I recently had dinner with Ankur Jain, founder of the Kairos Society of collegiate entrepreneurs and son of business mogul Naveen Jain. We got to talking about young entrepreneurs and what it means to create real change. Inspired by our conversation, I’d like to introduce you to a few successful companies, headed by passionate young entrepreneurs already changing the world with their ideas.
1. EMERGENT
Jesse Gossett, 23 (left); Jayson Uppal, 23 (center); Chris Jacobs, 21 (right); Jared Rodriguez, 23 (not pictured)
Boston
These guys are great – I’ve had the pleasure of meeting them a few times over the years. In a time when budgets are getting slashed across the nation, municipalities are finding the funds to transform their energy needs. And they’re doing it with the help of four young men who have built a business out of renewable energy and sustainable practices. Jesse Gossett, Jared Rodriguez, Jayson Uppal, and Chris Jacobs put together Emergent Enterprises in their final year of college, landing a consulting contract before they even graduated. With 30 clients right now, the firm is already showing profit while pulling in $150,000 in revenue with the number expected to almost double in the coming year. Rock on.
2. Invite Media
Nat Turner, 23 (center); Zach Weinberg, 23 (right); Scott Becker, 23 (left)
Philadelphia
Nat Turner and Zach Weinberg have seen what all of us have seen: banner ads splashed across every website known to man. But until now, if you wanted an ad on a website, you pretty much had to contact the site directly. Invite Media turns that around by being a one-stop-shop for agencies and ad networks, make it far easier to orchestrate a wide-reaching campaign. Invite started with $2.5 million in venture capital, but Google latched onto the idea, and acquired the company June 3, 2010. Well played!
3. ModCloth
Eric Koger, 25, and Susan Koger, 24
Pittsburgh
You might have thought the indie world stopped with movies and music, but Erin and Susan Koger have made it big in indie clothing. Pulling together a little over 3 million in angel and venture capital, and have made a business which is selling faster than it can buy, enabling it to scale rapidly. Started in 2002, the site became profitable in 2007. They now boast 1.25 million unique visitors a month and about $1 million a month in sales. Go Eric and Susan!
4. My Yearbook
Catherine Cook, 19, and David Cook, 21
New Hope, PA
Catherine and David Cook had an idea: what if someone built a social network based on getting to know other people rather than connecting or re-connecting to real-life friends? They launched MyYearbook.com in 2005 at their high school in New Jersey, and geared it to high school students. It works by providing social games which people can play to get to know one another. Their brother Jack Cook had already run several Internet businesses, and provided them their initial money and advice (I empathize with the benefit of an initial friends and family round of funding!). They have since pulled together $17.1 million and 75 employees to run their business and are turned profitable. Two thirds of revenue is driven from advertising, with VIP subscriptions and sales of virtual currency making up the rest. Cheers to Catherine and David.
Have a young entrepreneur in mind you’d like me to spotlight? Open up a discussion in the comments!
Pete Kistler is the founder and CEO of Brand‐Yourself.com, a web platform that businesses and individuals use to grow their online reputation and promote their services across the social web. Read more about Pete here.
