How and where did you get the idea for your company?

I wish I could say I always had the idea of starting a PR agency but the truth is, 10 years ago I was flat broke, looking for a job and I couldn’t get anyone to hire me. One company gave me some part-time marketing consulting work. That’s where it all started. I just kept signing more clients and hiring people. All the while trying to figure out what the business was going to ultimately be.

Who’s one person you’ve always looked up to?

My Dad. He taught me by example that you can accomplish anything you want in life – you just have to get up and do it. As a 29 year old Cuban immigrant with poor english, he became a home developer. He had no education or past experience but he didn’t know you needed it so he just did it. As a kid I always lived in neighborhoods where my dad had built all of my friend’s homes. I did not realize how crazy that was until I was in my 30′s. Another time he asked me if I knew where he could rent some violins and cellos. Apparently he was promoting a concert and the band who had flown in from another country needed instruments. He had never promoted a concert but he just did it and it was a big success. So I was always seeing him do these things he had no business doing and he did them well so I grew up thinking I could do the same thing. I had zero PR experience before starting my agency. It just never crossed my mind that it mattered. I would never had done it if I had parents who told me I needed certain qualifications or education to accomplish something. He also taught me the love of work. My Dad worked hard, but it never looked like it because he was having so much fun. So, I never think of work as being hard, I work a lot but I am always having fun. When my kids ask me if I am going to work, I say “No! I am going to play.”

What’s the most important action you took that you believe brought success to your business?

I can name 5 or 6 key things but if I have to pick one it would be the decision to laser focus on Consumer Electronics. When Jack Welch took over GE, he got rid of every business GE was not #1 or #2 (that could become #1 in 5 years). I knew I had to do the same thing. By focusing on something we knew we could be the best at, it allowed us to provide our clients with better results than any other agency in the space. We almost instantly had the competitive advantage. Most agencies think they can do PR for any industry and will accept business from anyone who will pay them. It took a lot of self-discipline to stay focused on CE when other industries were offering us money to do their PR, but I knew it would work out in the long run and it has. We are one of if not the most consistently fast growing agency in the country. This year will mark the 4th year in a row that we are on the INC5000 list of fastest growing companies in America. We represent more consumer electronics brands than any other agency in the world. This doesn’t happen without focus and discipline.

We hit on our “big idea” in 2007 and since then, many more ideas that make us great have come from Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller, Jack Welch, Lew Wasserman and other captains of industry. I look for ideas outside the PR industry. That is the only way to build a business that is superior to what everyone else is doing. If you get your ideas from your competitors, you are just following them. I have pretty much ignored what my industry is doing. Most agencies are run very poorly with business models that do not really benefit the client or the employees.

What’s the number one tip you would offer to a young entrepreneur?

Figure out what you can be the best at. It might take a while but don’t give up. Also, never stop learning. I read(or listen to) about 20 books a year about business, management and personal development. If you want to be truly successful, you have to keep learning. College will not teach you what you need to know to be successful in business. All of my best decisions have been inspired by great books.

What are your 6 favorite online tools?

1. Engadget/TechCrunch/Gizmodo/TWICE/Mashable – Great websites to keep current in the tech world

2. Google Docs – It’s simple, but I love the ability to be able to have one master document on a particular project or initiative. I’m able to get a number of minds involved at any given time and not have to worry about who has the latest version. Simple, efficient and perfect.

3. LinkedIn – In our business we’re talking to so many different people. The first thing I try to do is to connect via LinkedIN. This way I’m always current. I can congratulate you on a new promotion and follow you as your career progresses. It’s a perfect networking tool.

4. WordPress – This platform has improved our ability to maintain our website 10 fold. We’re able to incorporate features, including individual client media centers, process tracking systems, multiple blog feeds and a number of other capabilities that would have been impossible in the past. Their functionality and user-friendliness is truly amazing.

5. Webex & GoToMeeting – being a business who only has 2 -3 % of business in our same geographical region, these tools have been critical in our ability to present effectively. We firmly believe our time is best served actually doing PR, rather than spending days traveling for a 3 hour meeting.

6. Skype – This has made teleconferencing simple and easy. It’s so widely utilized in our business that we’d be at a severe disadvantage without it.

A self-proclaimed “Renaissance man,” Tai received an early start in the world of entrepreneurship, starting in his early twenties, and hasn’t stopped since. In between achieving Mensa status, visiting 51 countries, and publishing several books, Tai has also managed to start, manage, or invest in multiple successful companies.

My friend recently sat down with Tai to not only ask him a bit about himself, but also the industry in which he is most vested in – social media – in hopes of gaining insight for all other prospective social entrepreneurs.

Who mentored you during your pursuit of the entrepreneurial lifestyle?

The first man that comes to mind is Joel Salatin. When I was 18, I was struggling with deciding whether or not I wanted to go to college, and if so, what college to attend. While trying to figure all this out, my parents had picked up a book by Joel Salatin – a famous sustainable agriculturist and businessman. His ideals stuck, and I choose to become an apprentice for him.

What was supposed to last 6 months lasted for 2 years, and while I was in his company I was surrounded by not only his ideals, but also those of several other successful businessmen throughout the world. So many people came to visit Salatin, and because of it, I got to meet so many different entrepreneurs from many different schools of thought. After Salatin, I had four other mentors who pointed me in the right direction – two of which were billionaires and the others millionaires.

Why did you choose to get into the online dating business?

When I moved back to the West coast, I had a roommate who seemed to have dates all the time. I was from the country, and wondered how he was getting all these dates. When I asked him about it, he told me Yahoo Personals!. Right then and there, I knew that online dating would be big in the future. Online dating seemed like a great bet, and I also felt comfortable with that atmosphere. I owned a couple of nightclubs on the East coast in my twenties, and dating sites are simply like nightclubs online just often with better results.

However, I am not in one particular business per say. Although I have started several companies, I am more of an investor. I used to work for GE Capital, but nearly a decade ago decided to strike it out on my own, and have nearly 50 sites and other ventures that I am currently invested in. Social media is just my predominant focus, along with the software that supports it, and with that simply comes online dating.

How does your service differ from other online dating sites?

The difference between our sites and our competitors; sites is that we believe that love requires specificity. Sites like Match.com, although a great site, are too broad. A beautiful woman can get on a site like that and get 10,000 emails in one day from interested men – most of which she has no interest in dating. This not only exhausts her and deters her from dating, but it also hurts the feelings of those who never receive responses.

We won’t date just anyone, we all have our own types – whether they be tall brunettes, athletic blondes, etc. People are interested in dating people in their socioeconomic status and “looks space.” More and more science is pointing towards that. To handle this need for specificity, we built the first looks based algorithm that can support hundreds of different niches. We give people a score, and we match people with a similar score. We do this so that no one wastes their time. You are actually paired with people you are interested in.

What future trends do you foresee in online dating services?

I had a roommate who was an astrophysicist – brilliant guy. One day he told me that we all have 75 soulmates. While the number he gave wasn’t literal, I knew exactly what he meant. Soulmates are simply people with whom we are incredibly compatible with, and we all have more than just one person. However, finding those people isn’t always easy. I grew up in North Carolina – a state with a population just under 10,000,000. There are 3.5 billion women in the world, and if I have 75 potential soulmates, there is a good chance that I wouldn’t find one in North Carolina. I would have to venture far from my home state.

As people begin to accept our growing connectivity, online dating will become the norm for meeting new people, especially as the younger generations age. The younger generations simply aren’t concerned with privacy, and online dating will become just as ubiquitous as having a profile on Facebook or whatever social media site is reigning supreme at that time. Online dating will be accepted for what it is – a powerful tool that will change how we meet people.

As that occurs, I think mobile dating applications will definitely be big in the future, and we will also see better algorithms and more niche dating sites. In the future, you can expect to see dating sites specifically designed for mountain climbers or nerds or whatever you are interested in.

What’s next for you in terms of business?  Any ideas in the pipeline?

I plan to continue working on social media software so that social media sites can be created no matter what the niche is, and my focus won’t just stay on online dating. Although we recently had a major success with our Brazilian dating site, encontreamor.com, I would like to start focusing on creating niche social sites that would be like fragmented Facebooks so that people can connect to others in their niche.

You can view his full CrunchBase profile here.

How and where did you get the idea for your company?

Thrillist was born out of a need that my business partner and I had as young guys living in NYC. We wanted a cityguide that spoke our language so we created one. I think most great companies are created by people who are solving a problem that they themselves have experienced.

Who’s one person you’ve always looked up to?

Easy. My Dad. Not only is he a great role model because he’s always been so good and mixing his responsibilities at home with his work requirements, but he’s also a great entrepreneur who gave me the confidence to believe that I could be my own boss.

What’s the most important action you took that you believe brought success to your business?

Also easy. Surrounding myself with amazing people. This is the cheesy answer that everyone’s heard but its true. Great companies are made up of great people.

What’s the number one tip you would offer to a young entrepreneur?

Don’t hope. I know that sounds dark but its true. Don’t ever expect things to go your way. Don’t count on luck. Don’t wait for people to do things for you. Success rarely comes easily so you need to be willing to make sacrifices and take responsibility for your own success.

What are your 5 favorite online tools?

My favorite places to spend time online are: Thrillist and Jackthreads (obviously) + ESPN, Business Insider and AllThingsD. From a more formal “tools” perspective I use Sailthru, RJ Metrics, BestVendor, Concur and Amazon Web Services to help me run my businesses.

How and where did you get the idea for your company?

The Kohort team is comprised of community organizers. Managing our communities was difficult. For me, this came to life in managing the Columbia Venture Community and the New York Venture Community – two groups that I founded. The mishmash of online tools I had to use was onerous & it quickly became clear that the thousands of entrepreneurs at Columbia and in New York were not going to sign up for multiple services. We needed a better way and as we began unraveling this problem we discovered that were was bigger opportunities to address…

Who’s one person you’ve always looked up to?

I’ve looked up to a lot of people in my life. They’ve all shared a common characteristic – a transcendence of the social norms, process and order which enabled them to search for and create a better world. These visionaries climbed to the top of the trees, enabling them to see more than the forest…they see the horizon.

What’s the most important action you took that you believe brought success to your business?

The most important thing I have learned is who I am. I know what I’m good at and, more importantly, what I’m not. Figuring this out was a pretty humbling experience, but it enabled me to ask for help with sincerity and look to other talented folks to steer the ship.

What’s the number one tip you would offer to a young entrepreneur?

Ask everyone you speak to what you could be doing better. You’ll be surprised by how good some of the advice will be.

What are your 5 favorite online tools?

• Far and away…Kohort. (but I’m biased)
• Google Apps. While still in their infancy of development, they facilitate online collaboration to will underpin millions of valiant efforts to change our world.
• Dropbox. It provides a good chunk of the missing connective tissue on the web – moving files around with structured permissioning.
• Facebook. Because it’s allows our sharing to scale.
• Pandora. Because it’s jamming while I’m writing this.

This week we are interviewing Boaz Zilberman, founder of Fring. Fring is a fun & free mobile Video Chatting app.

Boaz is also a team member of Project-RAY, Intel, RADVISION.

How and where did you get the idea for your company?

It was back in 2005, a time in which VoIP was well known as a PC application and smartphones started to pop out. People like me who believed that smart mobile devices will conquer the world, looked at ways to bring the Internet experiences from the PC world to the mobile experience.

I started my computing career working at Intel. Andy Grove was its CEO at this period and he is the guy that influence my attitude to technology, business, entrepreneurship and humanity more than anyone else.

It was a matter of good timing and important decision. Working from start in two parallel go-to-market directions –

1. The first is independently of the established echo-system of the mobile market. What is known today as OTT or Over The Top.

2. The second is to build relations and identify the spots in which you can get support and work with the large companies in the industry.

It is a tip with built-in contradiction, part of entrepreneur tasks is to find the best way to live with this contradiction

Be very very stubborn and opinionated about what you want to do – you are the only one who know and feel that it is going to work.
But be very attentive to everything people around you are saying – they present the logic and unbiased view of reality.

My number one tool is email system. I actually use an online mailing system (Gmail) and old-fashion PC application (outlook) to communicate, organize, get reminders, keep contacts and everything.
I also use RSS technology extensively to collect and read the relevant news and posts I follow.
I use Google Analytics to see what is going on under the hood.
and I use LinkedIn to identify people, partners and colleagues

You can read his CrunchBase profile here.

How and where did you get the idea for your company?

When I initially had the idea to release “The Original Premium News” theme, I didn’t necessarily think that I would be able to create a significant business (like WooThemes has become) from it. But after seeing the traction I got for the theme (and the subsequent traction Magnus, Mark & I got for our collaborative themes), it became obvious that we had managed to simplify something whilst also increasing the value to cost ratio for people. This was a better way to build websites for many people.

Who’s one person you’ve always looked up to?

Richard Branson. He was probably my first role model as an entrepreneur and I love his almost rebel-esque way of going about his business.

What’s the most important action you took that you believe brought success to your business?

I devoted 100% of my time to it. I could’ve seen this as a side-project and maybe then it would’ve never gained the traction it has. Even worse, I could’ve left it to be an idea only and never executed on that.

What’s the number one tip you would offer to a young entrepreneur?

Go out & do it. If you have an idea which you believe has potential traction, then go full-out for executing on that.

What are your 5 favorite online tools?

• Google Apps, for all my e-mail.
• Basecamp, for all my project management.
• P2, for keeping up-to-date with the WooTeam.
• Skype, for connecting in real-time.
• RightSignature, for signing contracts.

Today we’re talking with Josh Avnery, cofounder of WiseStamp. Josh is the cofounder and Marketing Director of WiseStamp, a successful global Internet start-up, with over 2 million installs worldwide. He co-founded WiseStamp together with his fellow partners Orly Izhaki (CEO), Sasha Gimailshtein (Tech lead) and Tom Piamenta (Vp partnerships.)

Prior to that, Josh was the TEDx Tel Aviv Marketing Manager and a partner at TAGADAM, a strategic web marketing consultancy firm.

How and where did you get the idea for your company(s)?

One day Orly (our CEO) and I received an email with a signature that immediately caught our eyes. It was so powerfull that straight away we wanted to create a similar one of our own. This was an Eureka moment – we all send so many emails every day, why should we leave such prominent and noticeable web real-estate untapped? What if we could easily transform every email we send to promote our personal or business needs? Making emails a more productive, engaging and socially useful means of communication. Today with more than a quarter of a billion emails empowered by WiseStamp Email Apps, our team motivation to provide more and more innovative email apps has just increased.

Who’s one person you’ve always looked up to?

Well it’s a bit of an entrepreneurial cliché but I guess I must say Steve Jobs. Although I have not met him personally I have watched his 2005 Stanford Commencement Address“How to live before you die” numerous times. This talk has inspired me tremendously, to me it emphasizes the never ending challenges entrepreneurs are confronted with, even successful ones as Steve Jobs. The extreme power that lies within faith and passion, the ability to push beyond boundaries, how when life throws you a lemon you make lemonade, and finally what really is important in life.

One? I don’t believe there is one action that can drive you to success “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity” So I guess my answer must be hard work, innovation and amazingly talented partners & team. But if you twisted my arm I would probably choose the launch of our Email Apps Gallery

Michael earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Yale University, where he focused his studies on American government. While at Yale, he served on the executive committee of Focus on New Haven, Black Student Alliance, Yale Political Union and The New Journal.

How and where did you get the idea for your companys?

Justin.tv – my friend/co-founder justin kan’s idea – he was trying to figure out what startup to build next and thought other people might be interested in listening in on the conversation. Then he thought other people might be interested in “listening in” on his life. That is how he came up with the idea of broadcasting his life 24/7. After launching this we all realized that other people are more interesting that Justin. So we focused on building a platform for others to broadcast live video.

Socialcam – we build an iPhone app that allowed people to broadcast live video from their phones. People used it to take video clips and share them with there friends. We talked to these users and realized that it was hard to share videos from your phone.

Who’s one person you’ve always looked up to?

Bill Clinton – executed a long term plan to become president
Michael Jordan – universally recognized as the best in his sport

What’s the most important action you took that you believe brought success to your business?

Deciding to start – this is the step that prevents 99.9999% of business from succeeding

What’s the number one tip you would offer to a young entrepreneur?

Think about everything on your todo list. Whatever gives you the biggest stomach ache is what you should work on first.

What are your 5 favorite online tools?

• Priority inbox (gmail)
• Google tasks
• Pivotal tracker
• Socialcam custom stats dashboard
• Mixpanel

How and where did you get the idea for your company(s)?

One of my friends had a semester @ UPenn and I wanted to go for a visit. The whole proccess of issuing a visa was just too complex. Coming to think about it, many of the daily things we do could be easily automated.

Who’s one person you’ve always looked up to?

Never had just one person. People I’m currently looking up to are: Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, Jeff Bazos, Reid Hoffman.

What’s the most important action you took that you believe brought success to your business?

Assembling a kick-ass team behind this HUGE problem, from co-founders to employees to investors and advisers.

What’s the number one tip you would offer to a young entrepreneur?

“Be the change you want to see in the world” (Mahatma Gandhi)

What are your 5 favorite online tools? (Productivity, organization, communication, social…)

• Gmail (obviously)
• Boomerang (Gmail addon)
• Rapportive (Gmail addon)
• Facebook messenger
• Any.DO (of course)

Jennifer went to Harvard Business School where she met Jennifer Hyman. Shortly after meeting, the two started Rent the Runway with nothing but a ”business plans are a waste of time” mentality and a series of meetings with top designers and retailers.

How and where did you get the idea for your company?

The concept for Rent the Runway originally started when my business partner and Harvard Business School section mate Jennifer Hyman, now co-founder and CEO of Rent the Runway, was home during Thanksgiving break and her sister had a “closet full of clothes but nothing to wear moment” and she thought “there needs to be a solution for this.” Together, we created Rent the Runway over several lunches so that women everywhere can live the life they dream today by having access to designer brands that otherwise would have been unattainable. We aspired to make high-end fashions as accessible as renting a movie from Netflix and let women know that they can have it all.

Who’s one person you’ve always looked up to?

I have had so many incredible mentors along the way including Carley Roney, the founder of TheKnot.com , Dan Rosensweig, the CEO of online textbook-rental company Chegg and Marc Lore, Co-Founder of Crunch Base, to name a few. I would also add that having a partner (Jenn Hyman) throughout the journey has been so beneficial.

What’s the most important action you took that you believe brought success to your business?

It is hard to choose only one because our success cannot be attributed to one action. It was a mix of the following key factors to success that I recommend to every entrepreneur that can be applied to other business models: (1) Test the Marketplace, (2) Show by Example, (3) Build a team, and (4) Realize that “No” means “Not Right Now.”

Here is an example of how we tested the marketplace before launch:

Prior to launching Rent the Runway with my co-founder we talked to hundreds of women about renting dresses and witnessed our consumer interact with our product through a series of tests we devised. We set up a pop-up shop at a Harvard undergrad dorm and when we watched women twirl around in the product and feel more confident and beautiful, we knew there was something to the concept. Not only did these teats and our focus groups validate the concept, but they also helped us evolve and tweak elements to make our company as strong as it could be – to this day we are still taking feedback from the market place as we continue to develop Rent the Runway. Entrepreneurs need to remember that starting a business is a series of tests and to not be afraid of taking risks, hearing the word “no” (which I view as “not right now”) and even failing.

What’s the number one tip you would offer to a young entrepreneur?

Love what you do.

What are your favorite online tools?

• Google Analytics
• Drop Box
• Video Genie
• Facebook Connect

This interview was made possible thanks to the YEC.