Author Archive for boltonjr1

Need a Lyft? (John Zimmer)

Posted by boltonjr1 
· Monday, October 15th, 2018 
· 5 Comments

About Lyft:

Lyft is a ridesharing platform created in 2007 in order to improve transportation in urban environments. Co-founder and acting president, John Zimmer, came up with the app by identifying an unnoticed problem. Since its inception, Lyft has been steadily growing into one of the best ridesharing services in the U.S., competing with other large companies like Uber.

John Zimmer (Inspiration and Innovation):

John Zimmer first identified the previously mentioned problem while attending college at Cornell. The problem was that 20% of seats in vehicles are vacant while these vehicles operate on highways. This statistic can be easily overlooked as insignificant, but Zimmer saw this as an opportunity. Capitalizing on the perceived potential, he joined forces with Logan Green who was already working on a ridesharing service called Zimride. Because Zimride was not very successful, the two decided to start developing a more mobile-focused app. With the launch of Lyft, Zimmer and Green established the solution they had been working towards.

Importance:

One of the qualities that stood out to me as I was researching John Zimmer was his ability to frame a problem. Because it is very common to see vehicles on the road with empty seats, it is not a factor that most people would consider to be a problem. George Zimmer was able to see past mundane details and use this perceived problem to discover the value of filling empty seats.

5 Comments
Categories : App, Business, Cars, Millennial Entrepreneurs

Mike Brown-The World’s Strongest Coffee

Posted by boltonjr1 
· Tuesday, September 18th, 2018 
· 2 Comments
  • About Mike Brown

Before pursuing coffee, Mike Brown worked as an accountant. Tired of his desk job, Mike left financial security behind to follow his passion of owning a coffee shop. However, Mike had no desire to push ordinary blends of caffeinated creations at his shop. Inspired by the constant influx of exhausted patrons, Mike began experimenting on a coffee recipe that would overcharge the energy levels of his customers. In about a years time, Mike Brown had created a coffee blend capable of delivering 200 percent more caffeine than the ordinary cup of coffee. Death Wish Coffee was born.

  • Death Wish Coffee Co.

He made his first online sale in 2011, shipping his product in packaging pieced together from supplies he acquired from Staples. In 2012, Mike opened a shop in Saratoga Springs, NY, where his coffee truly began to make a name for itself. In 2015, his small company was given the opportunity to air a Superbowl commercial after winning the “Small Business, Big Game” competition sponsored by Intuit. Since then, Death Wish Coffee boasts having the best selling coffee brand on Amazon and is available in thousands of stores nationwide.

  • Why do I care?

Mike Brown is an excellent example of what it means to be an entrepreneur. He was able to take something he was passionate about (i.e. coffee) and ask the right questions to determine how he could apply his passion to solving an every day problem. Mike’s dedication to quality and a stronger cup of coffee led him from selling a few cups over the internet to achieving national recognition by being named the 2017 Entrepreneur of the Year for Emerging Business in New York.

2 Comments
Categories : Uncategorized