Kevin Sproles
Volusion
www.volusion.com
Simi Valley, Calif.
Age: 23
Two years before he graduated from high school, Kevin Sproles founded Volusion, a Web design firm whose three employees operated out of his parents' house. The company has since evolved into a successful online store builder that has sold e-commerce capabilities to more than 5,000 active businesses, focusing on installation ease and speed. Volusion works to keep shoppers from getting frustrated and recently created a simplified registration and checkout process it trademarked "Fastest Checkout on the Web."
Today, the company has more than 35 employees based out of two offices—one in Simi Valley, Calif. and one in Austin, Tex. Sproles estimates the company will bring in close to $5 million in revenues in 2006. The best part, he says, is that most of it is recurring revenues maintained through a subscription model of around $57 per month and up. Google chose Volusion and other companies to integrate their retailing technology with Google's new checkout system and help them test and launch it in June of this year. "We weren't interested [at first], since we were worried they would be competing, but it turned out to be good for both parties," says Sproles.
Read the story
Reader comments
Special Report: Best Entrepreneurs Under 25