The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the country's most promising young entrepreneurs. The YEC promotes entrepreneurship as a solution to youth unemployment and underemployment and provides its members with access to tools, mentorship and resources that support each stage of a business's development and growth.
When recently asked about the year's most impressive company run by a young entrepreneur, YEC members had the following to say.
1. Buffer
Joel Gascoigne, founder of Buffer [a social-media tool that helps share your content], continues to inspire me with the product and company he has built. His product solves a real problem, meets real needs and generates real cash from paying customers. No fluff, just real business.
—Tim Jahn, co-founder of Entrepreneurs Unpluggd
2. Macgasm.net
Joshua Schnell, editor-in-chief of Macgasm.net, has been a fantastic young entrepreneur to watch in 2011. His Apple news blog has grown immensely and has been featured in many news outlets for being among the first to break news. I would predict that Macgasm will be people's number one go-to Apple blog in the very near future.
—Erin Blaskie, founder of BSETC
3. AppSumo
AppSumo is Noah Kagan's new project that, in my mind, is the perfect example of the deal/group-buying space done right. What I love about the company is its attention to iteration and learning, over-communication to both users and the community at large and lean startup methods. It's a lightweight revenue-driven model that I think illustrates that a web startup can be simple but awesome all at once.
—Derek Shanahan, founder of Foodtree
4. Fits.me
This promising fashion industry startup addresses the age-old problem of "sizing and fit" that clothing e-retailers face when selling clothes online. They built a robotic mannequin that takes your body measurements and mimics your shape, so that you can see exactly how clothing would fit you. It's an industry game-changer that can positively impact your bottom line.
—Erica Nicole, founder of YFS Magazine
5. Gemvara
Gemvara, the world's most impressive online custom jewelry company, is one of Boston's hottest startups, run by the very young, Matt Lauzon. This year, Lauzon made it onto Inc.'s 30 Under 30 list, at the age of 25, and his business is projected to rake in $12 million in revenue in 2011. In 2010, they had about $3 million in revenue.
—Danny Wong, co-founder of Blank Label Group
6: 2tor
Jeremy Johnson, co-founder of tech startup 2tor, has helped build this visionary company into a 300-employee, highly funded success story. 2tor partners with leading U.S. universities to create online master's programs. The company is helping to redefine the higher ed arena, and Jeremy, a young entrepreneur, has been an integral part of its success.
—Zach Cutler, founder and CEO of Cutler Group
7. Kiip
Brian Wong’s vision with Kiip, to bring a new avenue of advertising to mobile gaming, is outstanding. This idea is still in the early stages but it has true promise.
—Ryan Holmes, CEO of HootSuite
Pictured (clockwise from top left): Erin Blaskie, Danny Wong, Zach Cutler, Tim Jahn, Erica Nicole, Ryan Holmes