From idea to startup: Real stories of student entrepreneurs

Have an amazing idea for a business — even a dream of presenting your idea and gaining a partner from Shark Tank? You’re not alone! 

While it isn’t easy to become a teen entrepreneur, it’s not impossible. Keep reading to meet several young entrepreneurs who started with a germ of an idea and grew it into something pretty amazing.

Ritesh Agarwal

Ritesh Agarwal founded OYO Rooms at age 19 after briefly attending the Indian School of Business and Finance. A Thiel Fellowship provided him with $100,0000 to focus on building his business. His entrepreneurial journey began when he recognized a significant gap in the Indian market: the highly inconsistent quality of budget hotel experiences. His solution? Launching OYO, which rapidly standardized services and added independent budget hotels under a single, reliable name. Taking the non-traditional path allowed Ritesh to scale quickly across India and internationally; now OYO Rooms is one of the world’s largest hotel chains by room count.

Moziah “Mo” Bridges

Inspired by his dad, who wore bow ties all the time, 9-year-old Moziah had a mission — to find the perfect bow tie for himself. Unfortunately, there weren’t many quality, affordable options. So, with the help of his mom, he launched Mo’s Bows. At 11, he appeared on Shark Tank and got a deal with shark Daymond John. His business expanded quickly, generating sales of $700,000 in men’s accessories and establishing partnerships with Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus, and other large retailers. In 2017, Mo partnered with the NBA to create custom neckties for all 30 teams.

Erica Cole

Erica Cole lost her leg in a car accident. The initial spark for her business came from her frustration that she wanted to wear jeans, but they didn’t fit over her prosthetic. So she began altering her pants, sewing in zippers to accommodate her prosthesis, not realizing she was creating adaptive clothing. After several amputee friends asked her to make similar alterations, she created No Limbits, launching it on Kickstarter as Amp Pant (and reaching its funding goal in 48 hours). She also appeared on Shark Tank and got a deal from the sharks, who recognized the need for accessible clothing options for people with disabilities.

John Feinsilber

When he was 17 years old and a high school senior, Josh Feinsilber was working on a project that sparked the idea for Gimkit. He was already interning as a full-stack developer at two companies, so he put his programming skills to use developing this idea — an interactive approach to helping students study and learn, similar to Kahoot. The Gimkit mobile app, which Josh launched when he was 19, enables teachers to design engaging, game-style learning resources. It’s gone global, with students in over 100 countries using it. 

Garrett Gee

While a student at Brigham Young University (BYU), Garrett Gee co-developed the app Scan Inc. with fellow students Kirk Ouimet and Ben Turley. The inspiration came from Garrett’s inability to find an effective QR scanning app at the university, prompting him to design one himself — a development that took about six months. The initial iOS application was launched at a BYU student competition. Despite appearing on Shark Tank, where the investors declined to fund the venture, Scan Inc. achieved massive success, and Garrett sold it to Snapchat for $54 million in 2015.

Gabby Goodwin

When she was just seven years old, Gabby Goodwin — frustrated from constantly losing hair bows that would fall out of her hair — developed her idea for GaBBY Bows. With encouragement from her mother, Gabby solved the problem by designing a unique double-snap barrette that grips better than other standard hair accessories. In just seven years, this family-owned enterprise has expanded into a global brand, Confidence by Gabby Goodwin. Gabby has also recently become an author, publishing Naturally Me at the Confidence Salon, which was released in May 2025.

Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian

The story of Reddit, one of the internet’s largest and most culturally impactful websites, is a unique story of tech history. It was founded in 2005 by University of Virginia roommates Steve Huffman and Alex Ohanian. Although their initial concept was for a sandwich ordering app, they ultimately created an online bulletin board centered on user-driven democracy, allowing people to upvote or downvote content based on its helpfulness or interest. Steve and Alexis grew the company on a tiny budget until Condé Nast acquired it just 16 months after its launch, making the men multi-millionaires. Their creation remains one of the most visited sites globally.

Riya Karumanchi

High school student Riya Karumanchi, founder and CEO of SmartCane, reinvented the standard white cane for the blind and visually impaired after realizing the traditional cane, which hadn’t been updated since 1921, lacked technology. Her invention integrates GPS navigation, an ultrasonic proximity sensor, and an AI-powered camera. The 15-year-old secured over $55,000 in seed funding and developed her company at Ryerson University’s business incubator, The DMZ. Under her leadership, SmartCane has already impacted the lives of 285 million visually impaired individuals and earned 16 awards for its innovative work.

George Matus

Motivated by a lifelong passion for building drones, George Matus launched Teal Drones during his junior year of high school after becoming dissatisfied with the speed and camera quality of existing models. He was 17 when he developed the Teal One prototype — a drone capable of 70 mph flight, complete with an integrated supercomputer for machine learning. This remarkable feat helped George raise over $16 million in funding and earn recognition, like being named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and receiving the Thiel Fellowship. 

Debbie Sterling

While studying engineering at Stanford, where she was one of the few female students, Debbie Sterling noticed a disparity in hands-on experience: her male classmates were familiar with prototyping through construction toys, while she was not. This observation led to her realization that attracting girls to STEM required tangible play and relatable female role models. Determined to bridge this gap, Debbie created GoldieBlox, a line of construction toys featuring the world’s first girl engineer and coder characters, Goldie Blox and Ruby Rails. Despite facing initial rejection at the International Toy Fair from industry professionals who insisted girls only wanted princesses, Debbie trusted her instincts, launching her idea through Kickstarter, where it became an instant (and fully-funded) sensation. 

Mikaila Ulmer

After being stung by two bees a week apart when she was just four, Mikaila Ulmer began to learn about bees and their roles in the ecosystem. Her family encouraged her to enter children’s business competitions, and it wasn’t long before she opened her first lemonade stand. She used her great-grandmother’s original recipe, which included honey as one of the ingredients. The lemonade was a hit, inspiring the creation of her business, Me & the Bees Lemonades. In 2015, Ulmer presented her idea on Shark Tank and got a deal with shark Daymond John. Now, over 15 years after launching, the lemonades come in five flavors and are sold at local stores and national chains. At the age of 15, Mikaila became an author, writing a memoir titled Bee Fearless: Dream Like a Kid, which shares her journey and offers tips and guidance for other young entrepreneurs. 

Rachel Zietz

Lacrosse player and entrepreneur Rachel Zietz established Gladiator Lacrosse in 2012 when she was just 13. Her idea for the company grew out of her frustration with the existing market’s lacrosse products, which were poorly made, expensive, and offered limited options. Like other serious players, Rachel was told by her coaches to practice “wall ball” and improve her shot outdoors. But the gear she bought for her backyard couldn’t withstand the weather — or cost too much to replace regularly. Her participation in the Young Entrepreneurs Academy Program, a collaboration between Florida Atlantic University and the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce, inspired Rachel to launch a business. Her goal? Offering high-quality, affordable lacrosse equipment. And thus, Gladiator Lacrosse was born.

If you have an idea for a business, think you might want to go to business school, or think you have what it takes to become the next billionaire entrepreneur, check out our Guide to Business and Entrepreneurship for more resources.