Author Archive for harrisna23

Mark Zuckerbuerg: Facebook

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: Sustainable Fitness

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: Creating Knope

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.