Lily Born’s grandfather, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease, often had trouble with normal drinking cups, which led to him frequently spilling things. Rather than seeing this as an unresolvable problem, Lily saw an opportunity to help. She designed the Kangaroo Cup, a spill-resistant cup that allows those with similar issues to remain independent. The product has since become very popular and has helped countless people with these issues. Lily’s story is a powerful reminder that entrepreneurship can start with the idea and desire to solve a personal problem. By turning her empathy into a real product, Lily helped her grandpa and created a successful business that has helped so many people by using innovation.
Author Archive for harrisna23
Jack Parsons’ story is a powerful story of overcoming trials and using his personal experiences to fuel his success as an entrepreneur. Growing up, Parsons faced a lot of major obstacles, primarily a lack of support and guidance. However, these challenges did not stop him from pursuing his dreams. At the young age of 26, Jack Parsons founded The Youth Group, a UK-based organization that works to support “vulnerable young people in achieving their potential.” Through his work, Parsons has created a group that offers endless opportunities to millions of young people. Parsons’ work with The Youth Group highlights the importance specifically of social entrepreneurship and the role that young entrepreneurs can play regarding these issues.
At the young age of 22, Evan Spiegel began his path to becoming a billionaire and became a co-founder of Snapchat. “Spiegel’s story is a testament to the power of innovation and the importance of understanding market needs. His ability to adapt Snapchat’s offerings to the ever-changing landscape of social media has kept the platform relevant and made it a staple in the daily lives of millions.” Speigel took an idea and a different approach to social media and created a platform that made him a billionaire. The co-founders hated how all social media felt permanent, so they launched “Picaboo,” an app where photos would disappear. They later forced one of the co-founders out and relaunched as Snapchat.
Mark Zuckerberg’s journey from a normal college student to a largely successful entrepreneur shows the importance of innovation and taking risks. In 2004, while studying at Harvard, Zuckerberg created Facebook as a social media site for students to connect with each other. It quickly became really popular and expanded beyond just Harvard. Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard after all of his success and secured a large investment from Accel Partners. This money allowed Facebook to keep growing at a quick rate, and within a few years, it became a global social media.
Zuckerberg has said in regard to this platform that he wanted a space where people could share content, discover interests, and interact with businesses. Today, Facebook remains one of the world’s largest social networks. This shows that young entrepreneurs who have a simple idea and execute it well can have massive success!
Grace Beverley is a successful young entrepreneur and founder of sustainable style brand TALA, and fitness tech brand Shreddy: both majorly successful brands. She founded both of these companies in her early 20s, at a very young age. These brands today promote sustainable fitness wear that is accessible in a large range of sizes. In an interview, Beverley discussed her goals for these lines, saying, “My priority is to make sustainability accessible and in turn to combat the huge impact of the fashion industry on our planet.” She founded these companies all while studying at Oxford University. However, after her time at Oxford, she discovered her passion for sustainability. She continued to attain a Sustainable Business Strategy certificate from Harvard Business School. After her education, she was recognized in Forbes 30 under 30 at the young age of 23 for her style brand TALA.
Beverley is very open in her advice to young entrepreneurs. In an interview, when asked what one of the hardest parts of being a young entrepreneur is, she said the issue is not how other people see you, but how you see yourself. She openly talks about her struggles with imposter syndrome, as it can be hard to feel like you belong among so many successful entrepreneurs at such a young age. These principles and lessons are really valuable to remember as young entrepreneurs.
Danya Sherman, founder and creator of Knope, turned a terrible experience into a successful business opportunity that has taken off immensely. While studying abroad in 2016, someone unfortunately slipped drugs into Sherman’s drink and took advantage of her. Sherman took this real-life experience and created Knope Drink Covers, described as “a cocktail napkin that changes color when it comes in contact with just a few drops of liquid laced with drugs.” Danya Sherman was specifically interesting to me because, while investigating her story and product, it was evident how she saw a problem and created a solution. As an entrepreneur, one of your primary jobs is to find problems and respond by creating a solution. Sherman took a tragic life experience, saw the problem, and created an effective solution in the Knope Drink Covers. Sherman also expanded her brand to not only include drink covers – but also tests that allow someone to test their drink for up to twelve different drugs of abuse. investigating Sherman and her brand has been inspiring to me because she solved a major problem and created multiple solutions in response.