Author Archive for nicolettice19

David Karp – Tumblr

Posted by nicolettice19 
· Tuesday, December 1st, 2020 
· 1 Comment

David Karp started the popular web platform Tumbler, however many do not know about the start of the platform. David Karp became fascinated by technology at a young age. He was born into the family of a teacher and a composer and started teaching himself HTML at the very young age of 11 years old. I don’t know about you, but I personally had no idea how to really even work a computer at 11 let alone teach myself HTML. At age 15 he became homeschooled by his mother so that he was able to focus on gaining an internship at the animation company Frederator Studios. Karp later went on to securing  a position at UrbanBaby which is a site that allows future parents to post questions for other to answer.

When David was just 17 he moved away to Japan for a period of time to immerse himself in the technology culture of Japan. Karp returned to the United States and when he did he was moved to the chief technology officer position at UrbanBaby until the company sold 2006. He then went on to raise funds to invest in his own consulting company called Davidville and then later on hired Marco Arment to help with that venture.

In 2007 David Karp launched the site Tumblr as a platform for short blogs, pictures and other forms of media. The site gave the user control over making the themes to their posts customizable to them or they had the option of using preset ones that were already on the platform. Tumblr became popular not only for everyday users but for companies to partner with the platform and create effective feeds that would market to their specific companies.

As time passed Tumblr became more and more popular. About 5 years after it was first launched the platform hosted approximately 70 million blog posts and had a staff of around 100 people. About a year later the company was purchased by Yahoo! for around $1 billion but Karp remained as the CEO. Currently Tumblr is now owned by Verizon and David Karp is no longer the CEO.

Even though Tumblr is no longer a popular platform it still was something that a generation will remember when they hear the name. What is interesting is how young Karp was when he started down the path that would lead him to Tumblr. It goes to show that you are never too young to start working towards something big and that even a small idea like a blog platform can turn into something much bigger.

1 Comment
Categories : Great Ideas, Technology, Uncategorized

Caroline and Isabel Bercaw – Da Bomb Bath Bombs

Posted by nicolettice19 
· Monday, November 16th, 2020 
· No Comments

At just 10 and 11 years old the Bercaw sisters, Isabel and Caroline started what would become their great entrepreneurial journey before they were even out of high school. Isabel and Caroline, like many enjoy bath bombs however the two thought they could make a better product than what was on the market. At not even 12 years old, the two sisters had their mother purchase the ingredients to make bath bombs and got to work perfecting their recipe. Towards the end of the summer that year they had made around 150 bath bombs and planned to enter their local craft show and sell their product.

In the first day of the craft show the sisters sold out of the 150 bath bombs. They were however able to scramble and make a bunch more for the second day of the event and again sold out and then they knew they had a hit on their hands. From their the brand only began to grow. In 2015 they had their bath bombs in 30 different shops local to their area. At the time they were making around 20,000 bath bombs in their basement in a single month and they only expanded from there. In 2016 the sisters attended an international trade show in Atlanta, Georgia where they had secured a place in multiple stores nationwide. The family eventually had to upgrade their setup and move the manufacturing to outside their home when Target called wanting to sell their product in 1,800 stores nationwide. This caused the Bercaw family to move their once tiny business to a large warehouse to fulfill manufacturing demands.

Even Caroline and Isabel started the company and it took off when they were still under 18 years old, they were still able to have a semi-normal school experience and attend high school. They both enrolled in their schools special work program allowing them to use some of their time they spent on the business to go towards their high school diploma. The  two sisters say that the business has brought their whole family closer because each one of them, even their younger brother, helps with creating and running the business. In 2018 the company had projected earnings of about $20 million, and to think it all started when Caroline and Isabel were only 10 and 11 years old. It is exciting to see such young entrepreneurs such as these two girls and it is interesting and inspiring to see it all start with such a simple product and idea.

https://dabombfizzers.com/

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Categories : Uncategorized

Jaden Smith – Just Water

Posted by nicolettice19 
· Monday, November 2nd, 2020 
· No Comments

Many of us have heard of Jaden Smith. Son to Will and Jada, he is best known for his roles in moves like The Pursuit of Happiness and The Karate Kid but many do not know that at a young age he became an entrepreneur. At the young age of 12 years old Jaden Smith came up with the idea for the company Just Water. As of September 2019,  less than four years of the company being founded, it was valued at $100 million.

The idea for this multi million dollar company came to Jaden when he was just ten years old when he was out surfing and saw floating plastic water bottles bobbing up and down in the water. He later learned about the great garbage patch in the ocean and wanted to make a change. With the help of his parents Will and Jada they helped get their sons company off the ground. The brand is known for a couple of key features with their products. They are sure to source their water responsibly while also keeping the price down for the consumer. The packaging of the water bottles is 100% recyclable materials. The paper carton is made of  responsibly sourced trees and a plastic mouth piece made of a “plastic” that is derived from sugar cane.

The company focusses on cutting down on their footprint on the earth not only do they focus on their products being made with responsible materials but even how the products are made. By creating the cartons on a flat roll they are able to ship as a 13 truck loads of plastic bottles in one truck, cutting down on emissions. Principles such as these is what makes the company so popular during this time where people are more conscience of the impact we have on the earth.

It is amazing to see that at such a young age Jaden was able to come up with the idea and the drive to create a product that would benefit the world and us who inhabit it. In less than four years he was able to hit $100 million dollars, I think it will be exciting to see where he and the company are another 5 years from now.

 

Check out their website! @justwater.com

 

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Categories : Beverages, Clean water, Water

Catherine Hettinger- The Original Fidget Spinner

Posted by nicolettice19 
· Saturday, October 10th, 2020 
· 2 Comments

In 2017 fidget spinners were the hottest toys on the market however many do not know that were actually invented many years prior. Catherine Hettinger was inspired to create the toy when she heard a story about young boys throwing rocks at police officers while on a trip over in Israel. She was inspired to create a toy that would soothe and distract children. She started coming up with the idea back in the 1980’s and wanted it to be a toy that promoted peace. Hettinger wanted it to distract children from doing things such as throwing rocks and fidgeting but little did she know they would become as popular as they are now.

In 1993 her fidget spinners hit the market and she was able to get approved for a patent four years later and ended in 2005. Trying to get the product to be a hit was not an easy one. For awhile she would go around to fairs trying the sell the gadgets and even tried selling to a few of the major toy companies but was not successful. One of the bigger companies she tried to sell to was Hasbro but after tying the product, they rejected the idea. However little did they know that over 20 years later they would start selling the toy.

Hettinger thinks the toys became so popular due to the 2008 recession because people were looking for a fun way to calm their nerves with everything going on at the time. She said she even found herself spinning the little toy when she was nervous to showcase the product to large toy companies. Eventually she was able to get Hasbro to take on the toy and it evolved into into what it is today. Even though she did not achieve success right away, she was the mind behind a toy that is extremely iconic to this generation. Some may think say they are stupid or over hyped, however if anyone says anything about a fidget spinner many know what it is so I would call it a success.

2 Comments
Categories : Toys

Catherine Cook – myYearbook

Posted by nicolettice19 
· Sunday, September 27th, 2020 
· 2 Comments

   When Catherine Cook was just 15 years old she and her brother Dave came up with the great idea for the website called myYearbook. The platform was designed to be a way for high school aged students to meet others. The two were inspired by the idea when they were starting at a new high school and were having difficulties making new friends. They got the program up and running by working with people in Mumbai. Catherine says that she and Dave would stay up into the early morning hours just so they could connect with their developers and go over the multiple wireframes they drew out with a paper and pencil. 

   In April of 2005 the website was launched in their high school. Catherine told ADWEEK in an interview that they faked a few press releases to catch people’s attention and within the first year they had 1 million members. One of the biggest struggles they had to work through with the website was finding a way for people to have fun with the platform regardless if they had multiple friends or no friends on the site. They were able to overcome the hurdle and because of it they had 37.2 million members back in August of 2011.

Later in 2011 the company was sold for 100 million dollars of combined cash and stock shares. At the ripe age of 21 she became a millionaire from a simple idea she had when she was just 15 years old. Today the website was known as MeetMe after the name was changed but has since then rebranded and is now The Meet Group. The Meet Group is still growing and branched into the dating site scene and produced the sites Growlr, NextDate and also purchased the company that owns eharmony. 

  When Catherine and David came up with the idea I am pretty sure they did not know it would take off like this. It is amazing to see a simple idea such as theirs flourish into something so big. The story of myYearbook is just proof that you are never too young to be an entrepreneur and that no idea should ever be underestimated.

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Categories : App, Business, Websites

4ocean: Alex Schulze and Andrew Cooper

Posted by nicolettice19 
· Sunday, September 13th, 2020 
· No Comments

    The idea for the company 4ocean started when entrepreneurs Andrew Cooper and Alex Schulze took a trip to the country of Bali after they graduated college. The two planned to surf along the coast but were taken aback when they saw the amount of garbage that littered the coast. They wanted to find a way to make a change and hopefully inspire others to do the same.  Andrew and Alex were inspired by multiple lifestyle brands that had a charity edge to them. In 2017 they launched the company and their great venture started. 

    Bracelets being their main product, are made of a simple woven string and recycled plastic beads making for a simple yet recognizable bracelet. Every time a bracelet is purchased the company uses part of the proceeds to pull one pound of trash out of the ocean and to also fund beach cleanups. As their following and sales increased so did their product line. They now offer various bracelets in different cord colors themed after different marine animals. 4ocean water bottles, drink ware, apparel and cleanup supplies are also sold by the company. A end of life program is also being worked on so that there is minimal waste when it comes to their products. Andrew and Alex are aiming to have a way to recycle their old products once consumers are done with them. The company has removed approximately 4.7 million pounds of trash as of 2019. They also provide jobs for the women of Bali who make the bracelets and provide jobs for people all around the world who help with the cleanups. 

    Andrew and Alex were able to grow their company large enough to be featured in Forbes, The Today Show and CNBC. Both entrepreneurs were listed in Forbes 30 under 30 in the 2019 edition and won the category of Social Entrepreneurship. With over 2 million Instagram followers the two were able to create quite the cult following with just a simple idea and a business plan. 

 

Click the link below to explore 4ocean or to make a purchase.

https://www.4ocean.com/

 

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Categories : Ocean, Social Entrepreneur, Uncategorized