Cole Segura

Topographica

Founder & Builder

A place discovery platform that helps people understand the stories behind anywhere on earth.

Every place has a story worth discovering. Topographica is an interactive world map that generates editorial-quality place guides on demand — surfacing the geology, history, ecology, and human stories behind any location. Built entirely through an AI-native workflow.

topographica.io →

Kyso Ventures

Founder

A creative content studio applying repeatable short-form strategies across music, travel, and brand.

Kyso Ventures drives growth through scalable, aesthetic short-form content. We prototyped the underlying strategy with an outdoor aesthetics channel that grew to 7 million impressions and 10,000 followers in one month, and now work with music labels to promote up-and-coming artists. The right strategy can be designed once and applied across many domains.

HorizonFrame

Co-Founder & Builder

An intentional mindfulness iOS app, shipped to the App Store as my Magnum Opus project.

Visualizing the life you want to build is the first step to actually building it. HorizonFrame is an intentional mindfulness iOS app that I designed and shipped natively to the App Store as my Magnum Opus. Took the product through the full lifecycle — early access user feedback, pitching at the Edward ALDAG Business Competition, and acceptance into UA's Crimson Entrepreneurship Academy pre-accelerator.

Nantahala River

River Guide & Educator

Guided groups of up to 70 down Class II-III whitewater. Learned how to tell the story of a landscape.

Guided groups of up to 70 visitors through Class II-III whitewater on the Nantahala River in western North Carolina. Selected for trip leader training as a first-season guide. The job was as much about education as it was about navigation — interpreting the geology of the gorge, the watershed, and the cultural history of southern Appalachia for visitors in real time. This experience is what directly inspired me to build Topographica.

Mercedes-Benz

Controls Engineering Intern

Built a filterable production dashboard for engineers on the plant floor in Vance, Alabama.

Worked on the Controls Engineering team at Mercedes-Benz U.S. International's automotive manufacturing plant in Vance, Alabama. Collaborated with production, quality, and engineering teams to identify reporting needs and built a filterable dashboard that consolidated production data from three separate systems into a single view for engineers on the production floor. Elected to the Mercedes-Benz Student Board.

Witt Fellows Program

Dr. Robert E. Witt University Fellows · University of Alabama

Selective four-year honors program built around servant leadership and social innovation.

The Dr. Robert E. Witt University Fellows Program selects ~25 students each year from over 1,000 applicants. Built around servant leadership, community engagement, and social innovation — including fieldwork in Alabama's Black Belt region and international study. The program culminates in a Magnum Opus, an independent scholarly and creative project. For mine, I built and shipped HorizonFrame to the App Store.

University of Alabama

Audio/Visual Solutions Specialist

Ran AV for live university events. Quick problem-solving under pressure with zero margin for error.

Set up and operated AV systems for university lectures, conferences, and special events across multiple campus venues for three years. Worked directly with faculty, administrators, and visiting speakers to coordinate technology logistics, train them on equipment, and resolve issues in real time during live events. Developed strong working knowledge of microphone systems, projection setups, hybrid video conferencing, and live streaming infrastructure for events at scale.