1. Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes
After having its origin story hollywood-ified, Facebook's roots come as no surprise. Created in Harvard University on Feb. 4, 2004, Facebook has since consistently been the most visited social network on the web.
2. Reddit, Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian
Social news site Reddit, the so-called front page of the Internet, was created in 2005 by two college students at the University of Virginia, Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian. Its forums have since grown to host crowd sourced interviews with the current U.S. President.
3. Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin
You may have heard of this small online startup created by two Stanford students in 1996. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two Ph.D students at the time, created a search engine called "BackRub" that later became the company nearly synonymous with the Internet.
4. Instagram, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger
There'd be a lot fewer pictures of your friends meals in the world if it weren't for Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger meeting at Stanford University in 2004. Their relationship would lay the framework for the 2010 launch of their filtered photography app, Instagram.
5. PopSugar, Lisa and Brian Sugar
An entertainment media company with over 200 employees, Sugar Inc. was founded by husband and wife team Lisa and BrIan Sugar in 2005. The two met their freshman year of college and got engaged on Lisa's graduation day.
6. Savored, Dan Leahy and Ben McKean
Having become fast friends their freshman year at Georgetown University, the founders of Savored began living together in New York City shortly after graduation. It was later that year that they conceived their plan for Savored, what Dan Leahy has described as an "Expedia for restaurants."
7. Shelby.tv, Reece Pacheco and Dan Spinosa
Shelby.tv is a site for viral and educational video sharing and recommendations founded by Reece Pacheco and Dan Spinosa, who met at Brown University. When Pacheco transferred there his junior year, he joined the lacrosse team with Spinosa. After just a few months, they'd already conceived the fundamental idea for their company.
8. Warby Parker, Neil Blumenthal, Dave Gilboa, Andrew Hunt and Jeffrey Raider
Warby Parker, the online eyeglass retailer, was thought up by a group of graduate students from the University of Pennsylvania. They've long since formed their idea into a solid online business and opened their first physical stores in 2013.
9. Rent the Runway, Jenn Hyman and Jenny Fleiss
Rent the Runway is an online dress and gown rental company boasting a closet of -- according to their website -- over 50,000 dresses and accessories. It was founded by Harvard Business School section mates Jenn Hyman and Jenny Fleiss.
10. Alice + Olivia, Stacey Bendet and Rebecca Matchett
Since its 2002 launch, Alice + Olivia has grown into a major player in the fashion industry, being sold in over 800 stores around the world. It's founders, Stacey Bendet and Rebecca Matchett met in a business class at the University of Pennsylvania and named their company after their mothers.
11: Wayfair, Niraj Shah and Steve Conine
Wayfair.com, a home goods online retailer, was started when founders Niraj Shah and Steve Conine became roommates in their freshman year at Cornell University. 11 years and 1,200 employees later, the two have created an online mega-store.
College students: Next time you're thinking about cursing your roommate out for the bizarre sleeping schedule, the messy pile of clothes in your bathroom or the dirty dishes left unwashed in your kitchen sink, ask yourself, "Would this be a good person to start a multi-million dollar international corporation with?"
For many high-profile startups, the answer to that question was yes.
Case-in-point: Facebook, Google and Instagram likely wouldn't be on your radar today if it weren't for a stroke of luck and a chance encounter between some classmates.
So next time you're vegging out in a dorm room watching Netflix for an entire Sunday, look around you. You may be able to change the world with one of the people sitting around you.
In the meantime, check out this gallery of 10 successful startups whose founders met during their years at school.
0 comments:
Post a Comment