“Serial entrepreneur” Kevin Ryan has a true sense for innovative ideas. Image: via Gilt Groupe.
Kevin Ryan is commonly known as a “serial entrepreneur” because he has founded a large number of successful, innovative companies in myriad industries. Well, he’s at it again. His latest company is a visual search and discovery platform for workplace design that he’s calling Kontor. His unique experiences have given him a special perspective that not many CEOs have when it comes to designing and setting up a new office—he’s done it so often.
“For better or worse, I’ve designed more office space than people you know,” explains Ryan. “It wasn’t my goal…but I do like it, and I care about creating a nice space, so I’m probably a little more involved than your average CEO.”
The other companies that he has started have done quite well for themselves, which makes it reasonable to assume that Kontor may find success as well. Here are some highlights from his wildly successful career as a “serial entrepreneur”:
- Gilt Groupe is an organization that provides its members with instant access to top designer labels at greatly reduced prices. Its board includes successful business minds like Anton Levy of General Atlantic and Susan Lyne of the AOL Brand Group. Here, Ryan tackles e-commerce with great success.
- Business Insider is a popular business publication website that provides news about businesses and career advice for employees, among many other topics. In fact, Business Insider was named the number one business publication at the end of 2014!
- MongoDB Inc. is a database firm that is responsible for the product MongoDB, as well as operating MongoDB University, a platform that offers online courses and professional certification to use their MongoDB program.
- Zola is a wedding registry and gift startup. They have been featured in Brides, Martha Stewart Weddings, Style Me Pretty, The Huffington Post, The Knot, Bloomberg, and other reputable publications.
From technology and design to weddings and business, there seems to be few industries that Kevin Ryan hasn’t tapped into. What do you think of Ryan’s idea for a new start-up? Would you hire a company to design your office? Let us know in the comments section below!
