These young ladies behind companies including Spanx and Polyvore made it massive in 2012. Here’s how they produced an impression on YEC members.
It is the season of giving thanks, so the Young Entrepreneur Council asked 12 profitable entrepreneurs to reflect on which young businesswomen produced the greatest impression on them in the previous year, either personally or from afar–and why. Right here are their very best answers.
1. Kathryn Minshew of The Muse
In 2012, I have been so impressed with fellow YEC member Kathryn Minshew. She rocked at Y Combinator’s Demo Day, grew The Muse to sky heights this year, and even appeared on Bloomberg to talk about her firm. I can not wait to see what she accomplishes in 2013!
— Doreen Bloch, Poshly
two. Nara Lakhani of PMGOA.com
Nara Lakhani is my fiancee. She’s also a Houston-based magazine publisher. On top of that, she owns and operates PMGOA.com, Promotional Manufacturing Group of America, which is one particular of the biggest promotional products supplier today. She is on a mission to bring back manufacturing in the USA. Her revenues are outstanding. 2013 will be even a larger year.
— Ak Kurji, Gennex Group
3. Kelsey Meyer of Digital Talent Agents
In the previous year, I’ve watched Kelsey support create her company from two workers to far more than 20 with grace, tenacity, and a genuine desire to support other folks.
— Brent Beshore, AdVentures
four. Alexa Hirschfeld of Paperless Post
Alexa Hirschfeld, co-founder of Paperless Post, continued to experience explosive growth in her company in 2012. Her company is shifting the way individuals think about on-line and offline invitations.
— Robert J. Moore, RJMetrics
5. Shradha Agarwal of ContextMedia
Shradha Agarwal with Context Media is an up-and-coming leader. Context was selected as one particular of the most impactful organizations by the White House in 2012. Shradha also committed a huge sum of funds to investing in commence-ups along with her time mentoring young entrepreneurs.
— John Hall, Digital Talent Agents
six. Allison Lami Sawyer of Rebellion Photonics
Allison was named to Inc.’s 30 Underneath 30 list this year. I had the pleasure of meeting her when she was in NYC to acquire her award. Her private, self-effacing manner hides a deep, authentic personality that has aided invent and commercialize a revolutionary imaging technology, and, in turn, construct a multi-million dollar company.
— Matthew Ackerson, Saber Blast
7. Stacey Ferreira of MySocialCloud
What started with a tweet to Richard Branson ended in a million-dollar investment by him and Jerry Murdock in her company. Stacey’s website solves one of our largest issue as on-line customers–obtaining way too a lot of passwords to don’t forget. It also syncs your social shares seamlessly into your profile for others to spread and like.
— Michael Costigan, Michael Costigan
8. Maren Kate Donovan of Zirtual
Maren Kate Donovan, founder and CEO of San Francisco-based devoted virtual assistant company Zirtual, continued to make a name for herself as in 2012. Zirtual has turn into 1 of the premiere U.S.-based VA firms for entrepreneurs, routinely getting thousands of applications from potential VAs whilst catering to a substantially increasing list of raving clients.
— Dave Ursillo, Unleader Studios
9. Jessica Mah of InDinero.com
Jessica Mah is the co-founder and CEO of InDinero, a 1-quit shop for accounting. Immediately after raising considerable funding a handful of years ago as a 20-year-old, the company needed to take a drastic shift over the past year to revive a struggling company model. Mah has been able to lead the team by means of a important dip, and InDinero is expanding quickly.
— Aaron Schwartz, Modify Watches
ten. Sara Blakely of Spanx
The CEO of Spanx, Sara Blakely, is quite extraordinary. This year she took on the classic “competitive male” view of company and shattered it with one rapid swoop and actually showed the significance of possessing a little company that balances masculine and feminine qualities. She produced the biggest impression on me this year of any entrepreneur.
— Raoul Davis, Ascendant Group
11. Jess Lee of Polyvore
Jess Lee is a co-founder of Polyvore, a spot to shop, find out, and start style trends. She took over as CEO of the company in early 2012 whilst the former CEO moved into a much more product and technologies focused role. Polyvore is a uncommon start off-up in that it really is cash-flow positive with much more than 50 workers. Congrats, Jess!
— Bhavin Parikh, Magoosh Test Prep
12. Gabrielle Bernstein of HerFuture.com
She has been a hero to several young, female entrepreneurs who have been moved by her books, or who would or like to comply with in her footsteps. 2012 was a breakout year for her, with YouTube choosing her up as a “Next Vlogger” and most lately her appearance on Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday.
— Jennifer Donogh, Ovaleye
