Chatroulette

FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty Images

Chatroulette

Entrepreneur: Andrey Ternovskiy, 17
Funding: $10,800 from his parents

After Russian teenager Andrey Ternovskiy convinced his parents to give him the money for computer server equipment last year, he set about building a controversial Web site. Chatroulette connects Web users via video chat with random strangers around the world, letting them jump from one interaction to the next with a mouse click. Ternovskiy, who declined repeated requests to be interviewed for this story, is trying to build the site into a business from a rented apartment in Palo Alto, Calif., aided by local venture capitalists, according to Shervin Pishevar, chairman of Web site Social Gaming Network.

Toughest decision: Declined to comment.