Tom Cruz was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and moved to the United States when he was six. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with a degree in Finance. After successfully clearing $100,000 running an ecommerce website in high school, Tom wanted a more scalable and passive income stream through the internet. He started a web development company – AptoHosting.com – when his freshman year of college. Since then Apto Hosting has grown and is currently hosting over 500 websites in 10 different countries. Tom gives us his insight and success to date from launching a business from nothing to running a 6 employee operation at just the young age of 22. He has built a reputation for getting their clients to the top of the search engines for competitive and profitable keywords.
Secret Academy Episode – Shawn Nelson
While in high school, Shawn wanted to make an oversized bean bag, so he filled it with everything he could find – from packing peanuts to pillow and foam – chopped up on a paper cutter. The bean bag got so the attention of his friends from school that he had no choice but to start making more and selling them. “Lovesac” came to life as an alternative furniture retailer focused on comfort, sophistication and…excitement! After thirteen years, the company has expanded to 20+ stores in the U.S. and Australia. In addition to the Sacs, Nelson came up with a Lego-like concept for sectional sofas, called “Sactionals,” a patented concept making big waves in the furniture industry. Shawn has not only created an amazing business but has managed to win Rebel Billionaire, which has earned him the right to be president of Virgin Worldwide and work directly with Richard Branson.
Secret to Success – Chad Mureta
Sometimes all it takes is one incident for people to wake up and change their ways. This was the case for Chad Mureta, a former real estate developer who was in the market during the housing bubble crash. As an overworked business owner, Chad took a night out with friends and was involved in a near fatal car accident when a deer jumped in front of his car. While laying in his hospital bed with hundreds of thousands in debt, a friend introduced him to the world of apps. That moment spurred Chad to borrow money from his family to develop his first app which turned out to be a success. Since then, Chad has launched over 65 apps and has become a self-made multi-millionaire in doing so.
21 Signs You’re an Entrepreneur
Let’s face it, being an entrepreneur is a unique breed. Not many people are willing to go through the same sacrifices we go through in order to achieve success. At one time or another, we’ve all went through many similar events on our journey through entrepreneurship so we thought it’d be funny if we compiled 21 signs you can tell…
The Challenges of Entrepreneurship From The Experiences of a Sixteen Year Old
There’s something special about entrepreneurship. Well actually, there’re a lot of very special things about entrepreneurship, but there’s one in particular which stands out with regards to entrepreneurship and age, being that there is no requirement! Every once in a while you’re see something on TV flipping through the channels about a kid who started selling something out of his…
How 5 Entrepreneurs Raised Over $2.1 Million Through Crowdfunding
In a generation where business has shifted to a global scale, entrepreneurs have begun to capitalize on non traditional ways of funding their business through crowd funding websites like Kickstarter or Indiegogo. While both websites have their own differences, both allow you to post any business endeavor you may have to attract backers that help donate money to kickstart your…
Secret Academy Episode – Gabe Zichermann
A resident of NYC, Gabe Zichermann is a board member of StartOut.org, advisor to a number of startups and facilitator for the Founder Institute in Manhattan. He is also on the chair of GSummit where top gamification experts across industries gather to share knowledge and insight about customer & employee engagement and loyalty. As an author, Gabe identified himself as an entrepreneur. His book, “Gamification by Design,” analyzes the technical and architectural considerations for designing engagement using games concepts and his other book, “Game-Based Marketing,” achieved critical and industry acclaim for its detailed look at innovators who blend the power of games with brand strategy.