Age is but a number, and these entrepreneurs are proving that you are never too young to chase a dream and make a potentially revolutionary idea a hugely successful business. While ‘energised’ and ‘hungry’ are terms that are often thrown at young founders, the talented rising stars listed here also have wisdom, practicality and a desire to help others grow and learn in a rapidly changing world.
From teaching kids to code, investing in new businesses, to promoting women in music: these young founders are making their visions for the future a reality.
Ari Weinstein, 22 – Workflow
A former student of MIT, Weinstein dropped out of college to concentrate on his DeskConnect app, an Apple ‘jailbreaker’ app allowing users to transfer files seamlessly between desktop and mobile devices.
DeskConnect was discontinued in February this year, as the young developer turned his attention to WorkFlow. This hugely popular app simplifies practical and creative work tasks, automating procedures such as saving documents/URLs to other apps and cloud storage. Apple acquired Workflow this March, along with Weinstein and his team!
Warren Cassell Jr, 18 – Abella Group
Barely scraping into official adulthood, Warren Cassell Jr is already an established journalist, author, and international entrepreneur.
Originally from Montserrat, Cassell Jr had founded several companies by the time he was 15. He started aged 8 with a business making greetings cards. He moved onto web design, and the company facilitated Montserrat’s first ever online live streams for political rallies for the ruling government party the People’s Democratic Party (PDM).
Cassell Jr is now founder and CEO of Abella Group, an investment company managing his own investments in media, publishing, technology, and financial services companies. He became the youngest regular contributor to Entrepreneur Magazine and has gone on to interview the likes of Charles G. Koch, and even the son of Pablo Escobar, as part of his Teen Tycoon series.
Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, 24 – MuslimGirl.com
Having grown up in New Jersey in the early 2000s, young Amani Al-Khatahtbeh had personally experienced a rise in Islamophobia in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This led her to found MuslimGirl in 2009 when she was just 17. In the beginning, Al-Khatahtbeh and friends from her mosque published blogs on the site. By 2015, the site had in-house staff and readership increased by 90%, with readers both from and outside the Muslim community.
The MuslimGirl team was also behind the #MuslimWomensDay trend that went viral worldwide in March this year. Al-Khatahtbeh has published a book, Muslim Girl, and has also partnered with Teen Vogue for a web series on the issues of concern for young Muslim girls.
James Corneille, 18 – Positivity Pack
If you spend a bit of time on Twitter, chances are you may have come across Positivity Pack. A simple idea started by Irish teenager James Corneille, Positivity Pack aims to help people offer support and good cheer to loved ones experiencing a period of difficulty and bad mental health, by sending them a cheer-up kit full of things like calming teas, bubble wrap for popping and guides to de-stressing.
