The first known school yearbook was published in 1806 by Yale University.  Since then, American schools have released yearbooks for students to see who is in their grade.  But Catherine Cook wanted more.

When she was 15, Cook was looking through her yearbook with her older brother, and they were shocked at the lack of information that was given about who was in their classes.  Therefore, they decided that they wanted a better way to get to know their schoolmates.  Her brother’s entrepreneurial tendencies along with her great idea created myYearbook.com, an online “Facebook for high school”.  The social networking site allows members to create profiles and interact with others who are in their class and create better bonds as they move beyond high school.

After finding developers in Mumbai and advertising a bare-bones startup, Cook was able to gain 400 members in a week and was encouraged when her friends gave her site positive reviews.  As the company gained followers and popularity, Cook was able to hire engineers and rent out office space to help her company grow.  Since then, myYearbook.com has become one of the 25 most-trafficked websites in the United States.

Cook was able to take an innovation that had been around for centuries and applied it to a different medium.  She was able to improve upon an idea that already existed by expounding on the possibilities that it could produce.  With the help of her family, she was also able to start turning her idea into a profit.  She was able to create an incredibly successful company from her parent’s basement and later pushed her company to include greater numbers of people.

I am inspired by Cook’s ability to take a widely used item and put a creative twist on it.  I am also inspired by her very humble beginning setup and how she was able to make it grow.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION: https://www.inc.com/magazine/201205/liz-welch/catherine-cook-and-geoff-cook-myyearbook.html