Kiip’s founder Brian Wong started experimenting with graphic design in his early middle school years. He skipped 4 years at his school in Vancouver and graduated from the University of British Columbia at the age of 18. He soon moved to California, where he went to work as a business development associate for Digg.

In 2010, Wong was laid off when Digg cut its staff by 10%. In his time off, he decided to take a trip to explore Southeast Asia. This is where his entrepreneurial idea began. On his journey there, he noticed the satisfaction people felt when reaching new highs in mobile games. Noticing and contemplating this sparked his idea for Kiip.

Wong shared his observations with an investor from True Ventures who, sharing it with his partners, helped him create a way for brands to reward app users for “achievement moments”.

Today, Kiip has $15 million in funding and more than 40 people working in San Francisco.

“Kiip has partnerships with 900 apps and reaches about 55 million devices monthly in the United States,” says Wong.

I apreciated Kiips outlook on his idea because he looked at how people responded to a common feature of apps, and made it into a brand for millions of user to benefit from. His study of and love for design helped him to work his app features into a desirable style that would attract more users.

Wong’s advice for young entrepreneurs: “There’s always going to be gobbles of cash available for great products with great potential, so keep in mind the short term and long term considerations.”

http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/entrepreneurs/2013/03/27/teenager-turned-millionaire-success-stories/