The “Inc 30 Under 30 Entrepreneurs” article includes five of the coolest young founders of companies such as Facebook, Foursquare, and Freshii. Today’s entrepreneurs are creating services and software online, new concepts for dining out, and new technologies with commercial and government applications, all before their 30th birthdays.
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg, age 29, founded Facebook in 2004 as a social network for students at Harvard. It’s grown into a worldwide social network with millions of users and a company value of almost $100 billion. His online sharing concept completely changed the way people interact and got him named Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2010. From tech-savvy teens to grandparents looking to stay in touch with their grandchildren online, it seems everyone these days has a Facebook account.
The company has changed the face of social interaction and will undoubtedly only continue to grow and improve under the supervision of the prodigious Zuckerberg.
Matthew Corrin
Matthew Corrin, now 31, founded Freshii in Toronto, Canada, in 2005 at the age of 23, as a fast-food franchise of fresh food eateries in the U.S., Canada, Austria, and the United Arab Emirates. He wanted an alternative to unhealthy fast food and Freshii serves fast, fresh food. The custom-built orders include breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks that are healthy, fresh, and affordable. Corrin expects 2013 annual revenue to top $90 million selling wraps, salads, soups, and fresh food bowls, designed by customers or ordered from the menu and always served fresh and fit.
David Karp
David Karp, age 27, started Tumblr in 2007 with savings from software industry jobs. It’s a blogging platform for users to post their blogs, images, videos, audio, links, and quotes in a public or private “tumblelog.” Karp founded Tumblr to be an easy-to-use blogging platform. The company was recently purchased by Yahoo for nearly $1 billion, largely for its hundreds of thousands of users and more than 20 billion monthly page views.
Allison Lami Sawyer
Allison Lami Sawyer, age 29, founded Rebellion Photonics in 2009 to develop a marketable fluorescent imaging camera that is the first real-time chemical imaging video camera ever. Sawyer is a physicist with an entrepreneurial bent that’s definitely paying off. The company’s main product is the Gas Cloud Imaging camera for oil and gas safety. This camera is able to see oil and gas leaks and boats high-profile contracts in the military, oil, and gas industries and over $2.5 million in revenues by the company’s second year.
Sophia Amoruso
Sophia Amoruso, age 29, founded Nasty Gal in 2006 as an online retailer that specializes in fashion and accessories for young women. Amoruso first launched Nasty Gal as an ebay page and the company was named “Fastest Growing Retailer” in 2012 by INC Magazine. Today, the company has over 550,000 customers and a net revenue of more than $24 million.
Other entrepreneurs under 30 include event ticket aggregator SeatGeek founders Russ D’Souza and Jack Groetzinger, Luke’s Lobster seafood restaurant chain founder Luke Holden, coding share and rating site GitHub founder Tom Preston-Werner.
These under-30 wonders all have one thing in common: they’ve turned their ideas into successful and profitable businesses that change the ways we do things. Want to share photos of your new baby or new car with friends and family? Facebook or Tumblr lets you do it quickly, easily, and for free. Want to find the best seats for your favorite game or event? SeatGeek helps you do it in a few clicks. Want some vintage shoes or clothing without going to New York or some other big city and searching? Nasty Gal has just what you’re thinking of without the road trip and blocking time to find it.
Pay attention to the newest entrepreneurs and how they’re changing how we do things every day. They are shaping our daily lives and our future.
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Alex Faubel enjoys writing about topics related to business and technology in career-focused education programs.