|
|
Article
40 Under 40 They’re smart, they’re accomplished, they run multimillion-dollar enterprises — and oh, yes, they’re young. Some helm technology companies, others lead financial firms, others are at the top the health-care game. On these pages, meet the faces of the future. (Move over, Mr. Gates.) Spring 2008 , Page 45continued 7
Julie Smolyansky Lifeway, a health-food company, was started in 1986 by Smolyansky’s father, Michael, a Russian immigrant. She recalls traveling to food shows around the country to help her dad promote kefir, a Russian yogurt-like drink. By 1988, Lifeway was doing so well that he decided to take it public. He had no idea what that meant, his daughter says, but apparently he did something right: Lifeway is still traded on the Nasdaq. In 1997, Julie, a University of Illinois at Chicago graduate, joined the company as director of sales and marketing; she became CEO in June 2002, after her father died of a heart attack. Under her guidance, the company has seen an increase in sales of more than $30 million — that’s 30 percent per year — since she started; its products are sold in all 50 states. Lifeway has also added low-carb, organic and kids’ versions of its products. Earlier this year, it tacked on a $2.5 million production-expansion project to its main headquarters — its first major expansion in more than eight years. Smolyansky’s father would surely be proud.
Adam Stewart
Jeff Stibel Stibel is clearly comfortable at the helm. In 1998, at 25, he became chairman and CEO of Simpli, an Internet search engine that was later acquired by NetZero, an Internet service provider. Stibel remained with the outfit until August 2005, when he joined Interland, a Web site hosting company for small and medium-sized businesses. Within a year of his ascent, Stibel had doubled the value of the company’s stock and helped it achieve organic growth. In March 2006, the firm renamed itself Web.com, a URL it had acquired the previous December. In September 2007, it merged with Website Pros. Perhaps Stibel’s understanding of his role in Web-based businesses can be ascribed to his innate grasp of the human brain: He earned degrees in philosophy, psychology and cognitive science from Tufts and a master’s in brain science from Brown.
Benjamin Sun Sun cofounded Community Connect, which links Asian-Americans, African-Americans and Hispanics, in a Manhattan apartment in 1996. He certainly knows the market — he grew up in Queens, one of the most diverse places in America. Sun has raised more than $20 million from such investors as Comcast and Sandler Capital; according to Comscore, Community Connect’s sites — AsianAve.com, BlackPlanet.com, MiGente.com, Faithbase.com and Glee.com — collectively generate more than 500 million page views a month. Before starting Community Connect, Sun, a University of Michigan graduate, worked in Merrill Lynch’s Technology Investment Banking Group, where he was involved in numerous corporate-finance and M&A transactions in the technology industry. 
Peter J. Ungaro Title: President and CEO, Cray City: Seattle Age: 39 Recent Market Cap: $149 million “I want Cray to continue to be known for producing the supercomputers that enable the scientific breakthroughs and industry advances that change society,” says Ungaro, a former IBM executive who became CEO of this mature company in August 2005. It’s understandable that he would feel that way: In the ’70s and ’80s, Cray, whose largest customer is the federal government, was the “it” supercomputer. But then IBM and Hewlett-Packard moved into the space, and Cray foundered. When Ungaro came onboard, he made it his mission to go back in time — or to where Cray had been perched 20 years ago, at least. His efforts have worked: In November 2006, the company was awarded $250 million from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop a new supercomputer that integrates a range of processing technologies into a single platform. The company has also signed a host of deals over the past year, including large system contracts with the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center. Ungaro isn’t surprised. “The Cray brand is powerful,” he says, “synonymous with tackling the most computationally complex problems and conducting the most important science of our time at the most respected research centers in the world.”
Mark Vadon Vadon’s business was built on love — literally. In 1998, soon to propose to his girlfriend, he strolled into Tiffany’s in San Francisco to shop for a ring. He was dressed like a college student (he had graduated from Stanford B-school two years earlier and was, at the time, consulting for Bain), and the salespeople, unimpressed, ignored him. Annoyed, he left. Later that day he discovered a Web site called Internet Diamonds. He bought a ring there — and a year later, he bought the company. Since then, Blue Nile, as he renamed it, has grown to $319 million in sales — 100 percent online. Under Vadon’s watch, its 2007 sales jumped 27 percent, while profits rose 33 percent. Although 2008 has gotten off to a slow start, Vadon, who holds a B.A. in social studies from Harvard, remains optimistic. He tries to stays in touch with customers on a regular basis, reviewing calls, e-mails and general feedback. “I’m inspired by their desire for education and guidance and am continually amazed at the satisfaction they receive from making a smarter, more informed purchase,” he says.
NO COMMENTS YET
ADD YOUR COMMENT
|
|
