What do Digg.com, Reddit.com, NeoPets and FaceBook have in common?
Other than the fact they all made, and are still making, big splashes on the Internet, these web properties were all started by young upstarts.
Technology news site Digg.com was founded in 2004 by Robert Kevin Rose, along with Owen Byrne, Ron Gorodetsky and Jay Adelson. Rose was 27 then (he later started micro-blogging service Pownce).
Digg.com competitor Reddit.com were founded by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian in 2005. They were only 22-year old graduates of the University of Virginia at that time. They were only 22-year old graduates of the University of Virginia at that time. But now the scenario has changed totally. According to Reddit statistics the number of users also increased enormously.
Virtual pet and gaming site NeoPets was founded in 1999 by Adam Powell and Donna Williams. Powell was only 23, and Williams was even younger – she was around 21. They later sold NeoPets to VIACOM at a price of US$160 million.
FaceBook founder Mark Zuckerberg started the social networking site in 2004 at the age of 20. He became a billionaire at 23.
Moral of the story 1 – You’re never too young to be an entrepreneur.
Moral of the story 2 – The Internet is a great democratic tool. It’s no respecter of age, race, religion, sex, education or experience. Anyone can start a business online.
