A high school freshman by the name of Maanasa Mendu was the youngest ever to make on Forbe’s list of “30 Under 30”. Mendu was only 11 when she began experiencing a massive problem during her family trips to India. This problem was the numerous power outages she would have to deal with while on family vacation. Once she realized this was a growing concern and little effort was put forth to solve it, she began creating her company, “HARVEST”. Mendu was able to create a piezoelectric “leaf” device that harvests energy from the sun, wind, and rain.

The market Mendu was targeting in the midst of creating her product was areas experiencing the challenges of energy scarcity. And unlike the renewable competition we have today in this market, no product has been able to convert all the natural elements into energy, most are wind, solar, or water specific. Mendu is currently working to commercialize her product but has already experienced tremendous success as she was named on Forbes “30 Under 30” list at the age of 16.

Mendu was able to recognize a problem across the world and commercialize it back home and market it not only domestically but internationally as well. It will be exciting to see what the future has in store for Mendu and her company.

Forbe’s list

Full story

Just like any other cliche entrepreneurial story, Matt Mullenweg was 19 years old when he decided to drop out of the University of Houston to pursue his passion and interest of technology. Prior to leaving Houston, Matt was studying political science and also doing consulting on the side. He soon realized consulting and school was not a career objective he wanted and eventually decided to take a job in San Francisco with CNET Networks – a news information company covering the latest technology breakthroughs. While at CNET, Matt was able to recognize different areas of opportunity within the web and roughly two years later he left to create a business from the opportunities he noticed. In 2005, Matt founded “Automattic” which is now the force behind WordPress, Jetpack, WooCommerce, Simplenote, Longreads, The Atavist, and many other products in the market. Matt’s mission for the company upon inception was, “To make the web a better place” and he has done exactly that.

Even though Automattic has become an extremely successful company, Matt has also been able to expand into other markets, including the angel investing market. Matt also advises and invests in startups through his company “Audrey Capital”. The main purpose of Audrey Capital is to help innovative ideas grow through his own investment. A few of the companies Matt has invested in through Audrey Capital are “Telegram, Sonos, 3D Robotics, and Student.com”

Matt’s full story

Automattic website

Audrey Capital website

A majority of hedge fund managers are older than 40 and most of their assets consist of either equity or debt securities. However, a 29 year old entrepreneur decided to break the decades old tradition of hedge funds and bring about change and innovation within the hedge fund industry.

Olaf Carlson-Wee decided the hedge fund industry was ripe for change and was able to profit from the change. Thanks to advancing technology, new currencies have been produced into what we now call “cryptocurrencies”. Olaf started his hedge fund before he even hit 30 and decided NOT to invest in either equity or debt securities. Instead, Olaf would build his personal and client fortune by going all-in on cryptocurrencies, specifically bitcoin. Other hedge fund managers were opposed to Olaf’s investment strategy and some even laughed at him but this did not stop Olaf from profiting. In fact, he was able to turn $14,502 into $150 million through his innovative strategy. Olaf’s hedge fund, Polychain Capital, became the first ever crypto fund with more than $1 billion in assets. Olaf has completely revolutionized the hedge fund industry through his innovative investment philosophy.

Olaf’s story

Henrique Dubugras is a Brazilian entrepreneur who founded his first business by the age of 14. The problem he aimed to solve was the lack of information Brazilian students have about the application process for American schools. Henrique discovered a passion for technology, specifically coding, and incorporated both his passion and the problem he identified into a business. The company became extremely successful as it garnered over 800,000 users but Henrique failed to make a profit and eventually had to shut it down. But this didn’t stop him from continuing to identify problems and attempting to find innovative solutions for them.

A few years went on and Henrique met an individual named Pedro Franceschi. Pedro also had a passion for technology and after discussing with one another they decided to make a visit to Silicon Valley as well as attend Stanford University. Pedro also had a background for entrepreneurship and was eager to find ways to utilize technology in order to solve specific problems. Eventually, Pedro and Henrique discovered a mutual issue they encountered when they were trying to build businesses; the lack of access to credit that founders have. As Henrique said, “There aren’t a lot of venture capitals in Brazil that are willing to fund 15-year-olds.” And once they realized they could provide a solution to this problem, they dropped out of Stanford and began working full-time on their new business, Brex. As stated from the two founders, “Brex doesn’t require any kind of personal guarantee or security deposit and it doesn’t use third-party legacy technology; its software platform is built from scratch. It simplifies a lot of the frustrating parts of corporate expenses by providing companies with a consolidated look at their spending. At the end of each month, for example, a CEO can easily see how much the entire company spent on Uber. Plus, Brex can give entrepreneurs a credit limit that’s as much as 10 times higher than what they’d receive elsewhere and they can issue cards, virtual cards at least, moments after the online application is complete.”

Henrique and Pedro were able to discover a problem and use their passion and expertise to find a solution. Today Brex is a billion-dollar publicly traded business only after being founded in 2017.

Company Website

About 6 years, Mike Brown had an idea to revive the coffee industry. He was upset with the lack of quality most brands exhibited and decided to experiment on his own. He attempted to create the perfect blend of beans while combining it with his unique roasting technique and after so long, he created what is known as the “World’s Strongest Coffee”.

Other than the issue of quality, Mike identified a few other problems within the industry. He realized the lack of mobility coffee shops had and decided to mobilize his coffee shop by using coffee trucks, similar to food trucks. He also decided to take his truck throughout downtown New York where millions of people could easily access his coffee on their way to work. Mike also utilized modern technology to kick start his business. He created podcasts and YouTube videos to connect even further with his customers and formed a community filled with people who loved his company and their culture.

As stated in their mission, “Our mission is to fuel you wherever you go. Death Wish Coffee is made by passionate people for passionate people, and our carefully selected, perfectly roasted coffee beans produce a bold, highly caffeinated coffee blend. We strive for the best tasting and highest quality organic and fair trade beans in every bag. Our processes are USDA certified and we have committed to sustainability throughout our products. We offer a 100%, no-BS guarantee: If this isn’t the strongest coffee you’ve ever tried, we’ll gladly give you a refund.”

Even better than all this, Mike wanted to also do something no other coffee company has done before. On June 29, 2018, Mike’s company sent an instant, freeze-dried blend of Death Wish to the International Space Station to fuel the crew of NASA Expedition 56. Instead of Death Wish Coffee being the world’s strongest coffee, they are now the strongest coffee in the galaxy.

Death Wish Coffee website

Death Wish Coffee podcast

In 2011, a millennial entrepreneur by the name of Katrina Lake founded a company called Stitch Fix. Her company is essentially a fashion-based subscription service utilizing the advantages of today’s technology. Katrina discovered that within the clothing industry, shopping for the specific clothes that fit your own personal style was not only difficult but also time intensive. The problem Katrina aimed to solve was just that. She wanted to create a company that shopped for you, instead of traditional method of shopping for yourself. As stated on their website, “It’s our mission to change the way people find clothes they love by combining technology with the personal touch of seasoned style experts. The Stitch Fix experience is not merely curated—it’s truly personalized to you. We’re here to help you save time, look great and evolve your personal style over time.”

What really makes her idea interesting is her innovative use of technology. When a customer initially signs up for Stitch Fix’s services, they are required to complete a clothing questionnaire. The detailed clothing quiz asks for the brands you wear, the sizes that best fit you, and what styles you like best based on pictures of models wearing the Stitch Fix brand. After completion of this, the answers are put into algorithms that eventually determine your own personal stylist. You are then put into contact with your stylist electronically and continue the discussion about your own clothing style.

Not only is she innovative by using complex coding and algorithms to best match candidates with personal stylists, but she also ships outfits to your home for only a small fee of $20.00. The clothes can be tested in the comfort of your own home and purchased if necessary (which credits the $20.00 towards whatever you purchase). Consumers no longer have to waste time traveling to different stores and trying on numerous different outfits. Nor do they need to have a physical presence anywhere to make a purchase. It is all done personally and through the use of technology thanks to Katrina Lake’s idea.