发电足球生产商Uncharted Play

创始人：杰西卡•麦修斯，茱莉亚•西尔弗曼

年龄：24岁，24岁

学校：哈佛大学

毕业时间：2011年

    麦修斯和西尔弗曼最初想到要创立现在的公司Uncharted Play，还是在哈佛（Harvard University）念大三的时候。两人在大学期间都曾游历海外，发现不管多穷多落后的地区，当地人都喜爱踢球。Uncharted Play的第一款产品SOCCKET足球就着眼于人们对足球的热爱：SOCCKET作为便携式发电机，可在人们踢球的过程中储存能量，日后为电灯、迷你冰箱、手机等供电。Uncharted Play与非营利组织合作，将在2013年2月前在非洲、拉美和美国国内派发10,000个SOCCKET足球。

    今秋，两位创业者开始了在哈佛商学院（Harvard Business School）的学业。“我有没有时间睡觉？当然有——但我今年才24岁，因此如果有件事对我真的非常重要，我可以牺牲一点睡眠时间，”麦修斯表示。

    下一步？智能球LUDO，内置芯片可以追踪和记录踢球时间，并将这些信息通过无线传输方式上传到Uncharted Play的捐赠网站The PlayFund。她们的目标是创造出一种货币，让发展中世界的人们能用踢球时间来换取资源。

Uncharted Play

Founder(s): Jessica O. Matthews and Julia Silverman

Age: 24, 24

School: Harvard University

Graduation: 2011

    Matthews and Silverman came up with the idea for their company, Uncharted Play, while juniors at Harvard. Both had traveled abroad during college and realized that no matter how poor or power-deprived the area, its residents consistently played footie. Uncharted Play's first product, the SOCCKET ball, piggybacks this love of soccer: It acts as a portable generator, storing energy built up during play that can be used later to charge lamps, mini-fridges, cell phones, and more. The company partnered with NGOs and confirmed over 10,000 SOCCKETs for distribution across Africa, Latin America and the U.S. by February 2013.

    The entrepreneurs started at Harvard Business School this fall. "Do I sleep? Not really—but I'm 24 years old, so I can afford to lose a bit of sleep if it means doing something that really matters to me," says Matthews.

    Up next? The LUDO, a smart ball fitted with a chip that tracks and records the hours of play—and wirelessly uploads the information to Uncharted Play's online giving platform, The PlayFund. Their goal is to create a currency, allowing those in the developing world to purchase resources with their hours of play.

社交网站MeetMe （前MyYearbook）

创始人：凯瑟琳•库克

年龄：22岁

学校：乔治城大学

毕业时间：2011年

    库克在上中学时转学到一个新校区，随后，就和她的哥哥冒出了一个想法，何不建立一个网站，方便人们（在网上）结交新朋友。Facebook将人们和熟人连结起来，MeetMe却把人们和陌生人联系在一起；它类似于一个约会网站，但没有罗曼蒂克色彩。想到这个点子是在2005年，当时库克只有15岁，等到进入乔治城大学（Georgetown University）就读时，她已经一手打造了myYearbook网站。2011年，就在库克毕业后，Quepasa Corporation以1亿美元收购了myYearbook。

    下一步？库克仍在为自己的公司（现已更名为MeetMe）工作，她喜欢办公室氛围。“常常我进到办公室，看到我所有的东西都被翻得乱七八糟，”她大笑着说。“我们喜欢在办公室里搞恶作剧。”创意环境让库克不断思考，现在她将大量的精力花在移动业务上，希望能打造一个平台，让人们能在地铁站台上或在星巴克（Starbucks）排队时彼此邂逅。

MeetMe (formerly MyYearbook)

Founder(s): Catherine Cook

Age: 22

School: Georgetown University

Graduation: 2011

    After a move to a new school district during their high school years, Cook and her brother were inspired to create a website that makes it easy to make new friends -- online. Facebook connects you with people you know while MeetMe connects you with people you have never met; it's similar to a dating website, sans romantic intentions. Though the idea was conceived in 2005—when Cook was she just 15—she nursed the site during her time at Georgetown University. In 2011, just after Cook's graduation, myYearbook was purchased by Quepasa Corporation for $100 million.

    Up next? Cook still works for her company, which has been rebranded MeetMe, and she loves the office environment. "It's fairly common that I'll come into my office and see all of my things flipped upside down," she laughs. "We like to play pranks in the office." The creative environment keeps Cook thinking. Working heavily on mobile, she hopes to build a platform that allows people to meet while standing on a subway platform—or waiting in line at Starbucks.

互动家装玩具Maykah

创始人：爱丽丝•布鲁克斯，詹妮弗•凯斯勒，贝蒂娜•陈

年龄：24岁，28岁，24岁

学校：斯坦福大学研究生院

毕业时间：2012年，2012年，2013年

    斯坦福（Stanford University）研究生布鲁克斯、凯斯勒和陈都记得自己儿时最喜欢玩的是传统意义上的男孩玩具——从乐高到下棋，再到锯子（是的，锯子）——并因此产生了对数学和科学的兴趣。这三位女性的本科专业分别是工程、神经科学和数学——她们希望能让下一代女孩也对科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）类课程感兴趣。她们的解决方案是什么？Roominate。这款互动性房间玩具可以让孩子们自己设计、建造、布线以及装修。布鲁克斯说：“我们正在鼓励女孩们自己动手；用身边的东西进行试验，享受发现的乐趣。”

    下一步？她们的公司名Maykah由“制作”的英文make变异而来，Roominate是公司的第一款产品。这个三人创业小组在大众融资平台Kickstarter上有1,000位支持者，目前已经募集到了资金8.5万美元，超过了她们6万美元的目标。现在她们正在用这笔钱投入生产，网站已开始接受2012年假日季的预订。

Maykah

Founder(s): Alice Brooks, Jennifer Kessler, & Bettina Chen

Age: 24,28,24

School: Stanford University (graduate school)

Graduation: 2012, 2012, 2013

    Stanford graduate students Brooks, Kessler, and Chen have fond childhood memories of playing with traditionally male toys -- from Legos to a chessboard to a saw (yes, a saw) -- which excited them about math and science. The women's undergrad majors covered engineering, neuroscience, and math -- and they hope to get the next generation of girls interested in STEM subjects. Their solution? Roominate, a kit that lets children create design, build, wire, and decorate their own interactive rooms. "We are encouraging young girls to become makers; to experiment with what is around them and learn the joy of discovery," says Brooks.

    Up next? Their company's name, Maykah, is a play on the work "make", and Roominate is its first product. The trio have over 1,000 backers on Kickstarter, where they've raised $85,000, exceeding their goal by $60,000. They're currently using the this money to produce the pre-orders from their website and have also started taking pre-orders for the 2012 holiday season.

私家花生酱品牌Wild Squirrel Nut Butter

创始人：蒂莉•提勒特森，艾瑞卡•威尔什

年龄：20岁，21岁

学校：俄勒冈大学

毕业时间：毕业前离校

    如果花生酱没了，大多数人会出去到杂货店，买上一罐新的——但提勒特森和威尔什不会这么干。作为俄勒冈大学（University of Oregon）二年级学生，他们用一款食品加工器和一包花生自制美味，开始在简单的配方中添加新的成分，Wild Squirrel Nut Butter就这样诞生了。2012年，两人登上了美国ABC电视频道的Shark Tank节目。投资者芭芭拉•考克兰愿意出资5万美元，但却遭到两人拒绝，因为她们不希望失去对公司未来的控制权。两人在Shark Tank节目中的露面带来了很大的广告效应：提勒特森和威尔什的电话开始响个不停，网站流量猛增。如今Wild Squirrel五种口味的花生酱已在160家杂货店上架销售，明年更是计划覆盖全国市场。

    下一步？两位创业者在上完了大二后就离开了学校，专注于公司发展。9月底，ABC电视台Shark Tank节目组的一个摄制组将飞到俄勒冈对Wild Squirrel进行跟进报道。

Wild Squirrel Nut Butter

Founder(s): Keeley Tillotson and Erika Welsh

Age: 20, 21

School: University of Oregon

Graduation: Left before graduation

    When out of peanut butter, most snackers stroll to the grocery store and pick up a new jar—but not Tillotson and Welsh. As sophomores at the University of Oregon, they used a food processor and a bag of raw peanuts to whip up a homemade treat, started to add new ingredients to the simple recipe, and Wild Squirrel Nut Butter was born. The duo appeared on ABC's Shark Tank in 2012. Investor Barbara Corcoran offered them $50,000, but they turned it down in hopes of maintaining control of their company vision. Appearing on the show was a brilliant PR move: Tillotson's and Welsh's phones began to ring off the hook and their web traffic sky-rocketed. Wild Squirrel's five flavors are now sold at 160 grocers, with nationwide distribution chalked for next year.

    Up next? The entrepreneurs left college after completing their sophomore years, focusing instead on their growing company. ABC's Shark Tank is flying a film crew to Oregon in late September to do a follow-up segment on Wild Squirrel.

奢侈品香皂品牌You Smell

创始人：梅根•卡明斯

年龄：27岁

学校：萨瓦纳艺术设计学院

毕业时间：2008年

    2007年卡明斯大四，正在萨瓦纳艺术设计学院（Savannah College of Art and Design）准备毕业论文。她的想法？创造一种包装设计。她决定将手工香皂用复古设计的材料包裹起来——从此便一发不可收拾。卡明斯将其命名为“You Smell”。现年27岁的她表示，经常有客户写信给她，说甚至在打开信箱的时候就闻到了香皂味。与Wild Squirrel创始人一样，卡明斯今年也上了Shark Tank节目；罗伯特•赫雅维克表示，愿意出105,000美元收购该公司20%的股份。拍摄完成后，交易没有落实，但投资者们开始打电话给卡明斯——电话来得正是时候。她说：“我起步时非常艰难，（我和未婚夫）一度身无分文，只能动用自己的储蓄和订婚戒指钱来维持生计。”一位投资者给了卡明斯超过14万美元，而她给了这位投资者30%的You Smell股份。

    下一步？这家奢侈品香皂初创公司正在打造客户群，拓展产品线（正在考虑身体磨砂膏和液体香皂），接着计划与高端连锁店洽谈分销事宜。卡明斯说：“最难的是拒绝一些天大的机会。这些机会能让我们赚到快钱，但它们要么最终会毁灭我们精心打造的品牌，要么会在快速成长中榨干我们。”

    译者：早稻米

You Smell

Founder(s): Megan Cummins

Age: 27

School: Savannah College of Art and Design

Graduation: 2008

    In 2007, Cummins was working on her thesis as a senior at Savannah. Her prompt? Create a package design. She decided to bundle handmade soap in vintage-inspired wrapping—and hasn't stopped since. She titled it You Smell and Cummins, now 27-years-old, says that customers frequently email her saying that they can even smell the soap when they open their mailbox. Like the Wild Squirrel founders, Cummins also appeared on Shark Tank this year; Robert Harjavec offered her $105,000 for a 20% stake in the company. The deal fell through once filming ended, but investors began calling Cummins—just in the knick of time. "I started a very difficult journey where [me and my fiancé] went broke and had to use our savings and engagement ring money to stay afloat," she says. An investor paid Cummins upwards of $140,000, and she gave him 30% of You Smell.

    Up next? The luxury soap startup is building its customer base and expanding its product line (think body scrubs and liquid soap), then plans to start distribution conversations high-end chains. "The hardest part has been saying no to big opportunities that would make us fast money but would ultimately ruin the brand we've crafted—or crushed us from rapid growth," Cummins says.