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Alpha Kappa Psi Gamma Nu at Babson | The Business Network Behind Involuntary Reroute
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Connecting the Dots
Members of Alpha Kappa Psi helped transform what began as a prepaid travel experiment into one of the early internet-era discount business class ventures. Fraternity brother Barak Shibles introduced the prepaid travel concept to traders in Mexico, which soon expanded through Manhattan and Miami before connecting with David Sharpie, creator of the 1st-Air.Net domain. Sharpie had proven that 1st-Air.Net could aggregate international travelers online, but lacked the infrastructure and airfare expertise needed to convert inquiries into large-scale ticket sales.
That’s where Robert Laney and Alpha Kappa Psi Gamma Nu at Babson entered the picture. Drawing from a broad arsenal of airfare strategies—including AD75 owner discounts, contract fares, offshore originations and other premium cabin pricing tactics—1st-Air.Net quickly evolved from a lead-generation concept into a functioning international travel operation.
Without Alpha Kappa Psi or Barak Shibles, my Involuntary Reroute would not have happened - an SPC '91 pledge class member and roommate at the AKPSI controlled Hastings house. Barak was a loyalist while at Babson but his networking skills took off once he went south of the border to Mexico City. His one introduction led to millions in funding and enterprise value from travelers and investors from around the world, and it all started in the basement during Alpha Kappa Psi pledge ceremonies in the basement of Park Manor Central. Even after Barak graduated, the Alpha Kappa Psi Gamma Nu network was always innovative and creative. Similar to the film Risky Business, the doors of BayBank and the Bank of Boston on Abbott Rd. in Wellesley, MA received thorough workout every Tuesday morning which came to be known as "Risky Business Tuesday's." Instead of trading savings bonds, the AKPSI brothers and alumni were cashing travel credits for profit while funding two out of state legal battles. Very entrepreneurial, extremely cutting edge, heavily Babson and exclusively Alpha Kappa Psi Gamma Nu. The Alpha Kappa Psi controlled house on Abbott Rd was a weekend hotspot for undergrads. The Babson campus didn't have frat houses and they still don't. Alpha Kappa Psi Babson Alumni and brothers controlled Babson's nightlife on Abbott Rd while undergrads were busy in the attic cranking out airline tickets by typewriter. A specific Babson College EPS1110 Entrepreneurial Experience class taught by guest lecturer and future Babson President Stephen Spinelli remains especially memorable: “We Don’t Take Risks Because We Want To.” For many students, it may have seemed like just another entrepreneurship lecture. For the Alpha Kappa Psi inspired travel minds, it perfectly mirrored the struggles unfolding inside the rapidly evolving travel business surrounding airline ownership discounts, offshore ticket originations and hidden city ticketing strategies. Alpha Kappa Psi and Babson College provided constant exposure to entrepreneurial leaders like Spinelli offering more than just access, but perspective. Markets are rarely static or perfectly efficient. They are shaped by timing, information asymmetry, distribution systems and access to opportunity The power of the Babson network also included opportunities from within the college, including the Babson College Swim Team and organizing its annual New Years trips attended by both current students and team members and alumni. 1st-Air.Net and Involuntary Reroute brought the Babson College Swim team to San Juan, Rome and Sicily and to Australia twice- including 1999 to ring in the new millennium in Sydney on Darling Harbor. [caption id="attachment_1952" align="aligncenter" width="2698"]
Members of Alpha Kappa Psi during the entrepreneurial boom of the 1990s. Centered at the top of the pyramid is Involuntary Reroute author Robert Laney alongside fraternity brother Dinos "The Greek: Hionides. Also pictured are Ara Hajian, Jon Kent, Robert Saba, Sean Joyce and Helen Maloney. The Babson and AKPsi network would later help fuel early discount business class travel ventures, hidden city ticketing strategies and the rise of internet-era airfare entrepreneurship.[/caption]
The Babson and AKPsi network had unexpectedly created a pipeline stretching from Mexico City to Wall Street and eventually into the emerging online travel economy. Long before startup incubators, LinkedIn and venture-backed travel apps became commonplace, relationships built through Babson College and AKPsi Gamma Nu were already connecting traders, entrepreneurs and early internet pioneers across international markets.
Before 1st-Air.Net formally took shape, another lesson from the Babson community would prove prophetic. AKPsi Gamma Nu brother Barry Osherow—an early participant in Spring Street Brewing and later Spring Street Capital—offered a warning that stayed with Laney for years: “When raising capital, don’t just raise money. Raise smart money. Steer clear of the dumb money.”
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Members of Alpha Kappa Psi at Babson College during the early 1990s entrepreneurial era. Pictured in the upper photo are Daniel Cohen, William Chris Adair and Ben Lazar. The lower photo, taken at Sfuzzi in Chestnut Hill, includes Patrick Carroll, Daniel Cohen, Todd “Otis” McElroy (passed away in 2021), Etienne Grignard, James M. Kittler, Eric “Big Daddy” Toth (passed away in 2022) and William Chris Adair. Long before startup culture and social media became mainstream, relationships formed through Babson and AKPsi Gamma Nu helped shape lifelong friendships, entrepreneurial networks and business ventures that extended far beyond campus.[/caption]
Alpha Kappa Psi did not become Babson’s oldest fraternity through conformity. A 1991 incident in the basement of Park Manor Central led to the loss of the fraternity’s on-campus organizational space. Four years later, negotiations nearly restored that presence through a proposed BISO bailout—an effort later referenced in the March 1995 Babson Free Press cover story shown below.
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March 9, 1995 Babson Free Press article featuring Alpha Kappa Psi Gamma Nu at Babson College. The story covered a proposed BISO bailout and reflected the entrepreneurial culture that defined Babson and AKPsi during the 1990[/caption]
"ITS PITTSFORD AND YOU NEED CAPITAL. AS FAR AS I’M CONCERNED, YOU’RE ALREADY AN INTERNET MILLIONARE. HOW ABOUT AN $11 MILLION VALUATION, A CAPITAL RAISE OF UP TO $5 MILLION AND YOU RETAIN CONTROL. KNOW WHAT I MEAN? BY NEXT YEAR, WE’LL RAISE YOU EVEN MORE MONEY AND YOU’LL BE WORTH 100 MILLON SMACKERS. HOW DOES THAT GRAB YOU? DON’T THINK, JUST DO IT, DO IT, DO IT!"
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