Ben Kaufman - Quirky
Ben Kaufman is the 26-year-old founder and CEO of Quirky. His entrepreneurial journey started during his senior year of high school with a second mortgage on his parent’s house and the founding of an iPod accessory company called mophie. Shortly after mophie won “Best in Show” at MacWorld 2006, Ben discovered his passion for involving people around the world in the development of new consumer products. The rapid growth of the mophie brand led to its acquisition in August of 2007, which allowed Ben to focus his efforts on bringing his idea of ‘social product development’ to the next level.
After two years of research and development on the unique technology platform that became the foundation of his future work, Ben publicly launched Quirky in June of 2009. A passionate and opinionated speaker, Ben talks Quirky, products, and design to audiences around the world. His work has landed him in hundreds of newspapers (New York Times, USA Today, New York Observer), magazines (Business Week, Entrepreneur, WIRED), and TV networks (CNBC, FOX Business News, The Today Show). In 2007, Inc Magazine named Ben the top entrepreneur in the country under the age of 30. He was 20 at the time. Other than participating in the development of awesome new products, Ben’s favorite things include his niece Lily, Jay-Z, cool kicks, and black t-shirts.
Social Media:
Website – quirky.com
Twitter – @benkaufman