(Newswire.net — January 25, 2016) — When we think of successful business people, we usually think of men with gray hair and a lifetime’s worth of experiences. But, there are many millionaire CEOs that haven’t even hit middle-age yet. Here are just some of the famous CEOs that are still under 35.
Angus Davis – Swipely
Davis’ Swipely started as an idea to make business owners’ lives easier. He saw a phenomenon where business owners had a hard time getting customers to come back without pumping in a lot of ad dollars. He also saw that business owners didn’t have the demographic intelligence they needed to make better, smarter, financial decisions concerning marketing and sales.
The company is built on a cloud platform, and brings big data to little businesses, essentially democratizing sales tools.
For example, if a restaurant owner wants to see whether a particular dish or drink is selling well, Swipely shows him or her the analytics of the food they’re selling. The app can track inventory, organize and process “big data” analytics, and give SMBs insights that were previously reserved for large companies.
Davis’ previous successes include Tellme Networks, an interactive voice-recording company that Microsoft purchased for $800 million back in 2007.
John Arrow – Mutual Mobile
Arrow started Mutual Mobile with four of his friends while at UT as an undergraduate. The company makes branded mobile and tablet apps for businesses. The company has worked with famous brands like Flexdrive and Apple, Union Bank, and Autotrader.com.
Logan Green and John Zimmer – Lyft
If you haven’t heard of Lyft by now, you probably don’t travel enough to matter. This tag team invented one of the most well-known ride-sharing services in the world. In 2014, revenues grew 5-fold, and the company was able to raise $530 million in funding from investors.
Lyft also launched Lyft Line, which is a carpooling service that aimed to compete with public transit. Green’s first ride-sharing business, Zimride, was named after Zimbabwe, where he first saw the idea of public transportation created by local private citizens. Green also appeared on Judge Judy as a college student, before becoming famous. It just goes to show you – famous people sometimes initially led normal (or at least somewhat normal) lives.
Cheng Wei – Did Kuaidi
The Chinese version of ride-sharing services that made it big on the back of Uber and Lyft. Cheng Wei started this company with co-founder Jean Liu. Today, they own 80 percent of the market in China. Thanks to a merger spearheaded by Liu Chuanzhi and a former Goldman Sachs managing director, the company looks like it has successfully cemented itself in the culture, and the marketplace.
Companies, like this, often start when one of the founders, or a key employee, is heavily into tech and programming. Online education companies are one way you can learn how to replicate Wei’s success – view Simplilearn.com for details. But, you also have to be willing to be a ruthless business person, cut deals no one else can, and have epic personality skills.
Taylor Swift – Entertainer
Swift is a brand name in and of herself. The country pop star was the highest-earning musician last year. But, it was her public stance against free music that made her famous. When other musicians stays silent on the issue, or even acquiesced on the idea of “freemium” stations like Pandora, Swift beat the drum of “pay up or live in silence” for music fans.
In that sense, Swift became a voice for musicians, defending their intellectual property rights, by demanding pay for every download.
Jason Robins – Drafkings
Robins, and two of his friends, started DraftKings in 2012 as an alternative to the season-long fantasy football leagues that dominated the scene prior to that.
Three years after, the company had found itself up to its eyeballs in investor support – to the tune of $375 million in funding. Today, Robins’ company is worth $1.5 billion.
It’s done major deals with Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, NASCAR, and UFC. It also snapped up two smaller competitors in the process. One of the most interesting things about his company is that he seems to have skirted gambling laws. DraftKings will pay out more than $1 billion in prize money. And, while 5 states say he’s breaking the law, Robins says it’s all just a game – a very popular, very lucrative, game.
Sometimes, in business, you have to dare to be different. You have to challenge authority. You can’t be afraid to make regulators upset. Disruption in the fantasy football industry didn’t seem possible given that it was already, itself, a sort of disruption to the way fans interacted with sports and their favorite leagues. But, it was possible, and it was all because of one man.
Chandana is a Senior Content Writer for Simplilearn.com. She has a M.A. in English Literature from Gauhati University and is PRINCE2 Foundation certified. Her unique and refreshing writing style continues to educate and inspire readers from around the world.