Andrew Mason is well known as being the founder and former CEO of Groupon but that is not the only thing he has accomplished. Mason grew up in Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania and at the young age of 15 started a delivery service called “Bagel Express” which operated Saturday mornings. In 2003 He graduated from Northwest University with a degree in music. Instead of going into the music industry however Mason worked for the entrepreneur Eric Lefkofsky as a web designer. After that a well-known Chicago recording studio called Electrical Audio hired Mason as an intern and later an employee. In 2006 Mason was supported by Lefkofsky to start The Point which was an internet social program designed to organize the boycotting and supporting of different causes. The Point had trouble in the market, so it was changed to what we now Know as Groupon, a website that sells coupons for local businesses. Mason was the CEO of Groupon from 2007 to 2013 when he was fired because sales and profit had gone down. In 2015 Mason founded the app Detour which provided audio tours of major cities, Bose acquired this app in 2018. Now Mason works as the CEO of Descript an audio word processing platform that allows an editor or producers to edit sound files. Now Descript is adding a new feature which allows you to type an audio recording that will be in your own voice without you having to record the audio. Andrew Mason shows the creativity and out of the box thinking that I believe all Entrepreneurs demonstrate.
Author Archive for Emily Fiol
Cherie Tan at the young age of 14 started freelancing as a web designer. She loved creating beautiful virtual things that she and her virtual friends all enjoyed. Cherie went all in and taught herself Photoshop, CSS and JavaScript with the motivation of creating beautiful websites and this brought her her first paying client. At Newcastle University in the UK Cherie earned a second-upper honors degree in electrical engineering. During this time her freelance career had led her to stating the beginnings of her software development and design firm as well as taking on different challenging project from all over the world. In 2016 Cherie founded Mogul Tech International to help her handle all the requests she had started receiving. Modul Tech is a company where the employees are trained in remote work designing websites, products, growth strategies, and beautiful software for many different companies. Having a remote team has its challenges Cherie says but she says it is rewarding as well and she has seen it pay off many times with clients, the team members, and herself. In 2018 Cherie changed her focus and became certified and registered as an Associate Wealth Planner in Singapore, shifting to the financial industry. Now she is hoping to start a code academy for kids inside Singapore. Cherie is also very active in her community mentoring teens in the local public schools in Singapore as well as volunteering at local community shelters. Cherie Tan demonstrates so many entrepreneurial gifts and is doing amazing work.
Gabrielle Jordan was 9 when she started her own business. Inspired by 4 previous generations of entrepreneurs in her family, Gabrielle started to sell jewelry to her friends at school and through that her business grew to what is now called Jewlez of Jordan which is a high end online jewelry business that goes to boutiques, trunk shows, fashion shows and other events. Gabrielle’s jewelry is unique and is inspired by a timeless beauty that she wants to reflect by her handcrafted one-of-a-kind pieces made with gemstones, crystals and cultured pearls. Gabrielle did not stop with her jewelry business but moved on to inspire other young entrepreneurs by co-founding the ExCEL Youth Mentoring Institute. ExCEL Youth Mentoring Institution is a youth-based online mentoring cite offering resources for entrepreneurship and leadership development. Gabriel also wrote a book, The Making of a Young Entrepreneur: A kids Guide to Developing the Mind-Set for Success. All this has given her the opportunity to become a speaker at many conferences, schools, and community events. Gabriel also has appeared on many news and online publications. Gabriel is also the host of The UV Effect Podcast, this podcast helps listeners discover their unique value, where it gets the name. Through all of this Gabrielle is an inspiration in the entrepreneurial world encouraging and educating new entrepreneurs in their journey of entrepreneurship.
Benjamin Pasternak was born September 6, 1999 in Sydney, New South Wales, AU. What made Ben famous was a smartphone game that he created in class when he was 14, it was called Impossible Rush and he sold it later for $200. This game became a huge hit which led to him creating a second smartphone game, Impossible Dial, which also was a huge success and was sold for $85,000. After these two games Ben came up with Flogg, a social media specifically for teens that allowed them to sell and buy things on. Flogg was for a short time the no. 1 trending app in the United States, Germany, and Australia. After the success of Flogg Ben dropped out of high school and moved to Manhattan. In 2016 Monkey, an App that Ben co-founded, was launched; it was an app for teenagers to meet people through a short video chat. Monkey hit no.1 on the US Apple App Store. In 2017 Monkey was sold to Holla for an unknown amount. In 2018 Ben started a new company called NUGGS which engineered a vegan “chicken nugget”; This company is aimed at ending factory farming. Now Ben is still working on NUGGS and we have yet to see if it will be a success but from what he has accomplished in his past I believe he has a high chance of creating another successful product. If Ben Pasternak does not inspire you, I don’t know who will, he created three new apps and is the CEO of his own business at age 20. That is inspiring.
Rachel Zietz was a 13-year-old when she founded her company Gladiator Lacrosse. This was the result of her being unsatisfied with the quality and price of her lacrosse equipment. Because of this Rachel decided to start a company that would sell highly durable and well-priced lacrosse equipment. This was how Gladiator Lacrosse was formed. When Rachel was still in school, she focused on improving her skills as an Entrepreneur and well-seasoned CEO of her own company. What makes this company especially unique is the personal side of it. Because Rachel herself plays lacrosse she knows the importance of inexpensive and high-quality equipment. While being the CEO of Gladiator Lacrosse Rachel is also enrolled in Princeton University. As well as that She appeared on Shark Tank when she was 15 although she didn’t get a deal, but the sharks were impressed. Rachel Zietz is an inspiration balancing life, school and being a CEO of her own company at such a young age.
Billie Eilish was born December 18, 2001 in Los Angeles California, was homeschooled, and started singing and writing at a young age. “Ocean Eyes” was the first song Billie recorded and posted on SoundCloud written by her brother. It was originally posted for Billie’s dance instructor to choreograph for her. This song started Billie’s carrier as a singer-songwriter. Now she is a pop artist at the young age of 17 with multiple hits.
Unlike many pop artists Billie Eilish likes to go against the grain, I believe that is one of the things that makes her so appealing to the culture right now. She is very honest with things she deals with, for example depression, and implements that into her music which adds a layer of genuineness. Her style of singing is very unusual, sometimes almost a whisper and other times a very strong voice. She likes to mix a lot of genres into one in her songs which is unique for a pop artist.
Billie Eilish demonstrates entrepreneurship in her thinking outside of the box in her music which has given her a name in the music world. She was the first artist born in the 2000’s to have a number one hit on the Billboard top Hot 100, making history. She is being innovative with her music by combining genres and inspiring others to reach for their dreams and think differently. Billie Eilish is starting the beginning of a change in the music industry today.