During college or soon after graduation, most of us realize we need to get our lives together. While some people may set their sights on small victories like moving off of their parents' coach, others form a startup.
BetaBoston released a list of youngsters 25 and under involved in startups and tech. It's a good list. We thought we could probably do the same with all founders. So we did. Here's a list of 25 startup founders who are so young they still have to spend extra on rental cars.
1. Julian Jung (25, Tablelist): At such a young age, Jung has already successfully dabbled in a number of Boston industries. The Northeastern alum is most recently known for founding Tablelist, the app that lets you book table service around the city. However, Jung has made investments in Drizly, the alcohol delivery we all love, and Alden & Harlow, a Harvard Square eatery that’s one of my all-time favorites. He’s also a player in the Boston real estate game.
2. Tom Coburn (24, Jebbit): BC-alum Coburn is all-in when it comes to entrepreneurship. First, he’s the Co-Founder and CEO of Jebbit, an advertising platform that helps companies better engage with their customer bases through online media. But that’s not all. He’s the Co-Founder and Associate Director at the Enjoy Life Leadership Academy, a summer program that nurtures leadership in high school students. Add to his plate Soaring Startup Circle, an accelerator for BC students, of which he’s an Executive Board Member and yet another Co-Founder.
3. Chase McAleese (25, Jebbit): McAleese was Coburn’s counterpart at Jebbit, acting as another BC Co-Founder and CTO there. Prior to Jebbit, he was also a Co-Founder and CTO at LeapTask, an app that handled ride-sharing and task completion. What’s he up to now? He’s working as the Head of iOS at another Boston startup: the on-demand photographer service Pretty Instant.
4. Ben Kaplan (23, RIP Wigo): Wigo may have dropped off the radar, but Kaplan - the “Who is going out?” app’s Founder - seems to have bounced back. He’s transitioned to working on Yeti, another college social app, for what’s only been called a “strategic” move.
5. Christopher Wolfel (25, Mavrck): Wolfel, Co-Founder and CRO at marketing platfrom Mavrck, has been on the entrepreneurship track for some time. While at Northeastern, he served as CEO of IDEA, the university’s venture accelerator, where he’s now a Board Member. In addition to leading Mavrck, he’s a lecturer and mentor for Youth CITIES, which fosters entrepreneurship amongst middle and high schoolers.
6. Jeremy Cai (20, OnboardIQ): There seems to be an air of mystery surrounding Cai, but there’s nothing hidden about his company. OnboardIQ is a platform that streamlines and automates their hiring processes. It doesn’t stop there. The program helps manage their workforces and drive collaboration. Its headquarters may be in San Fran, but a number of its investors and stakeholders are here in Boston, so we’ll give it to him.
7. Diana Yuan (22, indico): Researchers know all too well that sorting through raw data and trying to make sense of it can be a pain. Yuan, a Babson grad, came up with a solution. With indico, of which she’s a Co-Founder and the COO, people can use predictive modeling to actually understand the data they have on hand.
8. Slater Victoroff (23, indico): Indico isn’t a one-man show. Victoroff, Co-Founder and CEO of the company, is an intense computer programmer. After graduating Olin College of Engineering, he didn’t abandon his alma mater. Victoroff serves as a Board Member at Olin Foundry, which aims to keep students engaged in the Boston entrepreneurship community.
9. Alex Shadrow (22, UNItiques): After graduating BU this past summer, Shadrow has gone full-time CEO of her company UNItiques, which she founded back in 2013. Her online marketplace is open for any student with a .edu email address, letting people sell and buy their stuff. It’s like Allston Christmas, but all year round.
10, 11 & 12. Santiago Beltran, Carlos Cheung and Kristel Tan (20, 21 and 20, Tumvi): I had to write about these three BU students together because when I met them, they struck me as such a strong team. Beltran and Cheung met working on a project, and with the addition of Tan, they developed and deployed the BUFood app. Like their beta app, Tumvi will let students search dining hall and restaurant options near them, as well as track nutrition - this time, the three students are launching it other colleges on the East Coast.
13. Riley Soward (19, Campus Insights): Soward is essentially a BC boy wonder. Not only is he a student, but also a Co-Founder of Campus Insights AND a member of the investment team at Dorm Room Fund. His startup allows for on-campus marketing research and the investment firm helps other student-led companies have the capital they need to get off the ground.
14. Mario Gomez-Hall (22, Cymbal): Finally we have some Tufts representation here. Gomez-Hall, who graduated last summer, is a Co-Founder and the lead designer of Cymbal. The app lets friends and social influencers share their favorite jams, so users can expand their music-listening horizons.
15. Toni Oloko (19, PracticeGigs): Practice makes perfect. Oloko, a former tennis coach, would know this to be true more than most. That’s why he created PracticeGigs, an app that connects tennis players with all of the resources they need to get some prime practice time in. Whether it be an advisory to play or recreational space, Oloko’s startup will hook them.
16. Molly Farison (24, LilyPad Scales): Another Olin grad makes the list. In 2013, Farison founded LilyPad Scales, a startup that’s produced an at-home wheelchair scale and accompanying weight management solutions. She may have brought on a diverse team to fill in all the gaps, but this girl has more than hustled to drive her patented product to success. I mean, she interned at NASA after all.
17 & 18. Rose Wang and Laura D’Asaro (24 and 24, SixFoods): Harvard super duo Wang and D’Asaro have teamed up to bring you the next generation of healthy snacks with SixFoods. So far, their startup has created Chirps - chips made of beans, peas, corn chia seeds and, most importantly, cricket flour. With less fat and exponentially more protein, Wang and D’Asaro’s chips will put extra pep in your step.
19. Maxwell P. Campion (25, BriefMe): Let’s keep the Harvard streak going with Campion and his startup BriefMe. He founded the startup back in 2013 and two years later, the app is still giving users “just the cream” - the top 10 most shared most shared news articles out there on the internet. Only interested in certain news sections? Campion took care of that, and you can zero in on the topic areas that you like most.
20. Brian Truong (22, HelloToken): Truong is the Co-Founder and CEO of HelloToken. His startup strives to make money off of content, without the annoying bombardment of ads and paywalls. Truong may not be a student at Harvard anymore, but he still has a big presence there as an advisor for Harvard Ventures, of which he used to be President.
21 & 22. Grace Xiao and Raul E. Jordan (20 and 20, Kynplex): What if we connected the world’s greatest thinkers; what kind of innovation would we see? Xiao and Jordan, two current Harvard undergrads, are testing out that scenario. They co-founded this company as means of connecting research labs on a global scale. With the Kynplex platform, researchers will be able to network with their peers to share ideas and collaborate, hopefully to make significantly more progress for the world.
23. Jordan DeGraaf (21, Trignis): DeGraaf and I speak the same language: No, I don’t mean German; I’m talking barbecue. This Harvard student has designed the ultimate meat smoker with her startup Trignis. Unlike traditional smokers, which you have to monitor with a watchful eye, the Trignis smoker gets barbecue right all on its own.
24. Edward Lee (22, tradr): I hate to make comparisons, but Lee has pretty much devised the Tinder of second-hand goods. With the Harvard student’s app, you can swipe through items for sale throughout your area. If you ask me, Lee has made all of a garage-sale junkie’s dreams come true.
25. Daquan Oliver (23, Jossle): Oliver realized - and quite correctly - that college campuses are a marketer's goldmine. So why not develop a network of go-getter students like himself to act as brand ambassadors on campuses across the country? That's exactly what he did with Jossle, giving companies direct access to one of the most desirable demographics around. Oliver's hustler mindset extends to the Recesspreneurs, a non-profit that teaches underprivileged middle and high school students about entrepreneurship, which he also founded.
