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Archive for Youngest Entrepreneurs – Page 12

ReThink: A Millennial Entrepreneur’s Solution to Cyberbullying

Posted by Stephanie Grindley

· Tuesday, November 8th, 2016

· 5 Comments

Remember that one time someone said something at school and it hurt you, to the point that you remember it to this day? Maybe you experienced some form of bullying, a lot of people can identify with at least one case. Most of us grew up as kids without cellphones or access to internet for that matter. Verbal bullying consisted of what you could say to another person face to face or on the phone. With the introduction of the cell phone and most kids owning one, communication advances into other mediums. But with this easy mode of communication comes more ways to bully. Words over text last longer, but words can also be edited from the initial thought unlike face to face communication. So, many parents and school systems ask the question: Is there any way to try and limit text bullying without censorship of free speech?

Trisha Prabhu is a 16 year old female social entrepreneur with her mind set on creating something that diminishes cyberbullying. Trisha, around 13 years old started formulating an idea that limits bullying that takes place within the school system. She designed an app called ReThink. Over the past years, Trisha has won countless awards and finally got her idea officially endorsed by a shark on the show Shark Tank.

ReThink is an app that can be purchased by school systems where the app can be implemented to all electronics owned by the school. When kids go to respond to a message, if they use language that sounds offensive in nature, a message will pop up and ask if they would like to reword their text. This mere pause before sending has been proven to diminish cyberbullying immensely.

Being someone who is weary about any speech censorship, I actually find this app to be acceptable because it doesn’t prohibit anyone from speaking what they think, just suggesting that they maybe rethink how they say it. It’s obvious to see that Trisha has compassion and a heart to help others, but she also has an eye to see a solution to a problem that seemed almost hopeless for many online. As an entrepreneur, she inspires me to not look past problems that are just socially accepted as how it will always be. As a communications major, she shows me how we can promote healthy communication without infringing on people’s rights to free speech.

5 Comments

Categories : App, Communication, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Shark Tank, Social Entrepreneur, Social Media, Women Entrepreneurs, Youngest Entrepreneurs

Tags : cyberbullying, messaging, rethink

Hart Main- ManCans

Posted by Emily Krofcheck

· Friday, October 21st, 2016

· 6 Comments

You don’t have to have made huge strides to be considered an entrepreneur. This is why I find Hart Main’s story not only amusingly adorable, but also inspirational for all young kids (and adults) with creative minds. Hart is a 14-year old that came up with the idea of manly scented candles, which he has wittingly branded as ManCans.

He came up with this idea when he was teasing his sister about the “girly scented” candles she was selling for a school fundraiser. Hart wanted to take a spin on the average candle and direct it at a different than normal audience, men. Although his family didn’t expect him to pursue the manly scented candles idea himself, he did. Hart’s idea has since turned into a nationwide success.

He put in an initial investment of $100, his parents put in $200, and together they all worked on developing the candles. Some of the available scents include: Campfire, Bacon, Sawdust, Fresh Cut Grass, Grandpa’s Pipe and more. Currently, ManCans’ candles are in over 60 stores across the country and have sold about 9,000 units. Hart plans to stick with selling ManCans’ inventory until he has to shift his focus back into school, he is only 14 after all.

Hart Main specifically inspires me in the way that he views entrepreneurship and innovation. He saw the smallest gap in a market and jumped at the opportunity to fill it. This is a view that I believe more entrepreneurs should put into use: whatever our dreams, ideas or projects, if we plant a seed, from that small thing comes fruit greater than we could imagine.

6 Comments

Categories : Millennial Enrepreneuers, Uncategorized, Youngest Entrepreneurs

Tags : candles, Inspirational

Nohbo

Posted by Leona Bently

· Saturday, October 8th, 2016

· 5 Comments

Image result for benjamin stern

Meet Benjamin Stern. At the ripe old age of 17, this kid made a deal with Shark Tank Judge Mark Cuban for 25% of his company for $100,000. Crazy right? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Then I looked into this miraculous product he thought up and developed and understood why. Ben’s product, the Nohbo, is a ball of dried shampoo that when run under water can be rubbed between your hands to produce a rich shampoo. This ingenious style of shampoo produces the perfect amount of soap for you while at the same time cutting down on plastic waste, which is the main goal of this company. These travel friendly spheres are perfect for any excursion you undertake. Just take however many you need for however many days and you’ll be good to go! Because of their small design and liquid free formula they will prevent spills and wont take up tons of space in your bag. However Ben’s products aren’t just limited to shampoo. He has also produced conditioner, body-wash, and shaving cream. Robert Herjavec of Shark Tank also commented “This could be the most successful product I’ve ever been presented with on Shark Tank.” Stern is continuing to be innovative in his product ideas as well as with his upkeep on Nohbo. He says his “…growing passion is to help the environment…” and we can’t wait to see what he’ll come up with next.

Go check out his awesome product in the video below:

5 Comments

Categories : Great Ideas, Millennial Entrepreneurs, Shark Tank, Youngest Entrepreneurs

Quality Tech Reviews

Posted by Joseph Fitzpatrick

· Tuesday, September 27th, 2016

· 1 Comment

Too often in the world of new and upcoming tech, one can be easily overwhelmed by the crowded feed of user reviews. Enter a simple search such as “iPhone Review” onto the YouTube search engine and one will find a plethora of videos all aiming to answer the same few questions. What does it do? How does it work? Is the product (the newest iPhone, for example) worth the cost? Does it succeed or live up to one’s expectations? Is it better than the competitor’s options? These are simple questions that the consumer asks. Unfortunately, many reviewers fail to communicate to the average consumer the answers they seek. Too many reviews focus on specs, build quality, or the camera, but few have always been able to deliver to the consumer a holistic perspective on whether or not the piece of tech delivers.

Enter Marques Brownlee. Born in December of 1993, Marques is an American based, Youtuber specializing in technology reviews. In 2013 Vic Gundotra, the former senior Vice President, Social for Google Inc. named Marques Brownlee “the best technology reviewer on the planet right now.” Why is this?

Marques Brownlee

While his videos have always been informative, he originally gained popularity for responding to his viewers such as answering questions they brought to him and by asking his viewer what they were interested in viewing. Since 2008, his channel has gained over 3.7 million subscribers making him the most subscribed to ‘tech based’ YouTube channel.

Marques stands out from the many reviewers on YouTube using his deep understanding of technology to explain new and complicated developments. However, unlike many, he does this using simple terms and straightforward videos creating high quality tech reviews answering the questions the consumer might have.

1 Comment

Categories : Film, Technology, Youngest Entrepreneurs, YouTube

Mashable

Posted by Leona Bently

· Monday, September 26th, 2016

· 1 Comment

Image result for pete cashmore

Mashable is a top 10 multi million dollar blog that reaches audiences of all sorts; from the tech world to sports, to news stories with hot and relevant information on the top new products and info in the market. In 2005 it’s founder Pete Cashmore started this revolutionary data generator at the tender age of 19. His clever blog design, quick tips, tech advice, and social cultural aspects have attracted over 29 million followers on the many social media platforms he posts on. Cashmore grew his business from the ground up by adding sites for consumer contact and departments in the company itself to expand the empire. On the site itself found here, http://mashable.com/, you will find a variety of posts on a variety of topics for a variety of viewers. Its humorous takes on noteworthy company failures, quick views on sports games and reviews of new tech products and software are what make the blog so successful. By 2012 Cashmore was ranked in Time Magazines Top 100 Most Influential People for his great work in the social media world. Along with Mashable’s commitment to excellence and accuracy in their posts, Cashmore has also committed it to give back to the community by finding job opportunities in the career realms of “technology and social media, marketing and business, and design and development.” It also promises to attribute to a concept of “Social Good” to “make the world a better place.” In all these senses of this company I believe Mashable and its founder are both the stuff of the future we need to continue to push us into the future.

1 Comment

Categories : Blog, Databases, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Millennial Entrepreneurs, Technology, Websites, Youngest Entrepreneurs

Better Than a Lemonade Stand

Posted by Hannah Hastings

· Monday, September 26th, 2016

· No Comments

When I was about 15 years old, the town of Falmouth in Cape Cod decided to replace an old train track with a biking trail that extended several miles to Woods Hole, a popular tourist hot spot. That summer I ventured from my family’s summer home to see what the new bike trail had to offer in places I had never seen due to overgrown weeds – and that was how I met Patrick. Patrick was only 14, yet already had a summer business that was raking in hundreds annually to go toward his future college tuition.

Patrick’s parents had made it clear at a young age that if he wanted to go to college, he was going to have to start saving early because they couldn’t afford the debt. His home was on an average Falmouth road – quiet and lazy, yet also bustling in the summer with people biking or walking to the beach. At the age of 12, he borrowed $1,000 to purchase a high quality shaved ice making machine and flavoring, and set up a table at the side of the road to sell shaved ice to the passerbys. It didn’t take long for the revenue to start flowing like water, and he gained regular customers who would specifically travel down his road to purchase his shaved ice. When Falmouth ripped out the railroad in favor of the trail, his business exploded. By the time I met him, his table had become a semi-permanent booth that boasted the shaved ice machine, dozens of flavors, fresh squeezed lemonade, other refreshments like Gatorade and Sprite, and even had a shady section off to the side with benches and tables. The bike trail brought a boom of tourists and natives from other towns, and he had already saved several thousand dollars when I first met him.

One thing I truly admired was his commitment to his original goal of saving the money for his future tuition. He was already a levelheaded businessman at the young age of 14, and the vast majority of his revenue went straight into his savings instead of his pockets. It was brilliant for him to realize at age 12 that virtually no one sold shaved ice in our area and in the surrounding towns, and he was able to capitalize on that advantage very quickly before others caught on and did the same. While I haven’t seen Patrick in a few years, I am quite confident that his business is still there, improving, and thriving during the hot Cape Cod summers.

No Comments

Categories : College, Food, Millennial Entrepreneurs, Outdoors, Youngest Entrepreneurs

Tags : Cape Cod, Innovation, shaved ice, Summer

Man Can

Posted by Cole Zinn

· Friday, December 18th, 2015

· 2 Comments

The possibility of making money off little ideas seems so unlikely, however we hear the story time and time again about how here are children out there making thousands or millions a year just off of a little idea. Maybe it is because they aren’t as scared to fail, because they don’t need the money to provide for their families. Something about these stories is surprising, and also uplifting.

Fourteen year old Hart Main had an idea when he was teasing his sister about her fundraiser and selling “girly scented candles.” He wanted to make manly scented candles. With an initial investment of 300 dollars his dream started to become a reality. Soon he has scents such as Campfire, Grandpa’s Pipe, and Sawdust. These are now in at least 60 stores and have sold over 9000 units. He made this come true with just 300 dollars.

Kids who had lemonade stands when they were young had a mission, to make money. Adults who have a job, for the most part, have a mission, to make money. Sometimes all you need is to handle is the risk. Just like Hart, he just did it.

2 Comments

Categories : Great Ideas, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Outdoors, Youngest Entrepreneurs

Andrew Mason- Groupon!

Posted by Alan Brennen

· Saturday, December 5th, 2015

· 2 Comments

Andrew Mason grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. His parents both owning their own business. Andrew seems to have inherited some of his parents genes, at age 15 he started a weekend bagel-delivery service called Bagel Express. He went on to found several more businesses until he hit an absolute gold mine. As he went on to co-found a massively successful business called groupon!

In 2008, Groupon was birthed out of a desire to improve to the concept of collective buying. Collective buying being- a practice in which a group of customers pledges to purchase a product from a vendor and the vendor in turn provides the product to the group at a reduced price. Mason starting the business with two partners. Mason became the company’s chief executive officer, while his partners took on other major roles in the company. By negotiating deep discounts on vendors’ products and services, Groupon sought to link vendors with new customers through its updated new day everyday deal for a spotlighted product or service as well as through other, less-prominent deals. Groupon has some amazing profit margins as it receives up to 50 percent of the retail value of the product or service. Which is pretty crazy.

After the massive success story Groupon has been, in 2010 Google took notice and wanted to buy them! Offering an amazing 6 billion dollars! Mason and his partners turned down the deal ultimately to keep ownership and the business as independently owned. In June of 2011 Groupon went public.

Groupon is a great success story of a young millennial entrepreneur that saw a market gap and had the audacity to capitalize on it!

2 Comments

Categories : Millennial Enrepreneuers, Millennial Entrepreneurs, Youngest Entrepreneurs

14 Year Old Draws Attention in the Real Estate Business

Posted by Lindy Bowser

· Tuesday, December 1st, 2015

· 4 Comments

In September of 2011, Florida was in a catastrophic housing recession causing several homeowners to foreclose. With all the families moving out with no money to spend, houses were left empty at low prices waiting for a profit. March 2012, 14 at the time, Willow Tufano took up this opportunity and begins selling some of her belongings on Craigslist. After months of saving, Willow buys her first home for $12,000. She is not made of money, she simply took advantage of Florida’s weak market.

By October of that year Willow bought a two bedroom, one bath home for $17,500 to add to her investment portfolio. After she renovates her homes she rents them out to collect profit. She mentions in interviews that it is difficult for renters to take her seriously due to her age. She speaks of renters refusing to pay her and leaving with no warning in the middle of the night.

Willow has created quite a stir in the real estate market because she is so young and willing to take risks in an unpredictable business. The vulnerability of the market opened the door to Willow being successful at just 14.

Watch Willow on Ellen: https://youtu.be/GTTczC27fko

4 Comments

Categories : Millennial Enrepreneuers, Uncategorized, Youngest Entrepreneurs