Starts responsible fashion brand
Together with his wife, Ali Hewson, Bono founds EDUN, a socially responsible clothing and accessories line. The company’s mission is to promote and provide sustainable growth opportunities to African people.
EDUN is building long-term, sustainable growth opportunities by supporting manufacturers, infrastructure and community building initiatives in Africa. We are actively working toward increasing trade throughout the continent with our apparel and accessories businesses. For Spring 2014, 85% of the EDUN collection will be produced in sub Saharan Africa.
Founded
YouTube is created by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, who met as employees at Paypal:
When we registered the YouTube domain on February 14, 2005, we set out to create a place where anyone with a video camera and an Internet connection could share a story with the world.
Start work on HarvardConnection
The brothers, along with their friend, Divya Narendra start work on a social network for Harvard students named HarvardConnection, which was to expand to other schools around the country. They hire Sanjay Mavinkurve, who works on the system until Spring 2003 and then Victor Gao, who is paid $400 for his work on the website code during the second half of 2003.
Runescape launch
Brothers Paul and Andrew Gower release the beta Runescape while in college, and out of their parent’s home in Nottingham. The game is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). The game is browser based, or cloud-based, meaning that any computer accessing the game can do so with no downloads required, a feature that makes the game unique. Andrew:
When I went to university, I discovered text-based MUDs, or multi-user dungeons. I loved the fact that these sorts of games had all these players playing at once – even when you were not playing, the world carried on without you. Because of this, I began creating my own text-based MUD, but I quickly realized that with so many of them out there, there was no way that mine would ever get noticed. So I began to search for a way to make mine stand out, and the obvious way, of course, was to add graphics. With my game, I was trying to emulate text MUDs at the time, purely as a hobby. I worked on it on and off over a number of years…and I believe I started from scratch 3 or 4 times. I finally launched a version of the game after a left university in 2001. The basic plan was to run it for free, but to pay for my hobby through advertising. However, when the dot com bubble began to collapse, advertising dried up, and there was no way to pay for the game’s server.
This was really unfortunate because just the week before I had got 3 big servers for the game, and now was left with no way to pay for them. I began asking players for donations, but quickly decided that this was not the best way to go about it – to rely on people’s sympathy. Basically what we did was calculate how many people we’d need to keep going, and came up with 5000. Thankfully, we managed to get like 2000 subscribers in the first hour, and had our 5000 in the first week. Once we had people paying, we were able to reinvest back into the game. The more we invested, the faster it grew.
Co-founds Achex
Arrington co-founds the payments provider and serves as its VP for business development, and general counsel.
Loudcloud launch
Andreessen announces the formation of Loudcloud, a company based in Menlo Park, California, that provides high-performance computing and software services to Internet and e-commerce companies. Loudcloud is later recognized as the first company to conceive of the “cloud” paradigm. Andreessen teams up with several ex-Netscape employees, including Loudcloud’s co-founder and CEO, Ben Horowitz. Andreessen is listed as the company’s co-founder and chairman. According to reports, Loudcloud is privately funded by Andreessen and other employees.
Teammates for Kids Foundation
Brooks founds Teammates for Kids Foundation, a foundation that provides financial aid to charities for children. The foundation accomplishes goals by partnering professional athletes, corporations, and celebrities by getting them to pledge or donate money. All the money raised goes to help kids in areas of their lives, such as health, education, and inner-city outreach programs.
Having the cowboys of the Professional Bull Riders as our teammates could not make me happier. They’re premiere athletes and I am grateful for their decision to use their gifts to benefit the kids
Founds Erving Wonder
Carter and Erving found talent management company Erving Wonder by merging Boy Wonder Management and J. Erving Group. As well as Eve, they manage other major hip-hop and R&B stars, Beanie Siegel, Jadakiss, Sleepy Brown, Angie Stone, Floetry, and Nelly.
Founds Memory Dealers
While in college Ver founds Memory Dealers by buying computer parts from companies that had gone bankrupt after the dotcom bubble burst. He invests $1400 from a summer job into 14 nine-gigabyte drives which he sold on Ebay for $350-380 each. He quits college shortly after.
Operates second pub
Houser owns and operates Rusty’s Buckhead Pub in Lagrange, GA., for two years and four months
In a small town one in the entertainment business had better be in with all crowds.We successfully provided entertainment for all while maintaining an atmosphere worth a regular visit. Well rounded bands, food, and genuine communication coupled with a “don’t hold back” approach was a winning combination.
Business start
Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings found and launch the Netflix website after Hastings was outraged at a $40 overdue fee when he tried returning Apollo 13 to a local video rental store. Originally, Netflix was created with 30 employees and only 940 titles for rent at 50¢ a piece.
Starts HomeNet
After he drops out of college his mother loans him $1,000 to start HomeNet, a company that installs fiber-optic cable. To make ends meet, he works at car dealerships, setting up computers and helping dealers save money by, for example, stringing together their PCs so they could use a common printer.
Bill Gates (was my inspiration) because he started a company in his basement — a software-based company. I could associate with him. He was solving problems with software, and I knew I could do that.
One dealership asks him to build a website to advertise its cars online. Biter doesn’t know how to create a site, with a friend, makes one. Soon he starts building websites for other dealers.
Biter starts building software that allows information about sales and listings to be handled electronically. The software cleaned up any spotty data…
Dealers would spell ‘Chevrolet’ 100 different ways
…and let sellers and buyers both know exactly what was available where, in real time.
Establishes Linc Media
Establishes LINC Media, a systems integration and incubation company. By 2008 the company has annual revenue of US$15 million and 140 employees. Lloyd says he runs his companies with two mottos:
Make a profit, and have mutual respect.
Co-founds AudioNet
With fellow University of Indiana graduate Todd Wagner, co-founds AudioNet.com, a web site enabling access to live sports games online. Its initial live broadcasts take place later in September 1995.
Start Crisscross Internet
From 1994 Tokyo Classified readers are able to place ads using an online BBS system. As the Internet grows in popularity Mark & Mary start Crisscross Internet, one of the first Internet Providers in Japan. Crisscross’s “Instant Internet” allows anyone to access the Internet by calling a premium-rate telephone number from their modem for an per-minute fee of ¥20 (approx $0.2). The business grows rapidly and gains over 5000 customers.
Founds Intensity Ventures
With the proceeds of the sale of his company Feld founds Intensity Ventures, a company that helps launch and operate software companies. Intensity Ventures was a venture affiliate of SOFTBANK.
Feld, Jilk become partners
Feld technologies becomes formalized when Feld and Jilk become partners. One month later they incorporate as an S-corporation. Together they build the company into one of Boston’s leading software consulting firms.
Feld: Brad, even though he could code, was out in the world trying to make rain. That’s oversimplifying what we did, but it was in large part our role in the business. There is no way I could make rain at all, and that is still not my strength. And, although Brad is capable of working on code, he was not motivated by it. He liked going out and finding clients, and having high level conversations.
Starts LINC Computer
Starts an outsourcing business called LINC Computer, which Lloyd claims is the first foreign-run IT company in Japan specifically servicing other foreign firms.
Starts Feld Technologies
While while a sophomore at MIT he works part-time as a developer for a Dallas company. His work includes writing a management system for a very large dental practice with over 30,000 customers an engagement means he has to commute frequently between Los Angeles and Boston during school.
They paid me a royalty on all the software I developed for them, so I learned the value of being in business for yourself at an early age.
Felds lack of experience is his biggest challenge. After losing money for a few months in a row he fires staff, cuts costs and resets the business to grow more slowly and profitably. He credits his father and other mentors who helped him stay out of trouble.
Starts Micro Solutions
Cuban starts a company called Micro Solutions, working as a PC consultant selling software, training and configuring computers. One day he needed a part and went to PCs Limited which was run by someone younger than him.
I was really impressed by him. I remember telling him, “Dude, I think we’re both going places.” That “dude” was Michael Dell.
That year he got Micro Solutions into local-area networks, hooking up small to medium business sizes so they could share information. The company grows to $30 Million in revenues.