Wealthy People List–30 Under 30 Internet Millionaires
Wealthy People lists, check out any magazine rack and you will see a multitude of magazine covers that feature some sort of list. The lists that usually grab my eye are the ones that feature either the top corporations or richest people.
Below you will see the bottom 30 individuals on the 30 under 30 list compiled by Aarron Hatfield over at Income Diary. I like reading these lists because they give me a sense of inspiration. And despite what you might think, it’s not in the sense of money either. Sure, who wouldn’t want to be worth millions and millions of dollars. For me, the sense of inspiration is about ideas and how they can pay off if you believe in them.
This 30 under 30 list is interesting in that it serves as a great example of how the internet is the land of great opportunity. These young individuals barely out of high school are creating tremendous value by meeting needs of others…whether it’s a platform to facilitate sharing or a service to deliver convenience or providing valuable information the bottom line is…if there a market for it the end result is sales – whether or not it’s a profitable market is a different story.
So what can you take away from this article? Check out the profiles on the Wealthy People List. Think about what they have brought to the table. Then think about what you can bring to the table in your life. What do you bring to work, your relationships, family, your kids and yourself? As the old adage goes: garbage in equals garbage out. If you focus on giving rather than taking…you will begin to see returns.
#30 David Karp – Age 24yrs www.tumblr.com
Worth an estimated $5.5 million
David started the company Tumblr.com in 2007, with the aim to help anyone, share anything online. Sounds a pretty good idea, but who is actually going to use it? Well, 4.2 million of us is the latest estimation, so I think it’s not a bad idea at all. So far he has been handed $5.5 million in venture capital funding (so this personal fortune may now be more or less) and he has helped hundreds and thousands of users to share their content around the globe.
#29 Dylan Smith – Aged 22yrs www.box.net
Worth an estimated $7 million
Dylan is the second in command at Box.net, and currently resides as the CFO there. Dylan has been the go-to-guy in a number of other various start-ups besides Box.net. Smith is the right-hand man of Aaron and focuses his efforts more towards the sales, management and budget side of the business. Together they have so far managed to raise nearly $15 million in funding for start-up corporations. I can see this pair are going to be hard to miss in the coming few years. Watch out.
#28 Aaron Levie – Age 23 www.box.net
Worth an estimated $7 million
Aaron is the CEO of the website Box.net, for those of you that now of Box.net, here is one of the founders. Starting back in 2005 Aaron aged just 18yrs old created the website as a business project for college. The website came on in leaps and bounds through the college project and it was decided to bring the idea and project into the real world, Box.net was then officially incorporated that same year. The website business managed to gain capital from business “Angel” Mark Cuban, followed by some rather large sums of investment from third parties. The company aimed at helping businesses to share content and information internally and externally through their marketing and communication products and service.
#27 Joshua Dziabiak – Age 23yrs www.showflix.com
Worth an estimated $9 million
Joshua started his first company, a web based hosting and design site aged just 15yrs, by the time he was 18yrs he had managed to grow the business to such a degree that he sold it for $1 million. Now that’s not bad by anyone’s standards, £1 million by the age of 18yrs from a company he started as a mere boy! Since then Joshua has managed to break through yet again and is now the CEO and co-founder of Showclix.com a ticket sales company that serves over 1,000 customers a year with over 1 million sales so far! It seems Joshua doesn’t know how to fail.
#26 Sean Whalen – Age 28yrs www.alterg.com
Worth an estimated $10 million
Sean is a very physical entrepreneur and doesn’t mind getting in there, and really getting his pulse racing. Sean developed the AlterG treadmill, which is essentially a treadmill for use in anti-gravity. Why? Well besides it being a very good idea, it is perfect for those athletes or the elderly who have injured themselves. It allows you to train using only 20 percent of your natural body weight, which allows the user to develop strength much more adequately, safely and without causing any more pain than necessary. Did I mention Sean’s dad was a NASA research scientist? That must be where he got the idea. Brilliant.
#25 Matt Pauker – Age 24yrs www.voltage.com
Worth an estimated $12 million
Matt was Rishi Kacker’s (above) business partner and another one of the co-founders of Voltage.com. The business started in 2002 and Matt is still there at the time of writing this. Matt has been involved with the design and architecture of the business and still gets deeply involved in all the processes which come with it. The company is now used by some of the biggest named brands and businesses in the world, and it is still growing. Matt was also named as one of the top 25 young entrepreneurs by Business Week as well as having been featured in numerous other highly respected publications.
#24 Rishi Kacker – Age 24yrs www.voltage.com
Worth an estimated $12 million
Rishi is one of the co-founders of Voltage.com, a security based company, the nature of the business is the encryption and protection of online and offline data through the use of electronic devices. In other words they stop people stealing data and identities etc. Currently serving around 1,000 customers at the time of writing the company has gone on to very big things, and although Rishi is still part of Voltage.com it has since changed hands of ownership. Which has allowed Rishi to become very wealthy in the process.
#23 Eric Koger – Age 26yrs www.modcloth.com
Worth an estimated $15 million (combined)
Eric was the design expert behind the Modcloth.com website, and also helped with the hosting side of things. Eric is still very much a part of Modcloth.com and helps with the design, working closely with other designers they employ to oversee things are how they want them to be. He also helps with the financial side of the business like budgeting and sales reports. He also takes some of the product photography from time to time. What a great pair they are.
#22 Susan Gregg-Koger– Age 25yrs www.modcloth.com
Worth an estimated $15 million (combined)
Susan Gregg-Koger is the CEO and co-founder of Modcloth.com, operating the site via her college dorm-room where she managed to process orders herself whilst keeping up with her academic classes, that’s hard work right there! Her website was designed by her then boyfriend (now her husband – below) and the site went from strength to strength and is going remarkably well even now. The site boasts over 300 designers all creating one-off unique garments for their customers, sounds great.
#21 Aodhan Cullen – Age 27yrs www.statcounter.com
Worth an estimated $18 million
No he is NOT one of the vampires out of the Twilight series of films, though I bet he was a bit of a night owl whilst starting his business empire. Aodhan Cullen is the CEO of the online company StatCounter. If you don’t already know, StatCounter is a web analysis and statistics company that was founded in 1999 when he was a mere boy aged 16yrs. The website has had huge success and in mid-2008 the members tally had grown to a whopping 2 million (globally). Good stuff Aodhan.
#20 Ryan Allis – Age 25yrs
Worth an estimated $28 million
Ryan is the CEO and co-founder of the company icontact, the nature of the business is not unlike that of mailchimp. They provide marketing tools of the email variety and his efforts to further email marketing sales for himself and his clients has earned him a very nice amount of revenue. Able to boast over 50,000 clients globally, and with a best seller on the bookshelves entitled Zero to Million, Ryan is going places, fast.
For the rest of the Wealthy People List, head on over to Income Diary and see Michael Dunlop’s post titled Young Rich List – 30 Under 30 Internet Millionaires. Enjoy, I know I did.
And while you are over at Income Diary spend a little time on Michael’s site…I know his core mandate is to offer tons of value and if you’re thinking about setting up a blog this is site to check out. Michael is another young lad that will make this list one day…I hope to one day chat with him about his success.
