Opportunity is exactly what’s great about America. It’s not exactly what spoon you’re born with, but your ability to strive, struggle and reinvent that brings you success. To get inspired, we thought we’d look at a few companies that have conquered the entrepreneur sector.
What you’ll find interesting is that they are all techy businesses, not (internet) retailers. The founders were software development intensive with a focus on providing a feature that would assist current users of online social media programs.
Here are the 5 biggest internet entrepreneurs:
Pinterest
Nine months after launch, Pinterest boasted 10,000 users. Now, 20% of Facebook checks in daily on Pinterest. Business users are catching on like wild-fire, too.
Instagram
Graduating from Stanford, founder Kevin Systrom left a job at Google to create an app that allows people to check-in from locations. Instead, they uploaded pictures and Instagram blew up.
Twitter
Starting at Odeo, Jack Dorsey pitched a wide-reaching software combined with instant messaging features. It didn’t gain traction until celebrities started posting.
Turntable
The music sharing site was born out of Stickybits, a moderate failure. For this venture, 7 million in funding and 9 employees was considered a slow start.
Rockmelt
Sounds like the 25 and under’s dream-come-true by bringing blogs, likes and friend connection suggestions right to them.
There are a couple things worth noting:
- The survey doesn’t explain biggest – is it by valuation of the company? Amount of funding?
- Most piggy back off Facebook and Twitter (i.e. using their following to feed their success.)
- Building software is expensive; Capital was required.
If you’ve been considering how these things work, consider this: Many start-ups fail within the first 5 years. In fact, so many don’t make it past go that the ones you hear about are actually a very small percentage.
Further, the people most closely associated with these ventures are typically family and friends, like college roommates or work associates in a tech-heavy field.
Until venture capital funding steps in, salaries can be limited or nonexistent, making the slippery slope even more precarious. With risk, however, can come great reward if an idea catches on. Next time you take a moment to consider the 5 biggest entrepreneurs, consider what path you might take to do the same. Or would you?
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