People are constantly talking about how one can build a start-up while in high school, but has anyone ever founded a successful startup business while in high school? Here are four examples of start-ups founded by students, two of which are emerging from Prequel's Summer Program (formerly BETA Camp), and two of which are established, successful start-ups founded by students when they were in high school!
Gladiator Lacrosse
At the age of 15, Rachel Zietz had built a company with over one million dollars in sales. Two years prior, at 13 years old, Rachel founded Gladiator Lacrosse, a lacrosse-specific sportswear company focused on making high-quality and affordable lacrosse gear. Her early start in business is truly impressive.
Rachel, a lacrosse player herself, recognized the lack of companies that were completely dedicated to making lacrosse gear. Most main producers of lacrosse gear were large companies that made sportswear for multiple sports, such as hockey and volleyball. Their equipment tended to be very generic, low-quality, and overall didn't have a lot of thought put into its development. Rachel decided to change all of that by founding a company that lived and breathed lacrosse, all the way down to its founder. Identifying a niche market need was key to her success.
Since founding Gladiator Lacrosse, Rachel (at 15 years old) scored an appearance on Shark Tank, requesting $100,000 in exchange for 15% of her company. Though she did not get a deal, it’s safe to say that Gladiator Lacrosse has blossomed since then. In 2020, the company did over SEVEN MILLION dollars in sales, and also made their first acquisition, buying All Ball Pro, a company that makes lacrosse training accessories. Gladiator Lacrosse achieved significant growth and even made acquisitions.
At 19 years old, Rachel was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list in Retail & E-Commerce. She has also helped Gladiator Lacrosse form many lucrative partnerships, including a retail deal with Dick’s Sporting Goods, and sponsorship deals with multiple NCAA Division 1 lacrosse teams, including the entire Ivy League. Currently, Rachel is attending Princeton University and continues to serve as CEO of Gladiator Lacrosse! Her achievements highlight the potential of young entrepreneurs.
Teal Drones
Ever since George Matus was 12 years old, he has loved building drones. George decided to take his passion and combine it with his entrepreneurial spirit, starting the company, Teal Drones, in his junior year of high school. George wasn’t happy with the options of drones available; drones on the market weren't as fast as he would like, and he was also disappointed by the low camera quality options. Turning a personal passion into a business is a common entrepreneurial path.
With that in mind, George set out to create his dream drone. He built a prototype of the Teal One, a drone that can fly up to 70 miles per hour and has a built-in supercomputer capable of machine learning and image recognition. George then proceeded to go out and raise over $16 million in venture funding for his project. Teal Drones has earned much recognition since its inception, with George winning the Peter Thiel fellowship (which awards young innovators $100,000 to drop out of university) and also being named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list in Consumer Technology. Securing venture capital as a teen founder is a remarkable feat.
However, George has since realized that the Teal One drone and its successors are not only cool products for drone fanatics but also have amazing military and retail implications. He has since partnered with the US Military to create the Golden Eagle, a drone specifically created for military use. Pivoting and finding new market applications is a sign of a savvy entrepreneur.
The future is bright for George and Teal Drones! Not only do drones have a huge future in the tactical space, but retail companies such as Amazon are also looking into using drones for delivery. Teal Drones and their technology fit right in with that vision!
TeachAdapt
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, everything changed. Perhaps more than anything, school was hit hardest by the virus. Teachers struggled to find ways to teach effectively online; students were constantly distracted and bored during video calls, but there didn't seem to be much that anyone could do to fix this problem. In Prequel's Summer Program (formerly BETA Camp), we encouraged campers to build their businesses around addressing problems that stemmed from COVID. Five of our campers decided to combat the problem of online teaching. Inspired by the way Prequel is taught online, they created a curriculum for teachers on how to teach better online, featuring programs used in Prequel, such as Miro and Mural, integrated with other platforms teachers may be using, such as Microsoft Teams or Google Classroom. Prequel students are constantly encouraged to solve real-world problems.
This business eventually became TeachAdapt, a company run by students aiming to make life easier for teachers teaching online. TeachAdapt won the Closest To Product-Market Fit Award at the Prequel's Summer Program closing ceremonies and is currently consulting with teachers and holding free information sessions! Although the pandemic will (hopefully) soon be over, the way classes are taught is forever changed, and TeachAdapt is at the forefront of the business, striving to help teachers be more impactful online! TeachAdapt demonstrates how student startups can address timely societal needs.
POG
E-Sports is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the world, and BETA Camp student startup POG is riding the wave! A product of our fall 2020 cohort, POG strived to help Twitch streamers better network, which then, in turn, helps the streamers grow their audience through collaboration. POG recognized the lack of social features in Twitch and went about solving this networking issue by building their own Discord community and hosting their own Twitch competitions in a variety of games, including League of Legends, Rocket League, CSGO, and others. Like TeachAdapt, POG won the Closest to Product-Market Fit, and continues to operate today, holding Twitch tournaments regularly and hosting an active Discord server with almost two hundred streamers. POG identified a gap in the booming E-Sports market and built a community solution.
Interested in how POG operates behind the scenes? Check out their behind-the-scenes TikToks here: https://www.instagram.com/beta.camp/reels/
