Ben Casnocha is a very young CEO who started his first company when he was 12 years old. Then, when he was 14 he started Comcate, Inc. an online government software company that he is currently in charge of. He also co-runs the Silicon Valley Junto, an intellectual discussion society for business and technology executives. His book is called, My Start Up Life: What a (VERY) Young CEO Learned On His Journey Through Silicon Valley.
I had the recent pleasure of meeting (via email) a fascinating guy named Ben Casnocha. I was checking out the Silicon Valley Junto upon recommendation by a friend, of which Ben is a co-founder, and that friend put us in touch.
Here’s Ben’s bio from his personal Web site:
Ben is the author of the bestselling book My Start-Up Life: What a (Very) Young CEO Learned
on His Journey Through Silicon Valley (Jossey-Bass, May ’07). He started his first company when he was 12 years-old and is currently on the board of Comcate, Inc., an e-government software company he founded at age 14. Ben’s work has been featured in dozens of international media including CNN and The New York Times. At a conference in Paris PoliticsOnline named him one of the “25 most influential people in the world of internet and politics”. He graduated from high school June ’06 where he was two-year captain of the varsity basketball team, editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, and founder of a failed campus radio station. He writes prolifically on his blog which the San Jose Business Journal recently called one of the “Top 25 Blogs in Silicon Valley.” BusinessWeek recently named Ben “one of America’s top young entrepreneurs.” Ben has given speeches at more than a dozen universities including Duke University, The Wharton School, and Boston University. He also co-runs the Silicon Valley Junto, an intellectual discussion society for business and technology executives. In his free time Ben enjoys playing chess, ping-pong, reading, and writing.
I’ve had the pleasure of reading his book, and I’d highly recommend it. Ben recently posted an excerpt from his book on his blog:
Given two ambitious, intelligent people, both of whom have some big
ideas, why does one start getting things done while the other one stays
stuck in the dreaming stage? What’s the difference between two people
whose success is premised on executing tasks across a variety of
disciplines — as is the case in most start-ups — and one seems to be
able to do more quicker, while the other person spends excessive time
fretting, planning, dreaming, or consulting people? Here are some
differences I see:
