davenport, Iowa, where he attended elementary, middle and high school. As a kid, he always had a fascination with computers and technology and knew that computer engineering would be what he pursued in college.

While attending Iowa State, Isaac took classes that prepared him to work inside and out with computers. One of the classes that stood out most was an Advanced Data Storage Systems (CPRE 5630) class which focuses on how to build reliable and secure storage systems for valuable digital data. These classes led him to turn his personal computer storage into something bigger.

“I think creating Neoko Music is a way of combining my love for music and the computer engineering side,” Isaac said.

Isaac had heard about the Pappajohn Center because of spending time studying around the Student Innovation Center, but the light bulb moment was when he heard about an upcoming pitch competition. At the time, he knew that the storage aspect was useful to himself but wanted to test the waters and see what other people thought.

“The pitch off was fun, getting a little validation,” Isaac said. “Seeing other people interested in what you make always feels good.

Neoko Music Logo

Isaac is helping fix a problem that affects artists, producers and engineers. Music and production professionals spend weeks, months, and even years working on projects and one single hard drive failure or accidental drop of a laptop can cause all the files (and all the progress) to

be lost in an instant. Neoko Music will change that, keeping files safe and secure.

“We’re a tool that you can use for new mixes and working with people. And you’re able to do that in a private, secure way,” Isaac said.

The platform will also protect artist copyright and honor artist ownership of files, a component that is built automatically in with file storage. It is not just a solo operation– Artists are able to gain visibility and share what they’ve created with others.

One of Isaac’s goals for his summer in the CYstarters cohort was to reach out to artists and raise participation in music releases.

“The goal is to have artists try the product, find it useful, get paid for streaming, and in turn introduce and advertise the products too,” he said.

The path to Neoko Music has been long, and Isaac is proud of how much time he has dedicated to growing the vision and turning his idea into reality.

“I’ve been working on it for a long time, and it has a lot of features now. Thinking back on where I started seems like such a lot of work, and it has been,” he said.

Isaac loves the technical aspects of entrepreneurship, the nitty-gritty hands-on work he is able to do when building computers and servers. One challenge for him is stepping outside of this solo work and leaving his comfort zone to network and share his idea with others.

“I’m more of a technical person. I really enjoy how the system works, so to get myself out there and speaking about it, I have to get out of my box a bit,” he said.

While some entrepreneurs rave about the opportunity to be a self-starter and their own boss, Isaac says it’s something he has to be diligent with.

“I have to be very conscious about spending my time. Maybe don’t go down some rabbit hole working on some specific feature,” he said. “But I like it, I think it allows me to work on something that I’m passionate about.”

His advice for other students is to simply put the work in and start building your own entrepreneurial ideas.

“I would say just do it. I never really thought about starting something. I just did it because I love it.”

The Neoko Music platform is online at www.neokomusic.com, and on Instagram @neokomusic.

If you want to learn more about Isaac and CYstarters Cohort 11, we invite you to attend CYstarters Demo Day on Thursday, July 30, to watch live pitch presentations from all 17 student entrepreneurs and network and connect with these incredible business owners.