Despite widely varying backgrounds, the entrepreneurs to keep an eye on in 2024 share a commitment to innovation, a world-changing vision, and exceptional adaptability. These characteristics have enabled them to keep their businesses thriving and rapidly expanding throughout economic downturns and ever-evolving technology.
1. Ray Sheehan, Founder of Old City Media
Ray Sheehan began his entrepreneurial journey in the entertainment sector as Managing Partner of UpcomingEvents.com. In a short time, his advertising and event management background enabled the event production and marketing company to grow from serving one city to more than twenty states.
UpcomingEvents.com entertains hundreds of thousands of people each year as it promotes and produces some of North America’s finest shows, festivals, and events around live music and other performances. The brand utilizes venues ranging in size from bars to ballparks and clubs to casinos.
As founder of Old City Media, Sheehan quickly transitioned into the event and retail space, learning how to integrate a brand into the fabric of its community through in-person experiential marketing. His team empowers brands to connect with their target audience through highly engaging activations.
With a focus on search engine optimization, social media marketing, and content marketing, Old City Media assists small businesses and startups as they expand their online presence and connect with their audience in person. The brand delights in individualized service, tailoring site design and development, email marketing, and branding to the needs of each customer.
2. Steven Pivnik, Founder & CEO Of AIP Advisory, LLC
Steven Pivnik is a serial entrepreneur specializing in the information technology market and the author of “Built to Finish: How To Go The Distance In Business And In Life.” He grew his last company, Binary Tree, to over 200 employees across 12 countries before realizing a successful exit and selling it to Quest Software. Steven now advises other founders and entrepreneurs looking for similar corporate growth and a company sales journey.
At Binary Tree, Steven negotiated and closed multimillion-dollar licensing deals with the likes of IBM and Microsoft. He also created a corporate culture with significantly below-average employee turnover, above-average satisfaction ratings, and an executive leadership team that sparked creativity and drove a passion for winning and success across the entire organization.
Steven is also an endurance sports enthusiast and enjoys triathlons of all distances, ultramarathons, and mountaineering. He enjoys public speaking about his business and sporting adventures with the hopes of motivating others to follow in his footsteps.
3. Aaron Rafferty, CEO Of Standard
Tech builder, co-founder, and behavioral scientist Aaron Rafferty demonstrates an unwavering passion for innovation and global business transformation. As CEO and co-founder of Standard, the fastest-growing tech innovation hub, he incubates groundbreaking ideas alongside stakeholders and companies committed to transforming industries.
Rafferty says, “At Standard, stakeholders are at the heart of every breakthrough.” From industry experts to visionary investors, their collaborative network is the driving force behind our transformative innovations.
Rafferty is pioneering the next generation of business infrastructure. His diverse portfolio includes ventures like CRE Hawk, which brings AI-driven insights to the commercial real estate world, and BookedBy, an AI tool that revolutionizes how organizations handle scheduling. They also play a crucial role in shaping public dialogue with BattlePACs, and in driving technological empowerment in emerging nations through Pathways to Progress.
According to Rafferty, a combination of tech, science, and business holds the key to empowering people to make a real difference in the world around them. His background in research and technology, paired with his love for finding solutions to complex challenges, positions him at the forefront of these initiatives.
Rafferty and his team continuously seek collaborative possibilities in the fields of real estate, social systems, governance, media, social impact, edtech, and fintech.
4. Dutch Mendenhall, Co-Founder & CEO Of RADD Companies
Dutch Mendenhall is a husband, father, man of faith, and a force of nature marked by extraordinary achievements. He is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of “Money Shackles: The Breakout Guide to Alternative Investing,” as well as the president of the Alternative Investment Associations (AIA) and a recipient of the Patriot Legacy Award.
Throughout his career, Dutch has partnered with thousands and thousands of people who have achieved direct results in their money game. Dutch loves teaching and helping people learn about Alternative Investments. His journey began with creative Commercial Real Estate Investing and later moved into auctions. Then, one day, his students dared him to “put his money where his mouth is,” so he partnered with them and started a national movement, growing a $250 million portfolio of various assets with his team.
5. Insoo Park, CEO Of Ecosense
Insoo Park is the Founder and CEO of Ecosense. Based in the heart of Silicon Valley, this innovative company is an industry leader in providing quick, accurate, and user-friendly radon detection and monitoring solutions for both businesses and homeowners. The company’s smart radon detectors employ proprietary sensor technology that is highly accurate and provides trustworthy readings in a matter of minutes rather than days.
Ecosense provides a variety of devices for different applications, all equipped with patented ion chamber radon sensor technology capable of delivering a first reading in under 10 minutes. The devices are extremely easy to use — users simply plug them in, and they are ready to go — and their compact design makes them portable and easily transferrable from room to room, and full-size digital displays offer real-time readouts showing daily, weekly, monthly, and long-term radon levels.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), radon is a leading cause of lung cancer, second only to smoking. Every year, this invisible, odorless, and tasteless radioactive gas is responsible for at least 21,000 lung cancer deaths in the United States. Beyond providing life-saving technology, Insoo Park is dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of detecting this silent killer.
In addition to earning notice as an honoree in the health and wellness category at the CES 2021 Innovation Awards, the EcoQube was included in TIME’s list of the 100 Best Inventions of 2021. Most recently, The Canadian National Radon Proficiency Program (C-NRPP) unveiled its 2023 study comparing continuous radon monitors. In the study, Ecosense emerged as the industry leader in precise and accurate radon detection.
6. Rohan Nayak, CEO & Co-Founder Of Pocket FM
Rohan Nayak is the CEO and co-founder of Pocket FM. Inspired by his entrepreneurial instinct, Rohan along with his friends, Nishanth KS and Prateek Dixit, co-founded Pocket FM in 2018. Rohan is the guiding force behind shaping the business aesthetics, strategies, growth, and expansion.
Pocket FM is an audio series platform built to redefine entertainment space with an audio-first approach. The idea was seeded when the entire entertainment space was going bullish on video. Today, Pocket FM is gradually making inroads in the audio entertainment space and the entire digital entertainment landscape.
Pocket FM has a library with more than 100,000 hours of content, introducing a new binge factor with non-stop entertainment. With audio series like “Insta Millionaire,” “Saving Nora,” “The Vampire’s System,” and many more, its users are spending an average of over 150 minutes daily on the platform.
With this new entertainment format that can be consumed while commuting, driving, cooking, at bedtime, or even while working, Pocket FM is redefining how entertainment is consumed.
Under Rohan’s leadership, Pocket FM has witnessed phenomenal growth and emerged as a strong force in the entertainment landscape. He has rich experience in product development and scaling content platforms. His entrepreneurial spirit has been recognized with achievements like Forbes Asia 30U30.
7. Ro Bhatia, CEO Of Planhub
Ro Bhatia founded PlanHub, a cloud software platform to help commercial construction professionals grow their businesses, make work easier for employees, and better serve clients. The software streamlines workflows, enhances collaboration, and offers data-driven insights to fuel smarter decisions. Within a completely integrated ecosystem, technology guides contractors and suppliers through the preconstruction journey, providing qualified leads, facilitating team communication, processing documents, and offering bid management solutions.
In 2009, Bhatia assembled a group of experienced contractors to simplify the construction bidding experience and facilitate easier connections in the industry. Everyone he talked with agreed that the sector’s tedious bidding and networking process drastically needed an overhaul. Bhatia’s first cloud-based software, called EliteProNet, improved project communication between general contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers. In 2015, he launched a project management app that made connecting and building relationships with contractors easier than ever before. In 2022, he rolled out PlanHub as a platform capable of simplifying the preconstruction process with a complete suite of tools, all in one convenient location.
Like most entrepreneurs, Bhatia continues to innovate and improve on his ideas. He collaborates regularly with professionals in the sector to expand the platform’s solutions. His goal is simple: to bring together construction professionals across the nation, make meaningful connections, streamline their work, and empower them to win more deals.
8. Ed Watal, CEO, Founder & Principal Of Intellibus
Ed Watal has founded and exited multiple IT and AI companies. In addition to authoring numerous academic articles and the defining book on cloud fundamentals called Cloud Basics, he lectures at renowned institutions all over the world, including New York University and Stanford University. The world’s largest banks and financial institutions regularly seek his advice as a board advisor. When it comes to IT strategy and architecture, his commercial acumen and extensive IT understanding make him a go-to guy for the top C-suite executives.
Watal founded Intellibus, an IT strategy company in Reston, Virginia, that employs 65 transformation professionals. For over 10 years, fintechs and banks around the globe have relied on Intellibus to build platforms leveraging AI, big data, and the cloud. Watal and his team bring high energy and passion to every job. They maintain a laser focus on their business goals and results as they create polished platforms that get the job done.
Watal accomplishes each engagement in three distinct phases. He and his team first assess the client’s current situation to lay a solid foundation. During unification, they help clients build a centralized data lake house with an industry standards-compliant data model. During acceleration, they help clients define clear business and technology outcomes, and then train, test, validate, and deploy AI models to deliver those results quickly.
9. Rue Phillips, President & Co-Founder Of SkillFusion
With over 13 years of experience in the solar, electric vehicle (EV), and renewable energy industries, Rue Phillips is a visionary investor, entrepreneur, and expert who has founded or led several successful companies in the cleantech space. He is the President and co-founder of SkillFusion, a digital customer service platform for training, certification, and compliance of Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) Electricians, Technicians, and EV-ComTechs.
Previously, Phillips served as the founder and president of 365 Pronto, the world’s first platform to match cleantech asset owners with a local and on-demand installation and service workforce, enabling faster, safer, and more efficient deployment and maintenance of clean energy and mobility solutions.
Rue is also a respected thought leader and influencer in the EV and renewable energy sectors, as he hosts the popular podcast EV-Chat and directs the LinkedIn group EV Infrastructure Forum, where he shares his insights, opinions, and best practices with thousands of listeners and members. He is also a frequent keynote and technical speaker at industry events and serves on expert advisory committees to develop codes and standards for the US renewable energy industry. Rue is passionate about advancing the adoption and integration of clean energy and mobility technologies and creating a more sustainable and resilient future for the planet and its people.
10. Robert Felder, Founder And CEO Of Bearbottom Clothing
While visiting Bangladesh as a high school student, Robert Felder noted the community’s lack of employment opportunities and essentials like food and clothing. Felder returned home with a mission to make a difference in that part of the world and launched Bearbottom Clothing the following year.
Today, Bearbottom Clothing is one of the largest e-commerce men’s fashion brands in the US. With his extensive knowledge in direct-to-consumer marketing, e-commerce supply chains, product creation, fulfillment, warehousing, social entrepreneurship, bootstrapping business growth, international alliances, and leadership development, Felder continues to grow the brand’s apparel line and its outreach.
A native of Florida’s Gulf coast, Felder created Bearbottom’s line to offer men year-round, comfortable clothing built for the great outdoors. Bearbottom’s stretch fabrics and performance features allow the men who wear them to forget the clothes and focus on the adventure.
As a company, Bearbottom remains committed to producing the highest quality products, making the world a better place, and exemplifying ethical manufacturing processes. It is developing products manufactured with post-consumer recycled materials and dyed with natural ingredients.
Numerous publications have highlighted the brand’s rapid growth and success. Bearbottom Clothing has been featured in Reader’s Digest, Lifewire, and Forbes.
11. Vickie DeNicola, Founder Of Pig Brig
In 2020, Vickie DeNicola established Pig Brig Trapping Systems to provide a more effective method of controlling wild hog populations for the benefit of farmers, ranchers, landowners, and environmentalists. She approaches this problem from a fresh angle, thanks to her extensive background in wildlife ecology and business.
DeNicola earned a Master of Science degree in environmental science and policy from Johns Hopkins University and is currently pursuing her doctorate at the University of Trento C3A/Fondazione Edmund Mach. Her doctoral research employs biologging data to answer questions about animal movement, behavior, and resource use. Ultimately, her research aims to develop strategies that mitigate conflict when humans encroach on animal species.
Pig Brig’s double-walled, UV-protected, 8,000-ft-lb drop strength netting is tough enough to hold the strongest pigs and is designed to hold dozens at once. Unlike traps with one-shot gate triggers, Pig Brig is a true multi-catch system that allows wild hogs to enter continuously. Furthermore, in the absence of slamming gates and metal walls, wild pigs don’t panic, and farmers don’t have to worry about creating trap-shy pigs.
Currently, DeNicola serves on the board of White Buffalo Inc. Her extensive experience at the executive level includes work with companies such as ESPN, The Walt Disney Company, and Hasbro. Her work was featured in the Wall Street Journal, and she led two teams to one Primetime Emmy win and one nomination.
12. Steven Wiideman, Founder Of Wiideman Consulting Group
Steven Wiideman, (aka “SEO Steve”), Specializes in strategic planning for multi-location and franchise brands. As the founder of Wiideman Consulting Group, he developed an innovative SEO Roadmap solution in 2015 to guide brands in local and e-commerce search engine optimization and paid search advertising.
His roadmap is built around three fundamental requirements for natural searches: relevance, visibility, and user behavior. For local searches, he stresses the importance of data, landing pages, citations, and reputation as vital keys to online marketing success with training videos and helpful content. In short, he makes improving online visibility feel manageable and intuitive.
Wiideman’s search engine optimization expertise has empowered businesses of all sizes, from local startups to Fortune 500 companies. Over the years, he has personally played a role in the SEO successes of brands such as Disney, Linksys, Belkin, Public Storage, Honda, Skechers, Applebee’s, IHOP, and Dole.
Today, he serves as a thought leader, helping marketers across a wide range of sectors increase visibility on the web and boost their SEO. He shares his insight in a college textbook entitled “SEO: Strategy & Skills” and teaches as an adjunct professor at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) and California State University Fullerton (CSUF). He also volunteers his time as an agency trainer to improve transparency and industry standards.
13. Scott Johnson, Founder & CEO Of Motivosity
Scott Johnson founded the modern workforce’s leading employee engagement and recognition software, Motivosity. His employee experience platform helps organizations create connected, winning cultures. The platform’s suite of tools is designed to enhance employee experience, make work more meaningful with recognition, and track employee engagement.
The software builds an environment of gratitude and recognition. It collects and delivers data that manages employee engagement initiatives, inspires team connections, and transforms workplace culture.
Johnson, the Founder and CEO of Motivosity, is an entrepreneur and technology expert at heart. He channels those areas of expertise into his mission to make employees’ time at work count for something more. His passion for leveraging technology in social contexts has led to groundbreaking workforce engagement solutions.
14. Artie Dannunzio, CEO Of Dannunzio Jewelry
Artie Dannunzio has been at the cutting edge of innovation in the jewelry industry for over 40 years. However, founded in 1955, Dannunzio Jewelry has a family legacy in the luxury sector that stretches back even further.
As a boy, Dannunzio peered over the shoulders of his father and grandfather, watching them painstakingly carve the wax models for one-of-a-kind high-quality pieces. At 14, he began helping in the shop, and at 17, he joined the business full-time. Slowly, he worked through every area of the trade until he finally reached his goal: jewelry design.
When Dannunzio took his place as head of the company 40 years ago, he committed to upholding his family’s legacy of handmade quality. However, he also brought with him something new — a driving passion for innovation.
The combination of his innovation lies in the mirror effect, a painstaking assembly process patented in over 70 countries around the world. Each piece of jewelry is assembled around an inner mirror of polished gold, which artisans suspend a cut diamond above, allowing light to refract in, through, and around every facet of the gem.
Dannunzio’s dedication to craftsmanship and creativity ensures that each piece offers a deeply personal experience. His innovation celebrates individuality and fosters emotional connections between his stunning creations and the people who wear them.
15. Andrew Cho And Ina Yun, Co-Founders Of Blithe
A visionary with a knack for optimizing processes and maximizing value, Andrew Cho started his career at Samsung’s corporate headquarters. He was instrumental in improving the operational efficiency of the conglomerate, particularly during the IMF crisis when he was in charge of downsizing and restructuring.
Cho shifted his focus from minimizing costs to maximizing value due to his experiences at Samsung and Pantech, and this pivotal transition revolutionized his view on value creation. His new perspective and his mission to promote a lifestyle of joy, happiness, and ambitious challenges led directly to the launch of Blithe.
Meanwhile, Ina Yun began working as a data-driven strategist at Accenture’s joint venture and then moved into leadership roles in charge of strategic planning and investor relations at the entertainment firm POIBOS. Her observations of the beauty industry in Cheongdam-dong, the skincare habits of celebrities, and traditional Korean skincare practices like washing with rice water eventually led to her inspiration for Blithe’s groundbreaking Patting Splash Mask.
Born out of the experience and enthusiasm of these two entrepreneurs, Blithe caters to the specific skincare needs of urban women. Celebrities and makeup artists have endorsed the Patting Splash Mask, and it has been featured in such publications as WWD and the New York Times. These entrepreneurs’ relentless pursuit of quality and innovation earned them recognition as the Best Brand in Indonesia and the iF Design Award 2016.
16. Craig Goodliffe, Founder & CEO Of Cyberbacker
Craig Goodliffe launched Cyberbacker less than a decade ago. Today, the brand is an industry leader in providing remote administrative help and virtual assistants to clients all over the globe.
Goodliffe trains and equips Cyberbackers to handle any task not requiring licensing, certification, or a physical presence. Tens of thousands of Cyberbackers do the day-to-day SEO, social media management, video editing, graphic design, accounts receivable, accounts payable, transaction coordinating, transaction processing, lead management, phone calls, and appointment setting for clients across the United States.
As a Keller Williams MAPS coach and thought leader, Goodliffe educates customers on how to grow their businesses and achieve seven-figure incomes. A regular contributor to Grit Daily and the Forbes Business Council, he has also been featured in Top 100 Magazine and International Business Times, Inc. However, he is most proud that remote workers and small company owners are living their best lives thanks to Cyberbacker’s first-rate business solutions.
17. Yashin Manraj, CEO Of Pvotal Technologies
Yashin Manraj leveraged his experience as a computational chemist and engineer at the world’s top engineering firms to launch Pvotal Technologies. In academia, he focused on solving challenges at the nanoscale level and establishing better and more secure systems. His extensive background in product development, design, business analysis, and coding gives him a leg up when it comes to finding and fixing problems in the product pipeline.
At Pvotal, building an infinite enterprise begins with in-depth consultations that uncover a client’s business needs. The team’s research of the client’s industry, audience, and competitors provides them with a thorough understanding of current pain points. Next, the team crafts tailored solutions to address these needs and grow the business. Throughout the process, the team is in constant touch with the client, brainstorming how to make the product stand out.
When the time comes to launch the tech solution, Pvotal Technologies is there to offer support. They guarantee that solutions are managed sustainably and implemented seamlessly.
Pvotal Technologies’s mission is to empower company heads with infinite Enterprises by seeing every problem or constraint as a way to redefine the norm. They envision solutions without constraints and then build the tech to make them happen.
18. Greg Hatcher, Co-Founder & CEO Of White Knight Labs
Greg Hatcher’s entrepreneurial background is built on the experience he gained serving seven years as a green beret with The 5th Special Forces Group of the United States Army. During those years, he participated in several combat missions and worked with teams in some of the world’s most remote areas.
After leaving the military in 2017, Hatcher shifted his focus to learning the ins and outs of offensive cyber defense. He gained experience as a contractor for CISA, as well as teaching at the NSA and leading red teams.
Together with John Stigerwalt, Hatcher came up with a novel idea that launched him into the entrepreneurial space. After spending years working for boutique offensive security firms, the friends started White Knight Labs, an engineering-focused, client-first cyber security consultancy.
As an elite team of world-class engineers, White Knight Labs works closely with clients to enhance their co
mpany’s security by creating risk-based strategies. The team’s forte is engagements involving red teams and penetration testing. Put simply, they know how to keep cyber criminals at bay in the cloud and on the net. They find and address a business’s cyber-security vulnerabilities before hackers do.
19. Jay Avigdor, President & CEO Of Velocity Capital Group
Jay Avigdor has been a respected authority in the field of finance for 13 years. During that time, he has amassed an extraordinary $850 million in sales through his vast network of over 40,000 clients and brokers. By automating the integration of finance and technology, his groundbreaking technical approach is revolutionizing business and making life easier for the merchants and brokers he works with.
Avigdor runs Velocity Capital Group, a direct-lending platform headquartered in the Greater New York area. The platform has helped more than 15,000 small businesses nationwide since its 2018 inception.
Velocity Capital Group empowers small business owners with quick and efficient access to capital funding. The platform’s same-day screening and funding process enables small businesses needing immediate assistance to expand, fix a business problem, or keep their business afloat.
20. Todd Camp Of The Pareto Group And Camp Negotiations
Since 2001, Todd Camp has been coaching executive teams and startup CEOs in their most important negotiations. Since starting the Pareto Group in 2016 with his partner Derek Blazensky, they have helped their clients negotiate over 9 billion in transactions . Camp has conducted live coaching sessions around the world, including in the US, Canada, Europe, South America, and Asia.
Camp’s coaching empowers all teams to work together as a seamless unit of expert negotiators. His method is invaluable in any field where early and oftentimes needless compromise takes place, including sales, procurement, mergers and acquisitions, and internal negotiations.
As a result of Camp’s system, CEOs secure stronger agreements and build longer-lasting business relationships which compound like interest over time. When it comes to negotiating, Camp views his clients as high-performing athletes who execute on the field while no one knows he and his team of coaches are ever even there.
In previous years Camp was invited to share his insight as a speaker and sponsor at the Harvard Alumni Association’s Negotiation Leadership Conference. In addition, he delivered one-day public seminars with Christopher Voss, author of “Never Split The Difference” and CEO of the Black Swan Group.
The backgrounds of the most successful entrepreneurs in 2024 will prove to be as different as the companies they launch. Their stories can motivate and inspire the next generation of enterprising startups.
