Archive for Online Companies – Page 4

GXStudios

The college version of the board game Risk. The game GoCrossCampus also known as GXC is an online game that was developed by a group of current and former Yale students. How it works is a group of students from various schools battle for territory on a map of a college campus, anything from a grassy area or a dining hall or dormitory building. They are trying to create a team based social gaming. As a start-up they raised $1 million in venture capital.

There ideas came from a desire to fuel team and school spirit against other colleges and universities. As well as against affinity groups, ultimately taking sports and college rivalries beyond the playing field or classroom test scores and onto every students laptop.

From the reviews to the left you can see that the appeal to this has grown beyond the appeal of college campuses. Professional businesses has found this as an interesting way to create some fun in the work place and some friendly competition. They currently have three functioning games that are available on their website and allow collaboration across laptop users.

Jake Nickell – Threadless

In 2000, Jake Nickell started a thread on the forum website Dreamless, where artists could submit t-shirt designs to share with the rest of the thread. The best few designs were then chosen, and Jake printed them out and sold them. The artists who won received a few free shirts for their contribution. All of the money Jake made from shirt sales was put directly back into printing new shirts. His reason for this project was not making money, it was his passion for design and the art community. He did not even really think about it becoming a real business at first. After this first round, Jake built a website to sell the shirts on, and eventually moved everything to the site when he saw a possibility for a business. He called it Threadless, a spin-off of the name Dreamless. The basic structure was, and still is, that artists submit designs, and each week they are voted upon by the site users. Then the best are printed out and sold. Artists receive money and a Threadless gift card for winning.

Soon after, Jake dropped out of art school to focus on Threadless. During the first few years, Jake was constantly designing new websites and rolling them out to get feedback on them. They would sometimes totally change the Threadless website four times a year. Jake is an artist and a coder, so he had fun working on this, and still does to this day. In 2004, Threadless made $1.5 million in profit, and in 2006 they hit $6.5 million. Then in 2008, Inc. estimated $30 million in sales at a 30% profit ($9 million in profit), and also named Threadless as The Most Innovative Company in America and placed them on the front cover of their magazine.

Threadless utilizes two big tools with their business model – crowdsourcing and co-creation. This means that the customers create and promote the products being sold, which is part of the reason they are so successful. It gets artists involved in what they love to do. They also have a chance to make money from it, so they will go promote it to their friends, which keeps growing the business. Threadless was actually around before the term crowdsourcing came into being, but it was quickly connected with the company.

Threadless also does very well at connecting with their customers and artists. Employees sometimes text the artists, and constantly communicate with them and ask about their experience.

Threadless is truly an innovative company that has become very successful. What has made them successful is their (at the time) unique business model, and their passion, especially Jake’s passion, for the artist community.

The College Students who Created a Sports Entertainment Empire

See the source image    When thinking about the type of person who would be coined with he term “entrepreneur”, one might envision a well-dressed, business-professional man or woman in a skyrise. While this is true in many instances, there are numerous examples of uncommon people starting uncommonly successful businesses. One prime example of this are the young entrepreneurs who began the sports entertainment dynasty that is Dude Perfect. The co-founders of Dude Perfect, at the time it began, college roommates at Texas A&M University. They created a “trick shot” video out of a backyard and it was an instant hit on YouTube, gathering an impressive 200,000 views over just one week. After this success, the group began to produce more exciting, more impressive videos of seemingly impossible trick shots.

See the source image

Through the incredible dedication of the cofounders, they edited the videos by themselves until they have the resources to outsource a full-time producer and editor. They began designing and selling online merchandise through their website and releasing iPhone applications that were downloaded by millions. I have heard two of the cofounders, (Cory and Koby Cotton) speak on how difficult it was to get Dude Perfect off the ground, and they shared how many trials they had to overcome such as low resources, sleep deprivation, and even facial paralysis. Present day, this sports phenomenon is worth more than $10 Million and that number keeps growing significantly. They are currently the seventh most subscribed YouTube channel (36 million) and have accumulated more than 7 billion views. They have worked with celebrities such as Serena Williams, Russel Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, Chris Paul, and Drew Brees. The cofounders of Dude Perfect have created a sports dynasty that is enjoyed by millions and are changing the way we think of sports entertainment all while having the time of their lives.

Good Mythical Morning!

Rhett and Link are a huge YouTube sensation today with thousands of dedicated followers and their own merchandise. This comedic duo has been together since first grade and still remain the best of friends now. What started out as their own website in 2005, Rhett and Link made hilarious videos, usually satirical songs that had perfect harmony and humor. However, when YouTube started, their videos became more viewed. In 2007, the duo gained over 800,000 views in just a few months (a feat that is extremely impressive, considering that this was the really early days of YouTube). This video, The Facebook Song, proved to be their most popular video (now at 17 million views today). In addition to them being one of the first viral videos, they also are one of the few channels that has been around for the entirety of YouTube’s life. Another part of their lucrative business is their daily show, Good Mythical Morning, which is a 20 minute long morning talk show filled with crazy food taste tests and lots of competitions.

 

What makes Rhett and Link such amazing millennial entrepreneurs is their dedication to their customers, and their desire to keep being creative with their skits. Additionally, they have found a way to create something they love and that pays the bills for them and their families. With that in mind, they also have gained a large fan base, giving them the ability to sell merchandise and write books (both of which fly off the internet shelves). All through the process, they remain humble about their success. With their success, they promise to increase their humor and quality, both of which have definitely improved. Rhett and Link truly are national treasures and deserve recognition for all of their hard work. With classic (and mostly clean) humor, they are a joy to watch and laugh at.

Teal Drones: World’s Fastest Commercial Drone

George Matus was only 12 years old when he created his own flying quadcopter. As he got older he became frustrated with the drone options that were on the market. They were restrictive for they were either only racing or only for taking pictures and video. So, he created his own “wish list” of things that he wanted in a drone and went to work making prototypes. After dozens of versions of drones and hours of test flying and crashing he was able to create his dream drone at the age of 16. The drone is capable of flying faster than 70 mph and can withstand wind of up to 40 mph. The product is yet to be released but Matus has plans to release the drone next year with a starting price of $1,300. To date, Teal Drones has raised over $3 million in fundraising and has an extremely bright future ahead.

CNBC: George Matus, founder and CEO of Teal

 

Article Link: https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/12/meet-the-18-year-old-entrepreneur-who-built-the-worlds-fastest-drone.html

 

Thrifting Her Way Into a Successful Business

Susan Gregg-Koger, a CMU alum, is the CEO and co-founder of Modcloth.com. She began this business over 15 years ago in 2002 by collecting and selling vintage clothing online. This company all started the summer before her freshman year of college, as a way to support her passion for thrifting. Here we see the idea of how one can use their passion to start a unique business.

Throughout college, Susan continued to develop her website and process orders. This requires a lot of discipline and hard work, 2 qualities of a good entrepreneur. Her current husband/boyfriend at the time really helped transform the business by enhancing her website. Modcloth.com grew tremendously over the past several years. In fact, now the site has over 300 designers, creating unique clothing. The business has reached $100 million in annual sales.

In an interview, Susan and her husband discussed the difficulties of being an entrepreneur. From their experience, they learned that it is important to try or test new ideas before committing to them. For example, when they decided to expand from 2 to 3 cities, they didn’t realize how expensive and complicated things would get. However, they learned from their mistakes and made things work. It is important to understand that entrepreneurs will experience obstacles and hard times that they have to overcome.

Website

Blog Post #6 – Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant is another person who people automatically associate with basketball, and for good reason.  Ever since his retirement, Kobe has been making headlines all over with his business moves.  In March of 2014, Bryant decided to invest $6 million into Body Armor, a sports drink company.  In return, he would receive 10% of the company.  Back in August of 2018, Coca-Cola decided to purchase Body Armor and Kobe saw his investment turn into a $200 million gain.  He saw a return of $194 million which is not too bad for 5 years of ownership.  Also, in January 2018, he received a Grammy for his short-film, “Dear Basketball”.  Kobe Bryant has nearly made more money during his retirement than his 20-year playing career.  If that is not a businessman/entrepreneur then I do not know what is.  He has also been extremely precise as to what endorsement deals he selects because he is focused on being as successful as possible.  Some of his most lucrative deals include partnerships with McDonald’s, Nike, Sprite, and Spalding.  Kobe has also been very wise with his spending habits.  He also has expressed some interest in owning an NBA team and that can be very expensive so he is doing everything he can to make that dream become reality.  Kobe Bryant is an entrepreneur because he is never satisfied, he always is looking for more.  Success can come in a variety of ways, but someone’s bank account is usually a good indicator as to how successful they have been and Kobe’s bank account would certainly say that he is very successful.

Are You Kidding?

Are You Kidding® is a sock company started by two young entrepreneurial brothers. Brandon and Sebastian have begun living out their passion at an astonishingly young age of 10(Sebastian) and 12 years old(Brandon).  Sebastian serves as the C.E.O. and designer for Are You Kidding® and Brandon is Director of Sales. The Martinez brothers share a desire to stand out and look cool to the rest of the world and are currently helping others who have a similar goal. Through their endeavor they have created a small business through which they share their fun designs and can raise money for various charities. Since starting the company, the Martinez brothers have managed to partner with  Autism Speaks, American Cancer Society, Special Olympics Florida, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Miami, and The Live Like Bella Foundation to name a few. These young men have showed remarkable initiative and drive through their entrepreneurial efforts and are making an impact in their community.

Are You Kidding Socks

Source: https://areyoukiddingsocks.com/pages/how-we-give

Be Passionate

When one looks in the mirror, what does one see? A child, a business individual, a person who has the chance to make a difference? Zachary Weisenthal saw a boy who was fascinated with web design and computers. Weisenthal grew up like any other child shoveling snow and pet sitting for the neighbors. It was not until he accompanied his father at an entrepreneurial weekend event did a sudden spark of interest happen. Weisenthal already interested in computers and web design, but this opportunity opened up a whole new future for him. He was introduced to the technology WordPress and not long after became a master of the app and set out to start his business. With his previous set in skills of time management, communication, and determination from his childhood jobs Weisenthal set work onto becoming one of the youngest, most successful business people in the world. Zach Weisenthal is know the proud owner of Zach’s Web Designs, building websites for non-profit organizations, jewelers, racecar drivers, etc.

Weisenthal was able to show the world that one does not need money or a big idea to become great, only the opportunity. If the opportunity is presented to you, grab it, and see where it takes you. Of coarse growing a successful business does not happen on it own, it takes time and energy. Another key factor to becoming successful is to be passionate about what you are doing. If you do not find what you are perusing to be interesting to you then it is going to be an uphill battle for you.

Weisenthal suggests on taking risks. How else will you go far if you act like everybody else.

Influencive

Brian D. Evans has had a knack for solving unconventional problems his entire life. In 2015, Brian became an Inc. 500 Entrepreneur. Brian’s online advertising and marketing agency made the Inc. 500 list of Fastest Growing Private Companies in America, and was the 25th fastest growing advertising and marketing agency in America.

Brian has been ranked #7 on Forbes list of most influential marketing influences in the world, with almost a million followers on his personal brand and millions of followers across his companies. HE is the founder of Influencive.com, a media platform that provides unconventional wisdom. Influencive reaches many millions of people monthly.

On Inc. Magazine Brian was called one of the most influential millennial entrepreneurs. And on Entrepreneur Magazine Brian was named an “inspiring influencer to follow.”