Name: Cameron Johnson
Website: CameronJohnson.com
Title: President
Industry: Internet
Year founded: 2002
Location: virtual
Number of employees: n/a
Cameron Johnson started his first business at the tender age of nine. By age 12, his company was selling Beanie BabiesTM over the Internet and he netted $50,000 that year. At the age of fifteen, he
became an advisory board member of a Tokyo-based company and published his autobiography in Japanese which became an instant best-seller.
At the age of 23, Cameron has founded and sold more than a dozen successful businesses and has been featured in more than 250 media outlets worldwide including Newsweek, BusinessWeek, the New York Times, USA Today, CNBC, ABC, and MSNBC. He’s served as a consultant to several Fortune 500 companies and is a frequent speaker to a wide-range of audiences including corporate audiences, entrepreneurial boot camps, and even high schools and colleges.
1. What is the start-up story behind your business venture(s)?
I started my first business when I was 9 years old. When I was 12, my business was selling Beanie Babies over the Internet and I made $50k that year. At the age of 15, I became an advisory board member to a Tokyo-based company, as well as a consultant to Sega, and also had a bestselling book published in Japan titled “15-Year-Old CEO”. My company was generating nearly $15,000 per day in revenue when I was fifteen. Before I turned 21, I had started 12 profitable internet companies. I then wrote You Call the Shots which was published by Simon & Schuster in 2007 and has won numerous awards worldwide. Last year I was asked by Oprah Winfrey to compete on her first ever primetime series for charity The Big Give. Currently, I host a show for the BBC and am a frequent speaker to both corporate and college audiences.
2. What is your definition of success and has your company achieved it?
For me, success is when you are truly passionate about what you’re doing. My businesses were always a hobby to me and I think, because I enjoyed them so much, that helped lead me to find success on my own terms.
3. To what do you attribute your company’s recent achievements?
Everything in life is a stepping stone. I’ve always focused on being patient and growing over time. I’ve tried to leverage each of my experiences into making my next project that much bigger and better.
5. What three pieces of advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs?
Put yourself out there, start small, and only involve yourself in projects where your passion is your motivation.
6. What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?
Everything in life is a lesson. Whether you make a dollar, or lose a dollar, it’s all about moving forward. I’ve tried to study the success, and failure, of others so that I can make very calculated moves.
7. Describe/outline your typical day?
I sold my last business several years ago and today spend most of my time speaking, consulting, and coaching other entrepreneurs. So every day is different – and that’s what I love.
8. Where did your organizations funding/capital come from and how did you go about getting it?
I’ve always self-funded all of my projects and even when offered a multi-million venture capital offer, I turned it down. I believe in starting small and growing over time with a legitimate business model.
9. What stops you from throwing in the towel and giving up during those frustrating days of running your business?
Well I’ve done that with several of my businesses. When it doesn’t excite me anymore, I sell it and move on. Most entrepreneurs start their business for the freedom it can provide, if my business controls me and when I lose my interest – that’s when I know I should be moving to something else.
10. Do you believe there is some sort of pattern or formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur?
The key ingredient is being passionate about your idea/product/service and being willing to do everything necessary to make it a success. So the formula is passion + hard work = success.
11. Who has influenced you most and been your greatest inspiration?
I believe everyone needs a mentor. A mentor doesn’t necessarily have to be someone you meet for coffee twice/week. I’ve always studied super successful business people such as Michael Dell, Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Oprah Winfrey, Donald Trump, etc. I read their books and stories as a kid and tried to learn everything I could. I still do this today with every business biography I can find.
12. What book has inspired you the most?
The mentors I’ve studied -
13. How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
1) Every business I’ve had has been totally different, and 2) I started 15 years ago so I’ve seen a lot change on the internet and the way new products/services/websites are marketed.
14. In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur.
Freedom
15. Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
Dell
16. How do you achieve balance in your life?
I always incorporate vacation into my travel and surround myself with great personal friends, business friends, and mentors. I also am very careful to separate the two lives: personal and business.
17. Where do you see yourself and your business in 5 years? 10 years?
No clue – hopefully still doing what I love
18. We recently heard that you have been featured in The YES Movie, how do you feel this movie will impact Entrepreneurs?
I always found my inspiration through studying other successful entrepreneurs. I hope that by sharing our stories, we can inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs – of all ages. Whether you’re 9, 19, or 90, there has never been a better time to start your own business.
Evan Carmichael
