Several years ago (2009) we published a blog post about the most successful college dropouts in history. There are many young entrepreneur dropouts, and I’m one of them. To celebrate us dropouts I compiled a list updated for 2015 with the top entrepreneurs who dropped out of college and still managed to crush it in business.

Here are some notable takeaways from our dropouts:

• Over 1.5 million employees.
• Over $600 billion net worth.
• Over $40 billion donated to charity.
• 14 names made their billions in the tech space.
• 10 names made their billions in the last 10 years.

Top 30 College Drop Outs Who Made It Big in Business

#1. Henry Ford  (Ford)

Net Worth $199 Billion – Dropped out at 16.

Henry Ford dropped out at 16 and later founded Ford Motor Company in 1903. By 1908 he dropped the famous Model T and the assembly line, which has affected all of our lives, literally shaping the world. If he was still alive today, he’d be worth $199 Billion.

#2. Bill Gates (Microsoft)

Net Worth $78.8 Billion – Dropped out at 19.

Gates attended Harvard in the fall of 1973, only to drop out two years later to found Microsoft with childhood buddy Paul Allen. In 2007, he ended up receiving an honorary degree from Harvard.

#3. Larry Ellison (Oracle)

Net Worth $56.6 Billion – Dropped out at 20. 

Larry Ellison is a serial entrepreneur, programmer and philanthropist who made a good chunk of his billions via the multinational tech corp, Oracle. Oh yea, he also own an island in Hawaii named, “Larry Ellison Island.”

#4. Amancio Ortega (Zara)

Net Worth $66.2 Billion – Dropped out at 14. 

At 27, Ortega founded his own company, producing quality yet affordable garments, and in 1975, he opened his first retail store, Zara. Ortega is now the richest man in Spain.

#5. Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook)

Net Worth $33.7 Billion – Dropped out at 19.

Surely you’ve heard of Mark Zuckerberg. If not, he’s the guy who founded the second highest traffic website in the world, Facebook. Remember the hoodie he wore to all of his press conferences and public events?

#6. Li Ka Shing (Cheung Kong Holdings)

Net Worth $33.5 Billion – Dropped out at 15. 

Li Ka Shing said “deuces” to school at age 15 and started selling watch bands. Today he’s the world’s largest operator of container terminals, world’s largest health and beauty retailer, Chinese energy supplier and real estate developer.

 #7. Sheldon Adelson (Las Vegas Sands)

Net Worth $30.2 Billion – Dropped out at 19. 

While you may not know his face, you may have partied at one of his Vegas establishments for your 21st. Aside from Sheldon Adelson being a casino tycoon, he also owns the Israeli Daily newspaper and dabbles in politics.

#8. Larry Page (Google) 

Net Worth $29.1 Billion – Dropped out at 21. 

Larry page is known for co-founding a little site called Google. He technically graduated from University of Michigan but later dropped out of his PhD. program which why he’s on the list. 

#9. Michael Dell (Dell)

Net Worth $21.8 Billion – Dropped out at 19. 

Michael Dell truly caught the entrepreneurial bug in college. Selling upgrade mods for personal computers from his dorm, ultimately led to him getting a license from the State of Texas to bid on (large) contracts. The rest is history.

#10. Paul Allen (Microsoft)

Net Worth $17 Billion – Dropped out at 20. 

This Microsoft co-founder is a sports fanatic, owning the Seattle Seahawks, and the NBA’s Portland Trailblazer’s. He’s known for having fun with his cash thanks to ridiculous toys ranging from submarines to 400ft yachts.

 #11. Azim Premji (Wipro)

Net Worth $16.4 Billion – Dropped out at 22. 

Mr. Premji has been at the helm of Wipro Limited for four decades. In that time he’s grown them into one of the Indian leaders in the software industry.

#12. Kirk Kerkorian (Tracinda) 

Net Worth $10 Billion – Dropped out at 12. 

Kirk Kerkorian is known as the “father of the megaresort” and has helped develop, shape and grow Las Vegas. An 8th grade dropout, Kirk is a former boxer, WWII fighter pilot and CEO of the successful investment firm Tracinda.

#13. Steve Jobs (Apple)

Net Worth $8.3 Billion – Dropped out at 21. 

Jobs dropped out of college after one semester and recycled cans and bottles to make ends meet. A vegetarian Buddhist who frequently experimented with LSD, Jobs has been hailed as the Ford and Edison of our Time.

#14. Dustin Moskovitz (Facebook)

Net Worth $8.2 Billion – Dropped out at 21.

Forbes reported Moskovitz to be the youngest self-made billionaire in history. Zuckerberg’s roommate at Harvard and Facebook’s third employee, Dustin left Facebook in 2008 to start hist software firm Asana.

#15. Lex Wexner (L Brands)

Net Worth $7.7 Billion – Dropped out at 22. 

Over the years Lex has built up some of the most famous brands in the world, including Abercrombie & Fitch, Lane Bryant, Limited Too and Express. Btw, he’s the shot caller aka current owner of Victoria Secret.

#16. Jan Koum (WhatsApp)

Net Worth $7.2 Billion – Dropped out at 20. 

Koum made $6.8 billion when Facebook acquired his mobile messaging startup WhatsApp for $19 billion. He had originally dropped out of school to Yahoo, where he oversaw security and infrastructure for the internet giant.

#17. Ralph Lauren (Ralph Lauren)

Net Worth $7.1 Billion – Dropped out at 20.

This billionaire fashion mogul studied business for 2 years before dropping out. In 1967, after leaving his clerk position at Brooks Brothers, Lauren sold $500,000 worth of ties. He started Polo the next year.

#18. David Geffen (Geffen Records)

Net Worth $6.9 Billion – Dropped out at 19. 

This guy founded Asylum Records and Geffen Records and co-founded DreamWorks. He also founded Hobby Lobby, a popular American chain of arts and crafts stores.

#19. Walt Disney (Disney)

Net Worth $5 billion (2015) – Dropped out at 16. 

Walt Disney dropped out of at 16 and founded Walt Disney; a company which now has an annual revenue of about $30 billion. He’s regarded as the most influential animator ever.

#20. David Green (Hobby Lobby)

Net Worth $4.7 Billion – Dropped out at 18. 

Billionaire founder of Hobby Lobby, religious philanthropist. Did not attend college. Started the Hobby Lobby chain with a $600 loan.

#21. Richard Branson (Virgin)

Net Worth $4.7 Billion – Dropped out at 16. 

ironically he dropped out to start a youth magazine called “Student.” After he moved to London in the 60s, he developed a “mail-order” record company to fund his magazine, named Virgin. Branson’s empire includes an airline, drinks manufacturer and over 400 other ventures.

#22. Elizabeth Holmes (Theranos)

Net Worth $4.5 Billion – Dropped out at 19. 

At 30, Elizabeth Holmes makes her debut on the Forbes 400 as the youngest self-made woman billionaire.  

#23. Subhash Chandra Goel (Zee Tv)

Net Worth $4 Billion – Dropped out at 12. 

Dr Chandra who is referred to as the Media Moghul of India, changed the television industry by launching the country’s first satellite Hindi channel in 1992. The Zee Network now has over 500 million viewers in 167 countries.

#24. Haim Saban (Saban Capital)

Net Worth $3.3 Billion – Dropped out at 13.

Saban made it big as the producer of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV show in the early 90s. And later sold Fox Family to Disney for $5 Billion and made $1.7 Billion on the deal.

#25. Sean Parker (Facebook)

Net Worth $3 Billion – Dropped out at 14. 

He’s the co-founder of the infamous music sharing service Napster, which changed the music industry forever. He later served as Facebook’s first president owning 28.2% of B shares.
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#26. Evan Williams (Twitter)

Net Worth $2.9 Billion – Dropped out at 19. 

Williams is one of the co-founders of Twitter and the founder of Square, and before each of the aforementioned companies he co-founded the successful podcasting company Odeo. 
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#27. Jack Dorsey (Twitter)

Net Worth $2.5 Billion – Dropped out at 20. 

Dorsey, who is now on the board of Disney, is one of the founding members of Twitter, and founder and CEO of Square. He’s often referred to as the “cool” guy in tech.

#28. Hiroshi Yamauchi (Nintendo)

Net Worth $2.1 Billion – Dropped out at 22. 

Yamauchi dropped out to take over the company his grandfather started in 1889, maintaining his role as the third president of Nintendo for 55 years, taking them from small card company to video game powerhouse.

#29. Gabe Newell (Valve)

Net Worth $1.3 Billion – Dropped out at 20.

Newell co-founded Valve Corporation, a company famous for the sci-fi video game, Half Life. Newell claims to be “producer of the first three releases of Windows.” Like Zuckerberg and Gates, he was also a Harvard dropout.

#30. Orji Uzor Kalu (Slok)

Net Worth $1 Billion – Dropped out at 20.

The Nigerian born billionaire and war survivor, made his billions in television and media after being expelled from University for leading student riots and taking a $35 loan from his mother.

We Can’t Gauge Our Success Based on Grades

Not having a college degree will be a hindrance to some avenues of success, but not all.  It does tend to make it harder to get a job with big companies (in particular) or with companies that are founded by individuals who place great value on academic degrees. These types of people are increasingly less common, especially in tech, as you’ll notice from this list, but there’s still a lot of them. 

Of the 30 names on this list, 25 are self made. And of the 25 that are self made, 10 made their billions in the last 10 years in the tech space. What’s also interesting, is that the combined total of employees that these dropouts employ is well over 1 million. And of this number of employees, a vast number of them have college degrees. Ironic, no?

Don’t Rush to Quit School

Interesting and inspiring selection I think you will agree. Not all are complete dropouts – some actually have pretty impressive academic achievements to their name but alas the call of their Entrepreneurial Ventures took them to leave those studies and instead go on to create considerable wealth plus businesses that in some case have touched Billions of people.

One entrepreneur who in particular impressed me was Michael Dell – who started a computer company called PCs Limited while attending the University of Texas in Austin. It became so successful that Dell dropped out of school to operate it, and the company eventually became Dell, Inc, with revenues of $56.94 billion in 2013. In 2006, Dell and his wife gave a $50 million grant to the University which he attended but never graduated from.

One remarkable fact I noted when compiling this list, was the number of businesses that started of in a garage. Take for example the HP corporation which started life in a tiny 12×18 foot garage. And then there is also Google and Apple who started life in a garage.

And the Most Notable Young Entrepreneurs Of Recent Times?

Well it is Mark Zuckerberg of course.

Facebook Founder, Mark Zuckerberg has an estimated net worth of nearly $34 billion and believed by some to be the wealthiest man younger than 35 in the USA. Mark Zuckerberg, like Bill Gates, is a Harvard dropout.

After launching Facebook school-wide from his dorm room at Harvard in February 2004, Zuckerberg began devoting more and more time to his program, gradually spreading it to other schools. By that summer, Zuckerberg and his roommate Dustin Moskovitz had released Facebook to nearly 30 schools, and the website was growing too popular to be run part-time.

This post is dedicated to Chad

We recently received an email from a mother concerned not only with the happiness and motivation of her son, but the type of ‘formal’ education he was receiving. She felt her child needed to be inspired and found a similar WebMakeMoney.com article to be just that.

Even if this list makes a difference to one life, it’s worth doing.

Where to go from here

WebMakeMoney is packed with helpful information and advice from some of the leading entrepreneurs in the world. For inspiration I would suggest you read some of our high profile interviews and check out our young entrepreneur rich list!

The post The Most Successful College Dropouts In History appeared first on Young Entrepreneurs.

The post 7 Common Mistakes Young Entrepreneurs Make and How To Avoid Them appeared first on Young Entrepreneurs.

1) Tell us about your main project, Mashable? Why did you launch Mashable? Where are you at now with Mashable?
I launched Mashable in 2005 to get up to speed with all the new services launching on the web.  I wanted to launch my own startup and needed to conduct research; very soon, Mashable itself became my startup.

2) I think Mashable is a great name – what are the origins of the name? What does it mean to you?

“Mashable” comes from the “mashups” trend.  In recent years, people have been combining pieces of the web in interesting ways; you might want to plot photos from your Flickr account on Google Maps, for instance.  You might also want to combine music, videos and text from different services.  Whenever you combine parts of the web like this, it’s called a “mashup”.  These days, virtually everything on the web is remixable…Mashable, in other words.

3) Have you had any particular challenges running such a successful website like Mashable so young?

Not really.  The biggest challenge for a blogger is finding the energy to keep going – luckily, young people have plenty of that.

4) Mashable describes itself as The Social Networking Blog. In your opinion what are the next big steps / hot trends for social networking?

There are two huge trends going forward: aggregation and mobile social networking.  Aggregation is bringing together all your social networks: you might have a Facebook profile, a MySpace page, photos on Flickr, videos on YouTube and other fragments distributed around the web.  A new breed of services is trying to bring those parts together to make our online lives easier. 

Mobile social networking speaks for itself: people are now sending constant updates to their friends using services like Twitter, while web-based social networks like Facebook and MySpace can be used from mobile devices.  This will lead to a lot more overlap between social networking on the web and in real life: you can upload photos to a web profile the second you take them, or add a new friend to your Facebook network moments after you meet in the real world.  And let’s not forget live video streaming from mobile phones: you can now watch events live, as they happen, thanks to services like Qik.com.

5) You are well known for high quality content – do you have any tips for quality blog posts and also for recruiting writers?

Generally we like writers who can take complex ideas and explain them in simple terms: we hire people who have deep knowledge combined with good language skills.

6) If you could go back in a time machine to the time when you were just getting started, what business related advice would you give yourself?

Work smarter, not harder.

7) Do you think that entrepreneurialism is something that is in your blood? Or is it something that can be learned?

I’m sure it can be learned, but for a lot of entrepreneurs it seems to come from their character or early, early experiences.  Personally, I’m just not good at obeying authority figures.

9) Do you have any favourite business related, webmaster or personal development related books that you can recommend to other entrepreneurs?

No, I never remember what I read; I remember experiences.  I find it best to dive right in and learn the hard way.

12) If the Internet had not existed – what do you think you would be doing?

I’d possibly be studying law or politics. 

13) What do you like best about the Internet?

The unlimited opportunities.

14) What do you like least about the Internet?

Spam.

15) Have you any plans (personal or business) that you can share with us about your future plans / goals / lifetime goals?

Oh, I’m not plotting a lifelong course just yet; there are too many opportunities right now to take just one path.

–Pete

The post Interview With Pete Cashmore – Founder of Mashable appeared first on Young Entrepreneurs.

Ryan is the founder and CEO of iContact, email marketing and surveying software. Ryan’s entrepreneur career started at just 11 years old when he offered a computer service for $5 a hour, now 24 he expects his business to turn over $25 million this year! I got the pleasure of meeting Ryan last month in Washington at a Internet Marketing seminar and he was a very talented young man with lots to share so make sure to read this interview guys!

First off – can we have a little background information on you Ryan – Where you live? How old you are? (if you don’t mind answering) What motivates you? What inspires you?

As for my personal background, I’m originally from Pennsylvania but grew up in Bradenton, Florida. When I was 18, I came to Chapel Hill to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and majored in economics. Right now, I’m 24, and still live in Chapel Hill. I currently work full-time as the CEO for iContact in Durham, NC, which I co-founded in 2003 with my friend and business partner Aaron Houghton. I’m also very passionate about giving back to my community, and currently serve on the board of several humanitarian organizations. What keeps me inspired is the fact that I’ve played a big role in creating 150 jobs. I get so much energy from being around our team. Being an entrepreneur is truly my passion. I love it, but the experience is what I can only imagine raising a real child would be like. What one has to sacrifice, to give, to devote to the effort is immense.

1) What gave you the idea to start iContact ?

When I was 11, I started helping senior citizens in Florida learn computer skills for like $5 per session one summer. I kept building my client base for a few summers and by 8th grade, I had made over $400. I learned basic HTML and web site development, which would prove to be very useful down the road.

Right before my junior year of high school, I had this amazing experience traveling around Spain and Mexico. While I was in Mexico City, I came up with this idea for my first company, a web development firm that I named Virante. I had officially become an entrepreneur. When I was 18, I made the decision to go to UNC, and that’s where I met Aaron Houghton. He ran a company called Preation who had developed the initial technology for iContact. I saw the many advantages it had to other products we were using to do email marketing for our clients. We decided then to create a company around the product.

2) You have managed to build a company to $1 Million in sales by 21, now 24 you expect to do over $25 million in sales this year from your web business iContact, what advice would you give a entrepreneur trying to earn money from their website?

I want to sincerely emphasize that when you are becoming an entrepreneur and are about to start a company, anything is possible. You never know how far it’s going to go until you give it your maximum effort. It can sometimes take up to fiveyears to successfully start a business, so make sure you’ve got the passion and the drive to see your idea through to the end.

If you create a company without any initial monetary investment or financial backing, then you are doing something called bootstrapping. In this situation, you can expect to work 70+ hour weeks for a year or more without a salary. You also need to be very creative and learn how to improvise to extend what little cash you may have at the very beginning.

When Aaron and I were starting iContact , he told me that I should be ready to be the “Chief Executive Officer, Chief Executive Painter, and Chief Executive Janitor.” My first official office headquarters was on the 6th floor of my dorm at UNC. For a long time when iContact first began, we lived off of Ramen Noodles, and went dumpster-diving to find $50 rebates for office supplies. It’s very important to have a “whatever it takes” attitude when it comes to your company’s finances, especially if you are not initially backed by venture capital.

3) I understand that at 16 years old you set a goal to achieve $1 Million in sales by 21, What advice would you give a young entrepreneur trying to set and achieve goals young?

I believe what makes a successful entrepreneur is having a bias towards action and having strong work ethic. Having a bias toward action and taking the initiative means that a person will never become idle due to indecision. If they see a problem, they will be proactive and figure out a way to solve it, and are always looking for ways to improve the company. Having a good work ethic means that a person is able to see any issues that arise through until a solution is reached. These people will often have to multi-task and work on several different projects at once, and being able to focus to complete the tasks at hand illustrate strong work ethic.

I would absolutely encourage young entrepreneurs to type up their goals in a 1 year, 3 year, 10 year, and lifetime format, print them out, and then hang them in your office or bedroom so you see them a couple times per week. Then update them annually. This process has been extremely helpful to me.

4) You Raised $5.3 Million in Venture Capital at Age 22, how in the world did you manage to raise that capital? What advice would you give other entrepreneurs trying to raise capital for their startup.

Aaron and I managed to raise capital from having persistence and finding the right people who would take us seriously. If you have patience and examine all options of funding (whether that be angel investment, venture capital, etc.) you will find the right resources to match your business aspirations.

The advice I would give if you presently do not have the financial resources, a great piece of technology, or a good business idea, intern or get a job at a company in an industry you are interested in to start building your network or partner with someone who does have those resources.

The best advice I can give to someone trying to raise capital is to build relationships 6 to 9 months before you need them and to never send in an unreferred plan, especially via email. Rather get introduced via an entrepreneur, accountant, or attorney who has worked with the investor before and has their trust.

5) Do you think that entrepreneurialism is something that is in your blood? Or is it something that can be learned?

I believe that becoming an entrepreneur is something that involves constant education. When I started iContact, my business partner and I faced large obstacles such as financial burdens of launching a company and finding people that took our idea seriously. As an entrepreneur, it would be hard to say that working through these barriers, haven’t made me who I am today.

6) Is there anyone that you look up to and model yourself on?

Yes—a number of people:

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR/ACTIVIST ROLE MODELS
Mahatma Gandhi (The non-violent revolutionary)
Mother Theresa (The lady who cared for the sick and poor)
Martin Luther King, Jr. (The Man with a Dream)
Susan B. Anthony (Civil rights and suffrage leader)
Paul Farmer (Doctor for the Poor, Mountains Beyond Mountains)
Mohammed Yunus (Banker to the Poor)
Dennis Whittle (Founder of Global Giving)
Bill Drayton (Founder of Ashoka)
Matt Flannery (Founder of Kiva)
Jessica Jackley Flannery (Founder of Kiva)
Dan West (Founder of Heifer International)
Bernard Kouchner (Co-Founder of Doctors Without Borders)
Kerry Kennedy (Human rights activist)
Sergio Vieira de Mello (UN human rights commissioner)
Laura Arrillaga (Venture philanthropist)
Samantha Power (Human rights activist)

BUSINESS ROLE MODELS
Bill Gates (the innovator and hard-line businessman)
Jeffrey Skoll (the eBay founder and social entrepreneur innovator)
Marc Benioff (the SaaS phenomenom-maker)
Marc Andreessen (keeps hitting home runs)
Steve Jobs (he comeback kid)
Larry Page (the technologist and business innovator)
Sergey Brin (the dynamic duo part deux)
Richard Branson (loses his virginity every day)
Thomas Edison (succeeded by failing 3,635 times)
Andrew Carnegie (the library funder)
John D. Rockefeller (the competitor)
John D. MacArthur (the PBS funder)
Sam Walton (the great retailer, scaler, and SIFE founder)
Henry Ford (his ability to scale, not him per say)
Larry Ellison (his ability to sell, not him per se)
Tom Perkins (his ability to put together venture deals, not him per se)

INVESTOR ROLE MODELS
Jim Simons (the physicist billionaire hedge fund manager)
J.P. Morgan (the financial system saver)
Steve Jurvetson (the VC gadget-lover)
Warren Buffett (the smartest fundamentalist around)
Charlie Munger (Buffett’s partner)

ECONOMIST ROLE MODELS
Jeffrey Sachs (End of Poverty, Common Wealth)
Hernando De Soto (The Mystery of Capital)
George Soros (Open Society)
Milton Friedman (Capitalism and Freedom)
John Maynard Keynes (The General Theory)

JOURNALIST/AUTHOR ROLE MODELS
Tom Friedman (Lexus and The Olive Tree)
John Perkins (Economic Hitman)
Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad Poor Dad)
Napoleon Hill (Think and Grow Rich)
Jim Collins (Good to Great)

POLITICAL ROLE MODELS
Abraham Lincoln (The Uniter)
Benjamin Franklin (The Inventor)
John F. Kennedy (The Dreamer)
Benazir Bhutto (The Fighter)
John McCain (The Fighter)
Barack Obama (The Changer & Inspirer)
Al Gore (The Authentic)
Bill Clinton (The World Changer)
Jimmy Carter (The Carer)
Hillary Rodham Clinton (The Courageous)
Nancy Pelosi (The Caretaker)
Mario Cuomo (The Speaker)

…And anyone who worked or is currently working to increase human prosperity, ensure an economically prosperous and sustainable world, and reduce human suffering, poverty, disease, warfare, and genocide.

7) Do you have any favorite business related or entrepreneur related books that you can recommend to other entrepreneurs?

To the aspiring entrepreneur, I would recommend these 5 books without hesitation:

1. Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

2. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

3. The Lexus and the Olive Tree by Thomas L. Friedman

4. The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs

5. Zero-to-IPO by David Smith

8) What is the best advice you have ever been given?

Have a sense of urgency. Take action today. Write down your goals and frame them. Play for the long term.

9) What advice would you give to a Young Entrepreneur setting up their first business?

As an aspiring entrepreneur, your success will depend on your work ethic, initiative and a strong desire to push your business to the next level. Here are the top 5 tips that I think will help you reach your goal:

Becoming a successful entrepreneur is not easy. You must have persistence, dedication, tenacity, and the ability to deal with adversity.

You will not be able to do everything at once. Take a long-run approach. Play life like a long-term game.
Take a proactive role in planning, goal setting, and personal evaluation.
If and when you succeed, give back to your community as an enlightened entrepreneur. We have unprecedented wealth and opportunity in this time and age, and I believe that with our combined entrepreneurial talent and resources, we can help repair our broken world.

10) Have you any plans (personal or business) that you can share with us about your future plans / goals / lifetime goals?

For the foreseeable future, I plan on staying at iContact as the full-time CEO and see where our growth can take us. We are growing at a tremendous rate: we just eclipsed 40,000 customers, and now have a team of more than 150 outstanding employees. I am proud to say that we are a leader in our industry in terms of what we offer to our customers, and in what we give back to our community. iContact donates 1 percent of our quarterly payroll to local and national non-profit organizations. Even though we are a business who wants to succeed at what we do, it is very important that we are socially responsible for the sake of our community and our world.

I believe I should take it upon myself to lead other CEOs and entrepreneurs in the direction of being responsible corporate citizens by giving back to their communities. We have the entrepreneurial talent and resources to end extreme poverty and ensure universal access to education, healthcare, and other basic necessities. I believe this generation of enlightened entrepreneurs can have a dramatic affect on these issues and help build a stronger, safer world in the process.

In the future, I hope to work as an entrepreneur, social entrepreneur, writer, investor, and public servant.

The post Interview With Ryan Allis – Founder of iContact appeared first on Young Entrepreneurs.

Thank you for providing us with this interview. I first met you at Yanik Silvers Underground Online Seminar in 2008 and I like just about everyone else in the room was blown away by you and your business ethos. It is a sincere pleasure to have you here on WebMakeMoney.com – the fact that a busy man like you is taking the time to help out Young Entrepreneurs is greatly appreciated.

First off – can we have a little background information on you Tony – Where you live? How old you are? What motivates you? What inspires you?

I’m 35 and grew up in the Bay Area (California), but currently live in Las Vegas. My motivation for Zappos is to build a business where culture is the number one priority. It’s important to me to build a business where money isn’t the primary motivator because in tough times, I’ve found that it isn’t enough to see it all the way through. I believe success is created by following your passion and going through the journey of redefining what success means. I think there’s something to learn from anyone no matter what their position or background, and that anyone can be inspiring somehow. I’ve been told that I have a diverse group of friends. I think that’s helped me in the business world, even if they aren’t all from the business world.

You can find Tony’s bio by clicking here!

1) You are CEO of Zappos.com – a company that I understand is approaching One Billion Dollars in turnover.  How did you come to get involved in Zappos ?

In the late ’90s, I had formed a small investment fund called Venture Frogs with Alfred, our COO/CFO. We invested in 20 or so different Internet companies and Zappos happened to be one of them. Over time, it became clear that Zappos was the most promising and the most fun. Eventually, I decided to join the company full time, and I became the CEO.

2) Zappos sells footwear – with approaching a billion dollars in revenues, that is a lot of customers. What has allowed you to grow to such a large business while at the same time retaining an excellent reputation for service?

The #1 driver of our growth has been through repeat customers and word of mouth. We focus on having the best customer service, but ultimately, our#1 priority is company culture. Our belief is that if you get the culture right, then most of the other stuff, like great customer service and building a great brand, will happen naturally on its own.

3) Can you share some of the biggest lessons you have learned personally and as a business as Zappos.com has grown? If you were to start again, what might you do differently?

Something I’ve learned over the years is that it’s a good idea to hire people more slowly and fire those that are harming the culture more quickly. In general, I think mistakes are fine as long as we learn from them and do our best not to repeat them. I wouldn’t necessarily do anything differently, but I would try to do everything faster.

4) What next for Zappos? Where do you see the business in say 5 years time?

We’ve already begun to expand into other categories like apparel, accessories, and even electronics. In 2008, we did over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales, primarily in footwear.  Apparel is four times the size of the footwear market, so we’d like to get customers to think of Zappos not just for shoes, but for clothes and other things as well.

5) Zappos is about fashion – how do you / your team keep on top of fashion trends? How do you predict how many of a particular style you will sell for example?

We have a dedicated team of buyers that stays on top of the latest trends in fashion and style.

6) Do you have any recommended strategies for getting customers who buy once to come back and buy from you again – other than of course good service?

It really is service and delivering “wow” through service that keeps our repeat customers returning. Our merchandising team also maintains a constant inflow of new products to ensure that inventory stays fresh and in line with what our customers want.

7) I have been reading your guide to Twitter , It seems everyone is now very excited about Twitter – but what excited you about it so much and made you an early adopter of Twitter.

I first started using Twitter in March 2007 at the SXSW Interactive conference. While at the conference, I found it was a great way to find out what was going on during the day at the conference as well as figuring out what parties to go to at night. After the conference, I introduced it to my friends in Vegas (where I live now) as well as my friends in San Francisco (where I used to live). I found it was a great way to find out what was going on and for meeting up with friends in Vegas. I also found that it was a great way to keep in touch and feel connected to my friends in San Francisco. After using it with just my close friends for about a year, I realized how much Twitter had allowed me to form more personal connections with everyone, so we decided to introduce it to Zappos as a way of growing our company culture. We’ve found that it’s been great for building more personal connections with both employees and customers.

8) Do you have any suggestions for coping with set-backs, negative experiences?

I believe that ups and downs are naturally all part of the journey. If you don’t have setbacks, you probably aren’t taking enough risks.

9) How do you keep your business focus – Do you have any suggestions for entrepreneurs who are experiencing challenging times?

I’ve found that it’s helpful to focus on being the best at one (smaller)thing rather than trying to be everything to everyone.

10) Is there anyone that you look up to and model yourself on?

No, I really enjoy meeting lots of different people, both within and outside of my business circles. I think there’s something to be learned from everyone.

11) Do you have any favourite business related or web design related books that you can recommend to other entrepreneurs?

If you go to www.zapposinsights.com and click on the Suggested Reading link on the left, you’ll find the books we recommend to all of our employees, customers, partners and friends.

12) What is the best advice you have ever been given?

To never forget that the most important thing in life is the quality of life we lead.

13) You are one of the most famous Young Entrepreneurs in the world today- based on your experiences, what advice would you give to a Young Entrepreneur starting their first business today?

It’s generally better to do things fast (knowing you’ll make mistakes),than to take a long time and try to get things perfect.

14) What do you like best about the Internet?

It’s a perfect medium for instant gratification, an efficient way to connect with people and it’s always there.

15) What do you like least about the Internet?

It’s always there.

16) Have you any plans (personal or business) that you can share with us about your future plans / goals / lifetime goals?

Just to continue chasing the vision (not the money), to be real and transparent in everyday life and constantly improve on the quality of life. Find out more about Tony and Zappos at Inside Zappos – http://blogs.zappos.com

Follow Tony at http://twitter.com/zappos

The post Tony Hsieh, The Billion Dollar Interview appeared first on Young Entrepreneurs.

First off – can we have a little background information on you Matthew – Where you live? How old you are? (if you don’t mind answering) What motivates you? What inspires you?

I live in San Francisco and I’m 24 years old. I’m motivated by working with great people towards and democratizing publishing on the web.

1) Many of us are WordPress users but can you give us some of the  early history of WordPress and how it has evolved so quickly to become the leading blogging software?

Early WordPress was very slow, the software was very basic but from the beginning we tried to focus on the user experience. But it wasn’t a quick evolution at all, it’s taken 5 years to get where we are now!

2) If you were starting a Project like WordPress again, is there anything in particular that you would do differently?

I would try to centralize more of the add-ons like plugins and themes earlier on. We do it now but we were very tardy on it.

3) Tell us about Automattic Inc – just about everyone has heard of WordPress, but not so many people know about Automattic and the many other software projects it is involved in.

Automattic is a company I created to pursue some of the more commercial interests around the WordPress ecosystem, such as offering services like stats and anti-spam and providing WordPress hosting on WordPress.com.

4) Do you have any suggestions / resources you can recommend young programmers / developers who are working with open sourse?

Two books I’d recommend:

Producing Open Source Software by Karl Fogel
Open Sources 2.0 by Chris DiBona

Between those two you’ll learn everything you need to know about running, participating in, and using Open Source.

5) What do you consider the best opportunity / language for young web developers to be getting involved in right now.

Learn Python and do your project in PHP.

6) What is next for WordPress? What next for Blogging Software? What kind of organisation do you feel WordPress / Automattic will be 10 years from now?

WordPress is coming up on its 2.7 release, which I think will provide a solid foundation for our growth in both user-base and feature set in the coming years.

I hope that in 10 years WordPress will be ubiquitous on the web, quietly and invisibly running a large portion of content on the web.

For Automattic I hope that we continue to scale elegantly, both on the people side and the infrastructure side.

7) Do you have any suggestions for coping with set-backs, negative experiences?

There’s nothing magic I think – sometimes things are rough and it’s just not easy. The two things are remember to keep perspective, the world is a big place and many of the things we think are real problems are actually results of things we’re lucky to be experiencing at all.

Second, load this link a few times:

http://icanhascheezburger.com/?random

Always makes me smile.

8) Do you have any favourite business related or personal development related books that you can recommend to other entrepreneurs?

Recently I’ve enjoyed:

* Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation by Edward
Chancellor
* The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas
Taleb
* The Halo Effect by Phil Rosenzweig
* Leaders & Followers by Dick Ruch

9) What is the best advice you have ever been given?

There’s no such thing as a wrong note, and to focus on people first.

10) Have you any plans (personal or business) that you can share with us about your future plans / goals / lifetime goals?

Right now I’m trying to catch up with uploading all the photos I’ve taken in 2008 and spend some more time with the piano and sax over the holidays.

The post Interview With Matthew Mullenweg – The Founder of WordPress appeared first on Young Entrepreneurs.

I was inspired to create BizChair.com through my fascination with selling things on  the internet.  Before selling office chairs, I would sell Pokemon cards and other things on eBay.  Over the summer, I worked with my step-father and saw how simple the business model that he was involved in worked.  I was able to capitalize that business model and use it to sell office chairs online.  I started with $500 advertising and $100 for website hosting and I designed the original site myself.  I was 14 at the time it was created. 

You are just 20 years old and in 2006 your revenues were $24 Million.  What are your ambitions for BizChair.com now?

In 2007 our revenues grew to $38 million.  This year our goal is to reach $50 – $54 million in sales.  We have very ambitious sales goals and are expanding our wholesale and retail programs aggressively.  By maintaining our position as a market leader, we are able to focus on our growth and continue to expand our business with an excellent selection of products and customer service. 

Tell me, what does a 20 year old entrepreneur spend his money on?

I like to think that I live a relatively modest lifestyle.  My one splurge was a 2008 Range Rover Supercharged.  Other than that, I don’t spend much money (other than for college tuition).  I enjoy trading stocks with what money I have left. 

You have over 75 Employees, What do your employees think about working for someone so young?

I think most employees think that it is “cool” to have a young boss.  We have a more relaxed work environment and it is not as stressful.  Employees are also less intimidated with a younger boss and are more likely to come to me with ideas and their true feelings which ultimately help the company. 

I understand that you study business at Emory University and at present your stepfather oversees day-to-day operations – seems like a very good arrangement to me. Tell me, how does the THEORY of business compare with the practical side of business that you have experienced creating BizChair.com?

It’s a great arrangement–but don’t think that I don’t spend any time working while I’m at school!  Much of the theory that I’m learning deals more with aspects that I don’t really know.  For example, I never knew how to properly read and create a balance sheet or income statement  or how to create pro-forma financial statements.  These are all things that I’ve come across while in school those have helped me ultimately run the company better.  Needless to say, I don’t think I’ll be taking the entrepreneurship class!

I first came across you on the INC.com Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30 feature. I was very impressed. Tell me what has the feedback been about this feature? How did INC.com “discover” you? Has it created any new openings / opportunities for you?

This brought great publicity to the company.  I had been featured on CNN about a year and a half ago, but this was a welcomed increase in publicity for the company’s sake.  The publicity has been a domino effect—stemming from an article in Emory’s school newspaper.  The Atlanta Journal Constitution picked up the article and then CNN saw that one.  Presumably INC saw the CNN segment and so on.  The increased media coverage has brought many customers as well as new business opportunities such as investments and board opportunities.

If you could go back in a time machine to the time when you were just getting started. What business related advice would you give yourself?

Wow, wouldn’t that be nice.  Most likely it would be to expand our product selection faster than we did.  We really stayed in the office chair market for a while before expanding into office furniture and home furniture as well as some other segments.  If we had done that faster, we could have cemented a larger position as a market leader. 

Do you think that entrepreneurialism is something that is in your blood? Or is it something that can be learned? 

I think it’s a bit of both.  You have to have the desire to succeed and take risks to get there–It’s not for everyone.  I love the excitement and the future growth prospects as well as watching the company grow and prosper.  You have to have ambitious goals. 

Is there anyone that you look up to and model yourself on?

Instead of one person, I’d rather model myself from various, successful entrepreneurs and business people and blend them together.  Some of them include the “Google Guys” (Larry and Sergey), Steve Jobs, and Warren Buffet.

What is the best advice you have ever been given?

Always have a backup plan in case something goes wrong—because it will.

What advice would you give to a Young Entrepreneuer setting up their first business?

Don’t’ be afraid to take risks.  It’s your first business and you have your whole life to succeed.  Make sure they are calculated and not careless risks. 

What are your plans for the future? Do you believe in goals (for example anything that you want to do before age 30)?

Immediate plans are to finish college and come and work full-time at BizChair.  I believe in goals, but if you were to ask me what my goals were just 7 years ago, I don’t think I would have said anything like I have now.  I’m just trying to make this business the best that it can be and 10 years is a long time away!

The post Interview With Sean Belnick – Making $50,000,000 A Year Selling Business Chairs appeared first on Young Entrepreneurs.

We have another great interview online for you.

Check out the: Catherine Cook of MyYearBook.com Interview

Catherine and her story is quite the inspiration – over 5 Million Members now – and still a teenager

As a teen, Catherine is a self-declared “nerd” and proud of it. She’s a varsity gymnast with a boyfriend and a 4.0 GPA who, in her dwindling spare time, attends events like the National Youth Leadership Forum in Defense, Intelligence, and Diplomacy.

WOW!

The post Catherine Cook of MyYearBook.com talks abour her online success appeared first on Young Entrepreneurs.

I’m pleased to introduce to you a fantastic young entrepreneur whose hugely successful and rapidly expanding business in frozen yoghurt is taking the US by storm. Meet Natasha Nelson of Yogurtini – Natasha and her popular and creative company are based in Southern California, the perfect location for an entrepreneur who best describes herself as “a true beach girl” and who is constantly inspired by the youthful and creative culture of the south west’s famous beaches.

Natasha and the company are a persistent advocate for good ingredients and good causes, including helping out in the Haiti earthquake. She also took care of her terminally ill mother in Arizona and still found time to work at night. Honored in the  “Top 35 entrepreneurs under 35” by the Arizona Republic & AZ Magazine in March 2010, a keen traveler and always pushing forward with a drive to learn, innovate and lead the market.

Natasha Nelson is one of the most inspiring female entrepreneurs we have ever interviewed at WebMakeMoney.com and I just love her tip for coping with setbacks:

Get up, dry your tears, move forward, lose the baggage and learn from your mistakes

Enjoy the interview and let us have your comments.

Michael

I have always been an entrepreneur since I was a child. I think it is in my blood, my mom was also an entrepreneur. I love creating a business that focuses on something I am passionate and excited about, watching it grow and working with my staff to create fun and motivating projects for everyone. Business can be an art. One friend calls me the “business artist”. I love that!

I can’t honestly say that money doesn’t motivate me, but not for all the reasons people may think. I just returned from Haiti after the earthquake with 40 doctors, nurses and EMT’s. After a trip like that your heart changes. Money can go a long way in a third world country, especially after a disaster. My sister and I have a heart for Haiti, Sudan and many parts of Africa. Yogurtini has worked with the community and many philanthropic companies and raised thousands of dollars from everything to Parkinsons research to raising funds for prosthetics for an ASU student who lost her leg in Haiti when a building collapsed on her, she now is rock climbing with her new prosthetic.

I’m always inspired by my sister’s perfectly cool blend of funky style with a combination of being the brainiest and having the keenest street smarts that would be completely obscure to any stranger that meets her…and most importantly, God’s grace when you know you have really messed up.

Natasha Nelson Interview – Yogurtini Founder Inspires Young Entrepreneurs

1) You founded self-serving frozen yogurt company Yogurtini – what drew you to this unusual niche market?

My sister and I have been frozen yogurt fanatics since we were kids. We were both living in CA but in different cities, we were always visiting different yogurt shops and texting each other when we would find a new flavor we liked. When we would return home to Arizona to visit family and friends we were not satisfied with the choices we had. We had the same idea at the same time, which we often do. So, I wrote up a business plan, we started researching, became yogurt experts after a year and Yogurtini was launched.

2) Yogurtini is expanding across the U.S. – with a healthy profit. What has allowed you to grow so quickly in such a short space of time?

We were surprised how quickly we were profitable. It always comes down to having the best yogurt in town, we hear it over and over. After 944 Magazine readers voted us “Best place to chill”, College Affair voted us “Best Sweet Spot” and we were nominated in The Phoenix New Times for “Best Frozen Yogurt” we knew we had hit the mark. Our reputation was spreading like wildfire and within a few months we had many offers from investors who saw potential in our business and people asking about franchising. After about 9 months of going through the franchise registration process we have hit the ground running.

3) What next for Yogurtini? Where do you see the business in say 5 years time?

Our franchising program has started off so well I honestly wouldn’t be surprised to see us with 100-300 stores in the next five years nationally. We have the team, inspiration and personal drive to make this happen.

4) Yogurtini is about fun and eating. I notice that there’s also a big focus on healthy eating. How do you and your team keep on top of fashion trends in this industry?

I’ve always considered myself a newshound and no one can beat me at Trivial Pursuit’s Pop Culture edition. I read the Wall Street Journal and Teen Vogue. Been doing it since I was 14 and my mom got me a subscription for both.

I also keep my nose in the yogurt gossip and believe we have created some of the trends that some of the other larger shops are following us on. My sister has made some amazing flavors partnering up with companies like Sambazon who brought the Acai’ berry from the Ambazon. Soon after, we saw Acai’ yogurt being offered by our competitors. We have a few new things up our sleeves as well, which I can’t share with you yet! We also like to get CRAZY. Sriracha hot sauce and yogurt covered pop rocks are two of our most popular toppings…you aren’t gonna find that at TCBY, Red Mango or Pinkberry.

5) Do you have any recommended strategies for getting customers who buy once to come back and buy from you again – other than of course good service?

Yogurtini is almost a lifestyle. Our brand reflects the lifestyle of those who want to eat healthy, have fun, want to create their own treat and most of all get away into a fun environment for a few minutes, enjoy your yogurt and listen to some great tunes. When you find a favorite, you keep coming back.

6) How does your physical shop market itself online? I see you’re a Twitter and Facebook user; how important is it to use these sites to reach your audience?

If you aren’t using Facebook and Twitter you are way behind. Our “Twitter Tuesdays” have become somewhat infamous at our Tempe location near Arizona State University students. I am always working on the next online marketing tool. Study, study, study.

7) Do you have any suggestions for coping with set-backs, negative experiences?

Get up, dry your tears, move forward, lose the baggage and learn from your mistakes; and my personal favorite “fake it ‘til you make it”. All easier said than done…but sounds good, huh? That is what I try to do.

8 ) How do you keep your business focus – Do you have any suggestions for entrepreneurs who are experiencing challenging times?

It’s not easy for me right now, just like everyone else. I have a lot of distractions in my personal and professional world. I don’t rush what I don’t have to; I work when I have the motivation and that next “big idea”. Sometimes I am not able to focus for a week…then the next week I wake up in the middle of the night with an idea and I can’t stop working on it for a month. Is that manic? I don’t know if it’s healthy but it works for me. I have worked for myself for almost seven years now. I think a lot of entrepreneurs go through that. Most of my friends and family work for themselves, so I’m surrounded by other entrepreneurs with similar experiences.

9) What people do you look up to and model yourself on?

That is easy, my mom. She was a workaholic. I am not, but she taught me a good work ethic. There wasn’t a day she didn’t work on something while I was growing up whether it was her career, her masters degree or her other businesses she started. She had a very level head when it came to business. I try to be more like her everyday and find myself thinking “What would my mom do?” – I can’t leave out my father, he has such a great demeanor with people and engaging people in a conversation where you feel like the only person in the world he cares to listen to at that moment, there is no one who doesn’t like my father. I like to think my business partners and employees enjoy me as a person as well, if they do, I owe that to my dad.

One of my first bosses when I worked for an Advertising and PR agency deserves a shout out too, Shawn Buckley. He was young and likeable but we had a respect for him and just a wee bit of fear. I never missed a deadline working for Shawn. I also never missed a party he would throw. He taught me a lot on how to manage people without losing your temper but getting a big point across you wouldn’t ever forget. I also knew I could knock on the door and talk to him as a friend. Plus, he had class. I hope my employees and partners say that about me one day.

10) Do you have any favourite business or related books that you can recommend to other entrepreneurs?

I love to read but it’s not always the business books that inspire me. For instance, I just read one of Chelsea Handlers books and it was hilarious, it put me in the best mood. I felt creative and so motivated after that read! I read ‘Gone With the Wind’, my classic favorite I try to read every few years, and suddenly took on the spirit of Scarlet, she had gusto and a no holds barred, “I won’t take anyone’s crap attitude” – But, if I need to know about a specific subject I do my research. If I am hiring a consultant, you bet I want to speak their language and sound like I know what I am talking about. I am also a huge advocate of public relations and publicity. The best book I read on that was ‘The Fall of Advertising and Rise of PR’ by Al Ries. Every entrepreneur should read that one. I have a few other books that have helped me in the yogurt industry but those are on my secret shelf.

11) What is the best advice you have ever been given?

Personally, a prayer my father gave me during a hard time about accepting things I cannot change and changing the things I can. I believe it is called the serenity prayer. In business, my mom always repeated “don’t let them cheat you”. Maybe that was from a bad experience she had and my sister and I would roll our eyes, but we always remember she probably knows better so we check, check, check. Check your books! Check backgrounds on people you work with!

12) You’ve had a difficult 12 months out of the business. Based on your experiences, what advice would you give to a anxious Young Entrepreneur starting their first business today?

We haven’t had many difficulties to date but my best advice is to find people who will be honest with you who have experience…and use their advice. If your first business fails, try again. No one is a winner every time. Accept that before you even start.

13) What do you like best about the Internet?

It’s fast and immediate; I can create my own brand and impression I am in control of.

14) What do you like least about the Internet?

If someone posts something on your FaceBook you don’t want anyone to know about it and it goes out to all of your friends and family…also accidentally seeing all your exes with their new girlfriends, ick!

15) Have you any plans (personal or business) that you can share with us about your future plans / goals / lifetime goals?

I want Yogurtini to grow into something bigger than my family ever imagined when we first had the original idea for one shop. I want to create a business atmosphere of fun and growth with my employees. I love the team and family feel a good leader can create.

Personally, that is easy. I’m still a girl looking for true love, aren’t we all? And yes, the beach house in my secret spot in Hawaii is right underneath that. Learning, understanding and working on sustainable ways to help impoverished countries is on my list too. I currently work with Transformational Development Agency ( http://www.tdaafrica.com ) in my free time and went with them to Haiti. An entrepreneur can use their skills for empowering change globally as well. That is what I would like to be remembered for and would love to work on that with my sister in the future. Yogurtini will be the just a blip on my obituary I hope.

The post Natasha Nelson Interview | Yogurtini Founder Blazes The Way For Young Entrepreneurs appeared first on Young Entrepreneurs.

Hi Everyone!

Do you Tatango?

Today we have a very interesting interview for you with Derek Johnson – founder of SMS Marketing startup Tatango.com – a Test Messaging Platform that allows the thousands that use Tatango every day to keep their group connected through group SMS.

Tatango.com was born out of a gap in the market, a gap which Derek like a true entrepreneur spotted and quickly filled. Tatango.com has taken off so well that Derek dropped out of the business program at the University of Houston and launched Tatango in late 2007, initially offering the service for free. Today users pay a monthly fee of $20 to $200 depending on the number of texts sent, and now has about 10,000 registered users. (You do the math )

I think you are really going to enjoy this interview and get a lot of inspiration from it.

Derek also gave us one of the cleverest answers ever to my question: What do you like least about the Internet?

It never sleeps, I have to sleep, it’s so much better than me.

Come to think of it – he could have gave the same answer to: What do you like best about the Internet?

Enjoy the interview – I look forward to your comments.

Best Wishes

Michael

PS: Check out the answer to question 12 in particular: What advice would you give to a Young Entrepreneur starting their first business today? Very impressive answer — and Derek includes his own Cell Number as demonstration of his commitment to customer service.

Derek Johnson Interview

First – a little background information on Derek:

I’m 25 years old, and have spent most of my life in Bellingham, WA, a small city just north of Seattle. Anyone that knows me, knows I’m an extremely motivated individual, I love to build businesses, it’s my passion. What motivates me though to do what I do? I think I just like the challenge.

1) You are the founder of tatango.com, which is a group text messaging platform. What gave you the idea for this type of platform?
The idea came to me one afternoon when I was having lunch with a friend. She was in a Sorority and they were having trouble contacting all the girls in the house at the same time about meeting times, events and other urgent information. They had tried Facebook, Email and phone trees, but they had all been proved inefficient. That’s when it came to me that text messaging would be the perfect way to reach all the members of her house at the same time. Looking for a solution for my friend, I went online and couldn’t find anything that really solved this problem. A few days later, Tatango was born.

2) You have thousands of groups using Tatango all over the country, which is really impressive. Could you share some strategies for how you grew your customer base?

It’s really not rocket science how we got to where we currently are. The majority of our new Tatango groups come from referrals, so we spend a crazy amount of time making sure our current groups are happy. Seems simple enough right?

3) What is the formula for becoming a successful entrepreneur?

This is always heavily debated, but I firmly believe you are either born with the entrepreneurial mindset or aren’t, you can’t learn something like that.

4) What next for tatango.com? Where do you see the business in say 5 years time? Any other budding ideas you can share with us?

Right now we are solely focused on making Tatango the best group sms product out there. We think we have our product very close, not sure what is next though. We don’t think too far ahead into the future, we just focus on what’s going on currently and how we can do what we are doing better. Recently I have started a new company called Derek Media, which is a company that manages brands on Twitter, Facebook and blogs for our clients. You can check it out at http://www.derekmedia.net

5) Do you have any recommended strategies for getting customers to recommend you to other customers?

Most of our new clients for Tatango come from references from current users. You have to keep your customers satisfied with your service. We accomplish this by being available 24/7 to answer questions about any technical difficulties, or just general inquires about Tatango. Also, we have allowed our customers to get to know us and create a personal relationship with us by using Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and videos. If you have a great product and customers are happy with their experience then they will recommend it to people they know.

6) Does social networking play any roll in your business? If so what?

Social networking plays a huge roll in our business. We are constantly updating our Twitter status (www.twitter.com/tatango) and engaging in conversations with people interested in our product, or just anyone who has something interesting to say. We also have a Facebook fan page (http://www.facebook.com/tatango) where fans can post questions and comments and we post videos, links and pictures about what’s going on at Tatango. We have a very strong online presence and have allowed our customers to get to know us on a personal level which provides them with more confidence in our product.

7) Do you have any suggestions for coping with set-backs, negative experiences?
No matter what happens, you are probably not the first person who has gone through it. Seek out guidance from those who have gone through it before, it will save a lot of time and energy. There will always be set-backs, but you have to handle them appropriately and not let them get you off focus. There is no experience that is a negative – every experience gives you an opportunity to learn and grow.

8 ) Do you have any suggestions for entrepreneurs who are experiencing challenging times?

To be honest, when things get crazy, frustrating, or just near impossible, I never think about throwing in the towel. For me, those are the fun days! When do you get to test your skills and determination more than at those points in your business career? Those are the sort of obstacles that make what I do such a challenge and so rewarding.

9) Is there anyone that you look up to and model yourself on?

My father is my biggest role model. He has experience with both his own startups and working for large national companies. His knowledge and experiences have always been a great resource for me as a young entrepreneur. He is one of the hardest workers I know, and a brilliant entrepreneur. In many ways he has inspired me to become a young entrepreneur.

10) Do you have any favorite business related or web design related books that you can recommend to other entrepreneurs?

College sucked the joy out of reading for me, so you most likely will never find me reading a book. I think the only book I’ve read in the last two years is the “The 4 Hour Work Week”, which is a must read for any entreprenuer.

11) What is the best advice you have ever been given?

Gary Player didn’t give me this advice personally, but he said

“the harder I work, the luckier I get”.

This is so true in business and life.

12) As someone who has achieved success so young, what advice would you give to a Young Entrepreneur starting their first business today?

1.Start Small – Start small and you will be able to quickly see if you have something interesting before you look to expand.

2.Don’t Re-Invent The Wheel – No matter what problem you are experiencing or challenge you have in front of you, you aren’t the first person to ever go through it. Seek out advice or guidance from someone that has gone through the same thing you are going through, this will save you from making a lot of costly mistakes in the future.

3.Be Available – I’m the only Internet CEO I know who makes himself as available to his users as I am. The majority of our users know my personal cell phone number (206.334.4012 if they have forgot it) and they know that if they ever have a suggestion or any feedback about our website, they are able to get a hold of me. I think communicating with your users is extremely important and is the sole reason why we keep launching features that users love and our competitors copy.

13) What do you like best about the Internet?

I love how much information is available, there is never an excuse not to be able to find the information you need.

14) What do you like least about the Internet?

It never sleeps, I have to sleep, it’s so much better than me.

15) Any advice for how young entrepreneurs can bootstrap? (Not spending a ton to get something off the ground)?

Yeah, don’t waste money on stupid shit that doesn’t bring in revenue. It’s pretty simple. I remember when we were starting out, it took weeks for my employees to get me to spend the $40 to put up a Tatango sign on our front door. In my mind, the sign wasn’t bringing in business, so why spend money on it?

Related Links:

tatango.com – Group Text Messaging Done Right.

Join the thousands that use Tatango every day to keep their group connected through group SMS.

The post Derek Johnson Interview, Founder Of The Revolutionary Tatango Text Messaging Platform Reveals His Entrepreneurial Secrets appeared first on Young Entrepreneurs.