Richard Jones and Felix Miller
Ages: Jones, 24; Miller, 30
Company: Last.fm
Funding: Undisclosed, from investors including Index Ventures
Good thing the dog didn't eat this homework. Last.fm stems from a computer-science assignment Jones completed while at the University of Southampton in Britain. The project—a software program that monitors songs played on a computer and recommends related tracks and users with similar musical tastes—grabbed the attention of the BBC and the company's future CEO, Felix Miller, 30. Each month Last.fm captures the attention of more than 15 million unique users, who make recommendations on more than 90 million songs.
Lesson learned: “Being resource-constrained to begin with focuses you on the essential things,” says Miller. “Also, London is a great place to launch a global enterprise, the way it's plugged in to the rest of the world.”
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