Kim Zaninovich, Founder of Crowd Control

Kim Zaninovich grew up in San Pedro, CA, with a passion for independent film, dating back to summers as a kid, when she would walk back and forth to the local store to rent VHS tapes of obscure movies. When she was old enough to drive, she would go to a tiny art-house theatre near her house in Hermosa Beach. It was one day while attending Boston University that she went to see a presentation of the making of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” created by a fellow college student. Zaninovich then realized that was exactly what she would like ...read more

Dr. Frankie Bashan, Founder of Little Gay Book

Growing up on New York City’s Upper West Side, Dr. Frankie Bashan grew up learning first-hand what it meant to be an entrepreneur, having witnessed both of her parents in that role. Her father, who emigrated from Israel, came to America with only $500 in his pocket and a dream. After selling Levis on Bleecker Street to make ends meet, he joined with his wife, a Jewish American from Long Island, to open a small women’s contemporary clothing store in the 1970s. By the 80s, they had opened three stores. And by the 90s, Bashan’s father opened Isabel Ardee, a ...read more

Mat Herman, Founder of Apt2B

As a child, the last thing Mat Herman wanted to do for a living is to sell furniture. And, through a weird twist of fate, that is exactly what he ended up doing. But as with any true entrepreneur, they don’t just look to do things, but to reinvent the way those things are done. And that is just what he did when he founded Apt2B (www.Apt2B.com). But it took a lot of struggle and at times major disappointment to get to where he is today. Herman graduated from Indiana University in 1996 with a degree in General Studies. Originally, he ...read more

Chad Hurley, Co-Founder of Youtube

"There is no old media. There is no new media. There is one media with one common purpose: to inform, move and inspire the world through information, art and entertainment. Together, we can find a solution that will benefit everyone in this ecosystem, from consumers to advertisers to the content owners alike." Nowadays, millions of people all around the world every day spend hours in front of their computers watching videos on the internet and commonly on YouTube. But who is behind this idea of genius? The people responsible for it are Steve Chen and Chad Hurley. This success story is ...read more