Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30

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  Young, Rich and Calling Their Own Shots

  Entrepreneurs keep getting younger and younger, while their companies only get bigger. From solar energy to lobster trapping, the members of Inc.com's annual 30 Under 30 list are shaking up a variety of industries -- and doing it on their own terms. Meet the next big stars of the business world.
  
  Next: Nick Friedman and Omar Soliman

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• Nick Friedman and Omar Soliman

  College Hunks Hauling Junk

  Nick Friedman and Omar Soliman

  Company: College Hunks Hauling Junk
  Age: 27 (Friedman) and 27 (Soliman)
  2007 Revenue: $2.5 Million
  Website: www.1800JunkUSA.com
  Description: The "hunks" will haul away everything from construction materials to old couches, and donate a portion of revenue college scholarship programs. It doesn't hurt that the hunks are friendly with Oprah and helping her find the messiest home in America.
  More on Nick Friedman and Omar Soliman
  
  Next: Sumi Krishnan

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• Sumi Krishnan

  photograph courtesy K4 Solutions

  Sumi Krishnan

  Company: K4 Solutions
  Age: 26
  2007 Revenue: $7.5 million
  Website: www.k4solutions.com
  Description: Sumi Krishnan was just 19 years old when she entered the competitive federal contracting market. Today, her company regularly lands multimillion-dollar contracts to provide help desk support, network engineering support, video teleconferencing, and data management services for Air Force bases and other agencies.
  More on Sumi Krishnan
  
  Next: John and Brandan Ready

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• John and Brandan Ready

  Wendy Webber

  John and Brandan Ready

  Company: Ready Seafood and Catch a Piece of Maine
  Age: 28 (John) and 26 (Brendan)
  2007 Revenue: $10 million
  Website: www.readyseafood.com and www.catchapieceofmaine.com
  Description: As undergrads, John and Brendan Ready spent their weekends catching lobsters and delivering them to buyers. Today, their first lobster business is worth $10 million and their second business projects $1.2 million in revenue for 2008.
  More on John and Brandan Ready
  Next: Aaron Patzer

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• Aaron Patzer

  Mint.com

  Aaron Patzer

  Company: Mint.com
  Age: 27
  2007 Revenue: Undisclosed
  Website: www.mint.com
  Description: Launched to the public in September 2007, Mint.com is a free, Web-based money-management tool that automatically culls personal financial data and provides users with an easy-to-digest analysis of their spending habits. After less than a year in operation, Mint.com has 400,000 registered users.
  More on Aaron Patzer
  
  Next: Chaim Indig and Evan Roberts

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• Chaim Indig and Evan Roberts

  photograph by Doug Ciarelli

  Chaim Indig and Evan Roberts

  Company: Phreesia
  Age: 30 (Indig), 29 (Roberts)
  2007 Revenue: $2.6 million
  Website: www.phreesia.com
  Description: Phreesia's technology simplifies one of the most essential functions in the health-care industry: gathering patient medical records. The company's signature product is a wireless touchscreen tablet that takes the place of clipboards in doctors' offices.
  More on Chaim Indig and Evan Roberts
  
  Next: Aaron Levie

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• Aaron Levie

  box.net

  Aaron Levie

  Company: Box.net
  Age: 23
  2007 Revenue: Undisclosed
  Website: www.box.net
  Description: Launched as a college project in a dorm room by two Seattle area high school buddies, Box.net allows users to share, store, and access any type of digital file from anywhere at anytime. This year alone, the company netted $6 million in venture capital and has attracted nearly 2 million users.
  More on Aaron Levie
  
  Next: Dylan Smith

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• Dylan Smith

  box.net

  Dylan Smith

  Company: Box.net
  Age: 22
  2007 Revenue: Undisclosed
  Website: www.box.net
  Description: Co-founder Aaron Levie says after receiving a call from billion entrepreneur Mark Cuban during his sophomore year, "we started realizing we stumbled upon something big."
  More on Dylan Smith
  
  Next: Claire Chambers

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• Claire Chambers

  courtesy Journelle

  Claire Chambers

  Company: Journelle
  Age: 28
  2007 Revenue: N/A ($1.7 million projected for 2008)
  Website: www.journelle.com
  Description: A lingerie connoisseur, Chambers grew frustrated with the lack of variety at most department stores. Backed by an economics degree and industry experience as a consultant, she launched Journelle in late 2007 in the heart of New York with $2 million in start-up capital from an angel investor and friends.
  More on Claire Chambers
  Next: Vu Thai

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• Vu Thai

  courtesy Efficient Lighting

  Vu Thai

  Company: Efficient Lighting
  Age: 27
  2007 Revenue: $2 million
  Website: www.efficientlightingco.com
  Description: Efficient Lighting manufactures compact fluorescent lamps, as well as interior and exterior light fixtures, which use up to 75 percent less than traditional fixtures and last six to 10 times longer. Thai says despite all the buzz about going green these days, we've only seen "the tip of the market," leaving his company poised for even further growth.
  More on Vu Thai
  Next: Leanna Archer

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• Leanna Archer

  Christian Archer

  Leanna Archer

  Company: Leanna's
  Age: 12
  2007 Revenue: $100,000
  Website: www.leannashair.com
  Description: Archer has been running her all-natural hair products business since the age of nine. She develops and mixes each of her products (the original hair dressing was based on a family formula), and the company sells its shampoos, conditioners, shea butter, and other products both in stores and online.
  More on Leanna Archer
  Next: Ben Shenassafar and Bobby Kim

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• Ben Shenassafar and Bobby Kim

  photograph courtesy The Hundreds

  Ben Shenassafar and Bobby Kim

  Company: The Hundreds
  Age: 28 (Kim) and 28 (Shenassafar)
  2007 Revenue: $2 million
  Website: www.thehundreds.com
  Description: What started as a blog and a simple T-shirt line produced by two law school classmates has become The Hundreds -- a worldwide skateboarder lifestyle and apparel brand with an online magazine that attracts more than 1 million unique visitors a month.
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  Next: Rob Van Etten

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• Rob Van Etten

  photograph by Liane Fascia

  Rob Van Etten

  Company: Brighton Cromwell
  Age: 28
  2007 Revenue: $8.8 million
  Website: www.brightoncromwell.com/
  Description: Van Etten joined this family operation in 2004, when his father, Bill, turned it from a consulting firm into a supply chain integrator for the defense industry. After his father's unexpected death the following year, Van Etten took over the company, and within a year, doubled its revenue.
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  Next: Julia Alkire and Stephanie Goldman

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• Julia Alkire and Stephanie Goldman

  photograph by The Picture People

  Julia Alkire and Stephanie Goldman

  Company: Family Creations
  Age: 26 (Alkire) and 26 (Goldman)
  2007 Revenue: $210,000
  Website: www.familycreations.net/
  Description: Family Creations prides itself on providing highly personalized services for egg donors and future parents. Goldman and Alkire met while working for another donor agency, and decided to combine their areas of expertise into their own initiative.
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  Next: Matt Mullenweg

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• Matt Mullenweg

  photograph courtesy Matt Mullenweg

  Matt Mullenweg

  Company: Automattic and WordPress
  Age: 24
  2007 Revenue: Undisclosed
  Website: www.wordpress.com and www.automattic.com
  Description: Residents of the blogosphere definitely recognize the name WordPress. Envisioned from the goal of making online publishing more accessible and user-friendly, the free blogging platform boasts nearly 4 million blogs worldwide.
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  Next: Aaron Hall

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• Aaron Hall

  photograph by Robert Benson

  Aaron Hall

  Company: Borrego Solar Systems
  Age: 29
  2007 Revenue: $30.3 million
  Website: www.borregosolar.com
  Description: In 2001, while a senior at Northwestern, Hall wrote a new business plan for this struggling solar power company, as part of an economics class. He later presented it to the company's founder, a family friend. The rest is history.
  More on Aaron Hall
  
  Next: Marc Lotenberg

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• Marc Lotenberg

  photograph courtesy 944 Media

  Marc Lotenberg

  Company: 944 Media
  Age: 29
  2007 Revenue: $12.5 million
  Website: www.944.com
  Description: In total, Lotenberg says he maxed out seven or eight cards to launch 944, which publishes a lifestyle and entertainment magazine in Las Vegas, Miami, and five other cities across the country and also promotes celebrity events. Next up: New York.
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  Next: John Bicket

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• John Bicket

  photograph courtesy Meraki

  John Bicket

  Company: Meraki
  Age: 28
  2007 Revenue: Undisclosed
  Website: www.meraki.com
  Description: Launched as an MIT graduate student project, this rapidly expanding company uses inexpensive WiFi routers to create cheap, grassroots wireless networks in underserved regions of India, South America, and Africa, among other areas.
  More on John Bicket
  
  Next: Sanjit Biswas

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• Sanjit Biswas

  photograph courtesy Meraki

  Sanjit Biswas

  Company: Meraki
  Age: 26
  2007 Revenue: Undisclosed
  Website: www.meraki.com
  Description: After a successful test drive in San Francisco, Meraki now connects customers in 125 different countries, providing broadband-speed access to the Internet for under $10 a month.
  More on Sanjit Biswas
  
  Next: Alyssa Rapp

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• Alyssa Rapp

  courtesy bottle notes

  Alyssa Rapp

  Company: Bottlenotes
  Age: 29
  2007 Revenue: $750,000
  Website: www.bottlenotes.com
  Description: Bottlenotes has been called the Match.com of the wine industry -- users fill out a personal taste profile online and receive recommendations for wines that most closely match their preferences.
  More on Alyssa Rapp
  
  Next: Noah Lehmann-Haupt

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• Noah Lehmann-Haupt

  photograph courtesy Gotham Dream Cars

  Noah Lehmann-Haupt

  Company: Gotham Dream Cars
  Age: 30
  2007 Revenue: $2.9 million
  Website: www.gothamdreamcars.com
  Description: Lehmann-Haupt bought a Ferrari when he was 25. He began renting it out and used the profits to invest in a second performance car -- and the cycle continued. Five years later, Gotham Dream Cars boasts a fleet of 20 exotic rental cars, including names like Lamborghini, Maserati, and Bentley.
  More on Noah Lehmann-Haupt
  
  Next: Keith Nothacker

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• Keith Nothacker

  photograph courtesy KHN Solutions

  Keith Nothacker

  Company: KHN Solutions
  Age: 29
  2007 Revenue: $2.2 million
  Website: www.khnsolutions.com
  Description: While selling consumer products online during his senior year at the University of Pennsylvania, Nothacker saw a business opportunity in handheld breathalyzers. He began importing the product and created a retail site.
  More on Keith Nothacker
  
  Next: Tina Wells

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• Tina Wells

  courtesy Buzz Marketing Group

  Tina Wells

  Company: Buzz Marketing Group
  Age: 28
  2007 Revenue: Undisclosed
  Website: www.buzzmg.com
  Description: Tina Wells was a teenager herself when she began writing product reviews for young girls. Today, her reviews go straight to the source, providing market research and strategies for SonyBMG, Sesame Workshop, and other youth-oriented businesses via a network of more than 9,000 teen consultants.
  More on Tina Wells
  
  Next: Rachel Hollis

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• Rachel Hollis

  courtesy Rachel Hollis

  Rachel Hollis

  Company: Chic Events
  Age: 25
  2007 Revenue: $750,000
  Website: www.chicevent.com
  Description: Like many an entrepreneurial venture, Hollis started her Hollywood event planning business in her basement. As she recalls, all she needed was a computer, a phone line, and an intern, which kept start-up costs down.Today, the company helps plan events for the likes of Disney, Yahoo, and New Line Cinema.
  More on Rachel Hollis
  
  Next: Rahim Fazal and Noah Horton

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• Rahim Fazal and Noah Horton

  Jeni Fong

  Rahim Fazal and Noah Horton

  Company: Involver
  Age: 26 (Fazal) and 27 (Horton)
  2007 Revenue: Undisclosed
  Website: www.involver.com
  Description: Involver's technology gives companies the tools to increase customer engagement by having them physically interact with companies' video campaigns, rather than be passive viewers.
  More on Rahim Fazal and Noah Horton
  
  Next: Driving for Less

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• Drive for Less

  Driving for Less

  Isn't everyone trying to figure out how to cut costs? Find out how small businesses can drive for less and explore our new Business Autos Center.
  
  How Businesses Drive for Less
  
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