Companies Successfully Started by Kids

 While most kids stick to their home works, video games and sugar sticks, there are some young kids who have turned themselves into successful entrepreneurs at a very early age. After all they say, ‘It’s never too early to have good idea’ but only a few implement them in reality. Today the businesses of these young entrepreneurs are wildly successful with turnovers of million of dollars and branches across the globe.

1. Anshul Samar

Founder and CEO of Alchemist Empire Inc

Anshul Samar is another name for the connection between ‘high school’ and ‘chemical warfare’. This 13 years young lad came up with the idea to create a role playing card game based on chemistry, which is funny as well as educational. With this he made his unique mark in the gaming world with a trading game card called, ‘Elementeo’. In the game, you and your opponent are given a set of chemicals to destroy each other at their respective atomic levels. Elementeo is basically a brain storming game to make chemistry ‘fun’ for kids.

Though this young entrepreneur started this company recently, but started dreaming about this long back in his fourth grade. He wanted to build a chemistry based card game, but it took him years to develop all the quirks. This tenth grade CEO has impressively named his company as Alchemist Empire, Inc. His company is said to have hit $1 million in revenue in its first year of operation.

2. Sean Belnick

Founder and CEO of BizChair.com

At a tender age of 14, Sean Belnick spent $500 to build an online marketplace for office chairs. This site is known as BizChair.com, which is an internet retailer of office chairs, office furniture, restaurant furniture, church furniture, school furniture, home furniture, and medical furniture. The company is reported to have only 75 employees but provides more than 2,50,000 products. Belnick, at the age of 22, is said have a net worth of $42 million.

The e-tail site was ranked as no. 438 on the Inc. 500 list of Fastest Growing, Privately Held Companies in 2006 and ranked no. 272 in the Internet Retailer Magazine's top 500 in 2007. In 2008, it was ranked no. 37 in the Inc Magazine list of top 100 retail companies. You yourself can imagine the growth of this company.

3. Adam Horowitz

Adam Horowitz along with fellow classmates launched a terrifyingly popular nasty gossip blog when he was 15. Needless to say, his parents shut it down right quick. The experience taught him about the potential in internet marketing. So he started his own site known as Urban Stomp, which hosted music and also listed the party locations in his local area. He lived in the Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles. He sold clothing through affiliate sites to pull cash.

Horowitz was not ready about how successful it would be. His first listing, which was an accidental posting to the home of an 80-year old neighbor, drew over 700 rowdy teens. One can imagine the pain. But what started out as an awkward venture into the world of digital business has since been turned around.

Horowitz now teaches 15+ year olds, on how to make money online. He runs mobile marketing sites like ‘Mobile Monopoly,’ and ‘Cell Phone Treasure’. These both earns him over $100,000. Additionally, he has another one in planning, that is up and coming, ‘Dude, I Hate My Job!’

4. Leanna Archer

Founder and CEO of Leanna’s Hair

Leanna Archer started a line of hair and body products at the age of 9. She used these for her own, which is actually a mix of secret ingredient of her grand mother. When she got multiple compliments about her, she gave her friends a few samples of the pomade. Its only after this, the orders started pouring in.

Later Leanna convinced her parents to start it as business. She started researching on how to start a business online. She started her business in her basement but after sometime, her parents left their full time jobs to support her. In an interview to CNN, she said, “The most important thing a parent can do is stick by their kid and supports their dreams 100 percent... Dreams are wild, but they're wild enough to come true”.

5. Angelo Sotira

Founder and CEO of deviantArt

Angelo Sotira is an American Entrepreneur who co-founded an online community called deviantArt, along with Matthew Stephens and Scott Jarkoff, in 2000, when he was only 18. deviantArt is an online community showcasing various forms of user-made artwork.

dA is a site where users can set up an account to show off and popularize their work. They can also sell prints of their work and buy sponsored merchandise. Within three years, it earned 100 submissions that is an average of 1,40,000 per day. It has more than 15 millions users.

For art lovers, flowery words, stroke of brushes, the strike of a chord, a camera click, anything and everything is an artwork. But with deviantArt, art came more near to them through few mouse clicks.

6. Abbey Fleck

One Saturday morning in 1991, 8 year old Abigail (Abbey) M. Fleck was making bacon with her dad. They ran out of paper towels, so her dad put it on the classified section of the newspaper. Mom was unhappy to see this and prompted dad, “I could just stand here and let it drip dry.”

In this small process of fun experimenting, Abbey invented Makin’ bacon. After all who doesn’t love crispy, tasty bacon? Today, Abbey’s Makin’ Bacon is the star attraction of Walmart, which costs less than $10. Abbey is now 27 and works with special children. She lives in Los Angeles and is married to a man who sells the 'Deflecktor', fuel-saving wheel covers for truck which is actually invented by her dad.

7. Cameron Johnson

Now 23, Cameron Johnson started his first business at the age of 9 that is even before he graduated from high school. In less than a year, he saved $50,000, which he preserves for his next project, My EZ Mail, which is an email forwarding company. It generated up to $3000 a month in advertising.

He then joined with two other teens, namely Aaron Greenspan and Tom Kho, to create an online advertising company, Surfingprizes.com. During his freshman year of high school that is at the age of 15 he used to receive checks between $300,000 and $400,000 a month. Before graduating from high school, his combined assets were worth over $1 million.

8. Fraser Doherty

Fraser Doherty, at 14, began making jam from fruit and juices, based on his grandma’s recipe, in of his parents’ kitchen. He used to sell these to friends and fellow churchgoers, but demand grew fast, which actually was outstripping his ability to produce.

Doherty’s jam has spread rapidly and virtually reached every grocery chain in the U.K. and Ireland, including Sainsbury, which is the biggest UK retailer. His product, SuperJam, comes in a wide range of unique flavors, including blueberry, blackcurrant, rhubarb and ginger.

He started this business with a loan of $9,000 from a bank. Now this product has multiplied and reached to 300 stores across U.K. by 2008, he had made assets worth $1-$2 million.

9. Seth Priebatsch

This idiosyncratic CEO didn’t start out rich, but his can-do spirit and obsession with success, has made him one of the hottest merchandise in the IT market.

SCVNGR’s ‘chief ninja’ (“because you never negotiate with ninjas”) became a unique hit with the eponymous smart phone app. SCVNGR’s ‘chief ninja’ is a software platform where, like a scavenger hunt, you complete tasks in certain real-life places. This might seem have more gut feeling than proof to succeed, but in a world where deskbound games like Farmville, Mafia Wars, Warcraft or Rift and Minecraft fill the market, there’s something to be said for a game where it forces you to go out and do something.

This geo-gaming technology platform SCVNGR had only 20 employees when Seth took the initiative to pursue it.

10. Juliette Brindak

Founder and CEO of MissOandFriends.com

At the age of 10, Juliette Brindak conceived her own website called ‘MissOandFriends.com’, a website entirely to gratify young females who aims to build up self esteem and positivity. This “Girls only’ website is among the top 10 websites worldwide, as per Amazon Alexa data. She is 23 now, but she became millionaire at 17 and within 2010, her company revenue grew up to $15 million.

Her site hosts a club called Miss o Moms, which offers informative and engaging information about children and families. This site is a safe place for young ladies to explore what it means to be a young woman. It’s a hang out for girls and has a virtual environment with friends and schoolmates and develops meaningful and fun relationships. Juliette Brindak was named among the “Top 50 Women Who Inspire Us,” by Self-Made Magazine in November, 2010.

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Toughest Job Interview Questions in selected Companies

We have already highlighted in our previous articles that Google is one of the companies that give toughest job interview questions. But have you ever wondered that, which are the other companies, apart from Google that places tough interview questions for the applicants? Yes, to make your queries easy Glassdoor.com, a Sausalito, California based workplace culture website, in its new study ranked the toughest companies to interview at, after analyzing user comments about the interview practices of definite organizations.

According to Fins Finance, the toughest companies set their job applicants through several rounds of interviews riddled with brainteasers, technical questions and case study analyses. "You need to go in armed with information and with your eyes as wide open as you can." Says Samantha Zupan, a Glassdoor spokesperson.

Listed below are the toughest companies to have a job interview.

1. McKinsey & Co: McKinsey & Co takes the top spot of the toughest companies for job interviews. The global management consulting firm was founded in 1926 by James O. McKinsey and Marvin Bower. Solving issues of concern to senior management, the company serves as an advisor to many businesses, governments, and institutions. Since 1996 this most prestigious consulting firm in the world has been a top employer for new MBA graduates. McKinsey & Co is also renowned for producing more CEO’s than any other company.

2. Jane Street Capital: Founded in the year 2000 by three traders and a technologist, Jane Street Ca pital takes the second position in the list of toughest companies for job interviews. The quantitative proprietary trading organization operates around the clock and around the globe by understanding the world’s highly competitive financial markets. Jane Street Capital boasts of hiring applicants through the tough interview procedures and training them by giving them the tools they need to innovate. The company has its offices in New York, London, and Hong Kong.

3. Cree:  The multinational manufacturer of semiconductor materials and devices, Cree, was foun ded in the year 1987, by researchers from the North Carolina State University. The company has its headquarters in Durham, North Carolina, U.S. If you wish to work in the company, that enhance the value of LED, solid-state lighting, power, and communications products by significantly increasing their energy performance, you need to really prepare well as the company sets tough twisted long questions for the applicants who aspire to work here. Sean Brody, recruiting manager at Raleigh, N.C.-based Cree said that this is where he sees applicants trip up the most. "Most of our candidates aren't local to Raleigh," he said, which hints that applicants travel from far of places for a day- long session. According to him one needs a great stamina to face the interviews here.

4. Bain & Co: Headquartered in Boston Massachusetts, Bain & Co was founded in 1973 by a grou p of seven former partners and managers from the Boston Consulting Group headed by Bill Bain. The company is a global management consulting firm that has 47 offices in 30 countries. If you aspire to be a part of Bain & Co, that has been named the Best Firm to Work For by Consulting Magazine for nine consecutive years, you need to prepare very well as you are sure to come across tough head breaking questions here. 

5.Boston Consulting: Recognized as one of the most prestigious management consulting firms in the wo rld, Boston Consulting takes the fifth position in the list of the toughest companies for job interviews. According to an applicant who appeared for the interview at Boston Consulting said that preparation is quite necessary in order to bag a job at Boston Consulting. Founded in 1963 the company was formed by Bruce D. Henderson, a Vanderbilt University and Harvard Business School alumnus. The company has its headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.

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Companies Who Destroyed Their Competitors

There are many companies which were at the top once, but couldn’t hold the position for too long and were toppled by much smaller and nimbler companies which had better products and innovations to change the business sector. 24/7 Wall St. has listed out some of those companies who recently toppled from their position.

Google vs. Yahoo

Google is the synonym for internet, searching products, or downloading software. Google rules as the biggest search engine. But it’s hard to believe that this was not the scene earlier. In the early days, Lycos, Excite, AskJeeves were the rulers of the search world. By 20^th century end, Yahoo became the leader by dragging the smaller companies under it at any cost. In 2000, Yahoo had 56 percent of the search engine referrals, which was six times its closest competitor.

Google had only 1 percent of the market in June 2000. Soon Yahoo started using Google’s search algorithm. Yahoo began to lose steam quickly as Google began competing for market share. Within 2002, Google’s efficient search engine became much popular. It referred 31.8 percent of all searches, compared to Yahoo, which is only 36.3 percent. Google’s popularity increased exponentially in the next eight years and reached at the top most position. According to Comscore, in July 2011, Google had more than 65 percent of the market share while Yahoo had just 16.1 percent.

Hewlett-Packard vs. Dell

Dell was once the market King for global PC sales, with 13 percent of the market share. Compaq was second with 11.2 percent share. Over the past decade, the graph of personal computer market has changed drastically. In May 2002, Hewlett-Packard acquired the fraught Compaq for $25 billion.

Dell was the leader with a 17.2 percent of market share till 2005, but HP quickly closed the gap with 14.7 percent share. Within third quarter of 2008 that is within less than three years, HP surpassed Dell, and leads the market till now. In Q2 of 2011, HP’s market share was 17.5 percent, Dell’s was 12.5 percent, and Lenovo’s was 12 percent which is just behind Dell.

Apple vs. Nokia

In Q4 of 2007, Nokia had more than 50 percent of the worldwide smartphone market share, whereas Research In Motion’s Blackberry had 10.9 percent and Apple at just 5.2 percent. Though Apple had less smartphone market share it was leading the digital music device market consistently.

In the fourth quarter of 2010, Apple iPhone still had a relatively small portion of the market with a 16.1 percent share which is a little over half of that of Nokia’s 28 percent. With a huge sale number and Steve Jobs driving the company, Apple shared 19.1 percent market share within second quarter of 2011, with an annual growth of 141 percent. Nokia came down to the third position after Samsung which had a 15.7 percent of the market share.

 

Facebook vs. Myspace

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation purchased upcoming Myspace for $580 million in July 2005, when Facebook membership was still limited to college students. According to Comscore, in May 2007, Facebook’s unique monthly viewers were restricted to just 30 million, whereas Myspace’s were at around 70 million.

In May 2009, Facebook toppled Myspace’s unique viewers, which had still 70 million viewers. Later Facebook had nearly 160 million users. Meanwhile Myspace’s users dropped below 40 million and that number kept on falling. In June 2009, Murdoch sold the dying company Myspace for $35 million which is 93 percent less than the original purchase price.

GM vs. Toyota

General Motors aka GM has actually experienced two major hurdles in the race to become the top automaker in the world. GM had been the dominant leader in U.S., since 1930s, and was dominant in the global market as well, for almost of the latter half of the 20th century. But it started to lose its grip from the top most position, because of the global recession. Toyota officially became the world’s topmost automaker by the end of 2008, beating out GM. GM’s global market share continued to decline globally as well as in U.S.

Due to limited sales and financial troubles from the recession, the manufacturer (GM) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2009. Within two years it regained its top position. GM made profit very quickly as its new IPO was successful. With Japan earthquake hitting its rival Toyota hard, GM again became the world’s largest automaker in August 2009. In the first half of 2011, GM sold 4.5 million units whereas Its Japanese rival, Toyota sold only 3.7 million.

Amazon vs. Barnes & Noble

Barnes & Noble was the largest bookseller for years. However, online retailer Amazon.com has blown the company away by taking book selling online. Amazon.com became less burdened due to no expensive business running stores. The convenience and ease of operations became an additional benefit for Amazon.

Its e-book reader Kindle surpassed the e-reader race with B&N’s Nook and others. Barnes & Noble’s net income dropped from $147 million in 2006 to a loss of $74 million in 2010. Amazon, meanwhile saw a net profit from $190 million to $1.2 billion.

Blockbuster vs. Netflix

Blockbuster is a VHS rental company founded in 1985. Blockbuster, with more than 6,500 stores around the country, went public in 1999, the same year when Netflix launched. By 2006, Netflix came into the picture by making just $1 billion profit that year, which was not so close to the figure of Blockbuster’s revenue, which was roughly $5.5 billion.

But the small company introduced streaming video in 2007, which allowed the viewers to watch films on home computers. This unique feature, along with the growing popularity of the company’s DVD delivery service became an additional benefit to Netflix and it led to a steady downfall of Blockbuster’s profitability. By 2010, the massive company Blockbusters lost it millions of customers each quarter. Finally it declared bankruptcy by the middle of the year. By then, Netflix had more than 25 million subscribers.

 

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