School for Entrepreneurship Hits the Road These young entrepreneurs take school for startups on tour.
By Scott Gerber
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
What: Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour
Who:Michael Simmons, 27, and Sheena Lindahl, 26
When:2006
Projected 2009 revenue:$1 million
The Pitch:The Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour is the first-ever nationwide tour that teaches students about entrepreneurship. Founded by award-winning entrepreneurs, authors and lecturers Michael Simmons and Sheena Lindahl, EET's mission is to inspire participants to take action and pursue their entrepreneurial vision. The founders have developed a unique program that includes workshops, speed-networking sessions, panel discussions and keynote speeches by successful young entrepreneurs--most of whom are multimillionaires under the age of 30. Since EET's founding in 2006, the company has produced more than 100 events nationwide. Simmons and Lindahl plan to expand the Extreme Entrepreneur Tour to every U.S. college campus and also recently launched JourneyPage.com, a virtual business incubator that helps individuals turn their passions into scalable businesses.
The Startup Story:Michael Simmons, co-founder and CEO of EET, has been a successful entrepreneur since the founding of his first company, Princeton WebSolutions, at age 16. His entrepreneurial efforts have been rewarded handsomely with three Entrepreneur of the Year awards from Fleet, the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship and National Coalition for Empowering Youth Entrepreneurship. While attending New York University, he met Sheena Lindahl, president and co-founder of EET, an equally impressive entrepreneurially minded individual. Lindahl became totally self-sufficient from her parents at age 17 and paid completely for her $120,000 education.
EET's formation was the logical result of a lack of available resources. Frustrated by his inability to find resources written for young entrepreneurs, Simmons penned and published his own: The Student Success Manifesto. Soon after its release, Simmons was invited to speak across the country about his experiences and insight. It was then that Simmons and Lindahl realized that their collective experiences and wealth of entrepreneurial know-how had the potential to help thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs like themselves find happiness, success and purpose. The two partnered to launch the Extreme Entrepreneur Tour. Today, they are two of the speaking circuit's most sought-after experts on entrepreneurship.
Impressive Stat:The Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour has educated more than 20,000 high school and college students about entrepreneurship.
Founder Fun Facts:In 2006, BusinessWeek named Simmons and Lindahl two of the top 25 entrepreneurs under 25 in the U.S.
Founder's Advice:"Anyone can achieve greatness. Start early and take action every day."
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