Catherine Cook, founder of MyYearbook sold her company today for $100 million.

The news broke when the buyer, a publicly-traded Latino social network, Quepasa announced the acquisition. The deal is said to be $82 million in stock and the other $18 million in stock.

The 21 years old who founded the company with her brother David when she was 15 had the idea of having a digital version of her yearbook and MyYearbook was born.

The company now 6 years old has over 70 million users, and generates 1.2 billion monthly pageviews.

Geoff Cook, MyYearbook’s CEO and sibling of Catherine and David, wrote a letter to his 100+ employees:

“I don’t consider this an exit or the end. I consider it the end of the beginning, and I believe we have a lot more innovative products to create,” he says.

She is definitely going to have a very long summer break. We at YHP wish her the best.

Stuart Jolley is the founder of Wingman, a male grooming brand. The flagship product is a male deodorising wipe, which is already selling nationwide in Boots.

The original idea for men’s hygiene wipes came while Stu was still a student. In the summer before his penultimate year at University, Stu was on a surfing holiday with friends in France. They were in and out of campsites and found a lot of the time that the showers were not working.

“One of my mates…brought along a packet of pink baby wipes. You know, the big, flimsy packs with the resealable opening – all of us were like, ‘We’re not going to use those.’ A couple of days in, all of us were picking from them and they did a good job.” Says Stu.

Stuart’s idea was to create a version for men, brand it right and they will come. The wipes would be larger, have a more masculine smell and great packaging to make sure they last long and look cool. The Top Gun inspired Wingman brand is something that appeals to men straight away and was chosen because it’s always by your side.

Using  his student loan, Stuart developed a prototype. He made an initial batch of 10,000 samples which he sold at festivals and nightclubs and even managed to send some over to British troops abroad. This gave him great feedback and a chance to see that there was a market for his product.

The 24 year old graduated from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism, Film & Media in 2009 and decided to go full time with Wingman after seeing early potential in the product. He also was working a deal to have the wipes stocked in vending machines, but this soon fell through. It did not defeat Stu though and by October his product was in 264 Boots stores.

He had applied to the BBC to a show called ‘Britain’s Next Big Thing’ which was presented by Dragon’s Den star, Theo Paphitis. The programme followed several products from prototype to finished article on the shop floor. This gave Stu the opportunity to pitch his idea to Boots and boy did he take it.

Not too long later Will King founder of King of Shaves back in the early nineties spotted the huge potential of the brand and decided to invest, securing 24% in Wingman Products Ltd.

With festival season coming up Wingman will be there to make sure you never fly solo. Stu has built a great brand and I think this will see his products fly off the shelves and it holds the company in good stead for the future as they extend there product range across the male grooming industry.

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Here at YHP we are big fans of Airbnb and what they do. If you don’t know what it is they do, take a look at our previous articles on them  – The Guys @ AirBnB & What Every Startup Can Learn From AirBnB.

Well yesterday it was announced that they were in the process of securing a massive round of funding of $100 million putting them at a valuation of over $1 Billion, yes $1 Billion!

Here is the story from TechCrunch:

According to several sources Airbnb is in the process of closing a whopper of a funding round: $100 million or more at a $1 billion-plus valuation. The round is being lead by Andreessen Horowitz, and includes participation from DST, say our sources.

That’s a big increase from the company’s last funding round of $7.2 million, which included Sequoia Capital, Greylock, SV Angel, Ashton Kutcher and Youniversity Ventures (Kutcher broke the news that he’s an investor in AirBnB at TechCrunch Disrupt last week). The company, which launched via Y Combinator, has raised just $7.8 million to date.

No surprise, it was a hotly contested deal. The service has exploded, growing more than 800% last year and booking 1.6 million night stays in other people’s homes to date. On any given night in New York there are more people staying in homes via Airbnb than there are rooms in the biggest hotel in Manhattan.

Airbnb has become the sleeper hit of the startup world. It’s one of those companies plenty of well-heeled investors passed on in the early days, because they thought no one would want to open his or her home to strangers. Out of twenty angels he pitched in 2008, founder Brian Chesky said half didn’t return his emails and most of the others told him it was an awful idea. Even Paul Graham hated it, but he liked Chesky and backed him hoping he’d change the company. TechCrunch’s own hotel expert Paul Carr was a cynic too.

Now, the fear of missing another Airbnb is palpable in the Valley, and one of the reasons GetAround became the darling, audience choice and winner of our Disrupt conference this week.

Earlier in the week, I sat down with Airbnb founder Brian Chesky to talk about this reversal in fortune and how the business is going, although at the time we hadn’t heard the details of the deal he was busy negotiating.

Chances of meeting one’s role model nowadays are extremely rare, i don’t mean via Twitter or Facebook but face-face really having a proper conversation with them physically, let’s not mention if that role model or inspirational figure was Richard Branson.

However, it became possible for three lucky entrepreneurs to meet Richard Branson through the Virgin Pioneer Media competition where each contestant uploaded a video giving a brief intro about themselves and their start-up rounding it off with a question to Richard Branson, a question which they all hoped they could ask him personally if they were selected as one of the three winners.

Here are the three entrepreneurs that got through:-

Jamal Edwards

The 20 year old CEO and founder of SB.TV (an online music media channel) and Just Jam Records (a label agency under Sony RCA) asked…

“As SB.TV has got a big youth audience, how would you develop it into an organization that is as successful as yours?” He ended the voting with 3,650 voters coming first in the quest.

Sebastian Thiel – The CEO of “It’s Upshot” asked

“If you could have a conversation with anyone in history, who would it be with and why?”(Including those that are not alive) His campaign drew 3, 185 voters.

“It’s Upshot” is an online Youth entertainment brand and culture TV channel, which aims to provide all kinds of entertainments. Sir-Bastian aims to create a new youth sub culture that is dominantly against the uses of violence. Its upshot is all about believing, achieving and beginning young.

Matthew Lovett, CEO of “WOW Media asked…

“What was your biggest fear whilst setting up your company and how did you overcome it?” he ended up with 2,758 voters.

Matt’s company WOW Media helps other companies in creating enticing, eye-catching and sophiscated websites with Supports of all kinds made available to customers and potential customers ensuring they receive the best treatment.

All three entrepreneurs have different kinds of business, produces different kinds of products and services for their customers but now have one thing in common, they are all meeting Richard Branson.

It was rather exciting seeing how these entrepreneurs used Facebook and Twitter to drive their loved ones, fans and customers to their voting page.

Angel Investor Ron Conway caused some controversy on  Monday after stating that all young entrepreneurs are male. I think if you spent five minutes browsing through the YHP site you can see that simply isn’t true and there are plenty of young female entrepreneurs.

Anyway he also went on to address the idea that co-founders are more likely to succeed than single founders. To back up his claims Conway showed this graph while on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt in NYC:

Interesting numbers there and I feel that most of us will have a better chance of success with a co founder rather than go it alone, but there are plenty of exceptions. (probably in the ratio shown in the graphs actually!) It is well known that getting funding is easier with a co-founder, maybe that has an impact. Having a co-founder means you can split the amount of work and responsibility when starting up and it’s not as lonely!

While he was on stage he also took the time to explain that he likes investing in entrepreneurs when they’re 17 or 18 because he gets to watch their entire progression from start to finish.

TNW had more on this:

“Ron Conway made his fortunes in the computing industry, and he has been an active angel investor for over 15 years. He was the Founder and Managing Partner of the Angel Investors LP funds (1998-2005) whose investments included: Google, Ask Jeeves, Paypal, Good Technology, Opsware, and Brightmail. Conway was recently named #6 in Forbes Magazine Midas list of top ‘deal-makers’ in 2008.

Although he noted that entrepreneurs at 17 or 18 often need their parents with them because they’re not legally allowed to sign a deal on their own, he noted that he derived most satisfaction from seeing youngsters go from young upstarts to mature business people.

Without meaning to be cynical, another benefit of getting entrepreneurs in their teens is that they are less driven by money and hence he can get a better deal.”

So you have an idea for a business — one that you believe has the potential to alter the industry. You put together a straightforward proposition, raised the necessary capital, gathered a team and publicized your new venture by every means available. What happens next?

It’s time to deliver on your promises. And the only difference between merely satisfactory delivery and great delivery is attention to detail.

Anyone who aspires to lead a company must develop a habit of taking notes. I carry a notebook everywhere I go. Most of my entries are like this one, from a Virgin Atlantic flight years ago: “Dirty carpets. Fluff. Areas around bow dirty. Equipment: stainless steel, grotty. Choice of menu disappointing — back from Miami, prawns then lobster (as a main course) in Upper Class. Chicken curry very bland. Chicken should be cut in chunks. Rice pretty dry. No Stilton available on cheeseboard.”

What’s most revealing is this final note: “Staff desperate for someone to listen. Make sure flight staff reports are actioned IMMEDIATELY.” I’m pleased to say they now are. This is the key to getting all the other items on the list done — employees are better able to report problems and get them fixed before I come along with my notebook.

And as you decide how best to deliver your product or service, keep in mind the company’s core business values, the medium-term strategic considerations and where the industry is headed in the long term. Make your decisions on the micro level in light of that bigger picture, and your business should be headed in the right direction.

This problem-solving process should not be limited to the launch. Owners and leaders of established companies should sample their business’s products as often as possible. Many bosses regularly speak to staff at all levels, but often they do not follow up on problems they uncover. This means their employees never learn what importance the CEO places on getting the details right, or see just how necessary and possible it is to address the everyday problems that come up. If you foster a culture of waiting for someone else to solve problems, the company will suffer the consequences.

Great delivery also depends on great communication, which should start at the top. Be brave: hand out your e-mail address and phone number. Your employees will know not to misuse it or badger you, and by doing so, you will be giving them a psychological boost — they will know they can contact you anytime a problem comes up that requires your attention.

Instilling attention to detail throughout your new company will prove especially important when the business begins to gain ground. Employees across the business should be focusing on getting it right all day, every day.

A few years ago, I saw warning signs that we were starting to stumble when I received a letter from a couple who had planned to travel on Virgin Trains in Britain. We had seen a rapid 50 percent increase in passenger numbers, and suddenly people were finding it difficult to get a seat on the busier routes. The letter writers had not realized that they now had to book seats in advance. When they arrived at the station, they found the staff unhelpful. Given that the husband was disabled and needed assistance, this was pretty terrible of us.

I personally helped them, and in the process became concerned about the bigger picture for this company. I asked Ashley Stockwell, the brand and customer service guardian for Virgin Group, to take a look. Thanks to our renewed focus on delivering great service and attention to detail, we got better and soon received plaudits.

Finally, if you do start to see success in the form of new and repeat business, remember to keep a cool head. You’re delivering change, and if you are succeeding, other businesses are probably getting hurt. They will try to shut you down.

Be sportsmanlike, play to win, and then befriend your enemies. If you do fall out with a partner, colleague or competitor, call that person a year later and take him out to dinner. It is likely you have a great deal in common. After all, why did you both get into the business in the first place? To deliver change, serve customers, and reform an industry. Now, what can you create together?

This is an edited excerpt from Richard Branson’s book Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur (Virgin Books, 2010).

This post originally appeared at Entrepreneur.

The Internet has completely changed the landscape of entrepreneurship and perhaps the ones most affected by this are the startups. Being a startup can be fun and rewarding but it also entails countless challenges.

For Internet and tech startups, there is no place like Silicon Valley, the leading hub for high-tech innovation and development in the US. It’s like the Neverland of tech entrepreneurs where there exists a robust, active community of early adopters and a healthy pool of investors ready to pour cash into promising companies that could potentially be the next big thing. Unfortunately, not all startups have the luxury of being in Silicon Valley. Fortunately for these companies, not all startups have to be from Silicon Valley to be successful.

In the spotlight: The Philippine startup scene

We’ve heard of tons of successful startups from countries like US and Europe, but we’ve barely heard of any success stories from developing countries. That doesn’t necessarily mean there aren’t any. An interesting country to dig deeper into would be the Philippines, which some might not have even heard of, but in fact has a very Internet and mobile-savvy population.

So what’s it like being a startup from a developing country? Well, they’re definitely missing out on all the comforts such as seed funding, collaborative work spaces, access to a mentor base, VCs and Angels, dedicated business training, as well as visibility via networking and pitch events.

To be quite frank, the startup ‘scene’ in the Philippines is almost bordering nonexistent, considering the size and reach of its niche. They’re definitely lacking the right kind of leadership and exposure to gain attention from the rest of the world. It’s a shame, because it’s a country rich with talent and unique ideas but local startups often fail to launch due to the unfavorable circumstances of growing in a resistive environment. I don’t mean to undermine Filipino startups at large, in fact there are a few that stand out – and one in particular has caught my attention.

I spoke to Eric Su, co-founder and developer of PicLyf, a visual-content focused publishing platform – or picture blogging, if you will. The company is a small group of Internet geeks-slash-entrepreneurs based in the Philippines, who have endured countless challenges, and is now on its way to success.

Read the full story on TNW here.

As Nicko Williamson celebrates his companies second year of profit, he is excited by what the future for green driving may be able to offer capital cities such as London.

The young entrepreneur, only 27 years old has founded and manages his own company Climatecars, a grey-coloured fleet of low carbon chauffeured vehicles, targeted specifically for corporates.

At 22 years of age, the Climate Cars CEO found himself getting bored of driving up and down to Bristol University, when he drove past a company trying to sell green fuel. The resulting idea is now a profitable fleet of discreet Eco Grey Prius, taking London’s top businessmen around the capital city.

Nicko Williamson has a great vision for his company as he intends to one day make it have fully electronic vehicles. He has plans to introduce the first fully electric vehicles to the Climatecars fleet in early 2012.

Nicko Williamsons Company can be seen as a test. If it can make financial sense out of purchasing this technology, then it will not be long before carbon free driving becomes a generally accepted normality rather than a city gimmick.

Williamson says that the electric vehicle would have to do about 100 miles before it is recharged again in order for it to make any kind of sense.

Climate Cars is fast approaching a fleet of 70 cars, targeting a turnover approaching £3.5m for next year. This will be achieved through the growing the fleet size by about another 45 cars.

Creating a supply of batteries that could simply be swapped by divers (see www.betterplace.com), is one answer which could work for Climatecars, however Williamson believes the best transition phase would charge points in the city and west end for Climatecars fully electric vehicles.

London’s Hackney Carriages, the ubiquitous black cabs, are now finding themselves under pressure to perform against a new wave of green competitors. The black cab used to be the mainstay of the London transport system, but in recent years is has come under pressure from companies like Addison Lee and a plethora of licensed and unlicensed vehicles.

If Williamson’s hunch continues to pay off the days of corporate black cab account may well be numbered.

In spite of the recession and bank lending at a minimum, Nicko Williamson, founder of Climatecars, has secured £200,000 from Clydesdale bank to expand his company’s fleet of environmentally friendly hybrid cars. Climatecars provides an environmentally friendly alternative to black cabs or other taxi services.

Recent reports have shown small businesses are making much lower loan demands which highlights the effect of the recession on plans for expansion. But Climatecars is set to grow in the financial year 2011-12 by adding a further 45 cars to its fleet using the line of credit from Clydesdale. This is a good sign for small business and may indicate a pick up in economic growth.

The partnership between Climatecars and Clydesdale commences this month when Climatecars moves its commercial banking to Clydesdale bank as part of their agreement. The car service hopes this is the start of a fruitful working relationship.

Williamson said “As an ambitious and growing company we are pleased to be working with Clydesdale. We see this as an encouraging sign for the economy and UK small and medium sized enterprises and hope this is the start of a long relationship with Clydesdale.

“The new vehicles will allow us to further grow our client base and offer a better service to existing customers with faster response times around London 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.”

www.climatecars.com

Prime Minister David Cameron helped launch the ‘StartUp Britain’ initiative this morning. StartUp Britain is a ground-breaking response from the private sector to the Government’s call for an “enterprise-led” recovery. The campaign aims to deliver the support and advice for startups and is led by entrepreneurs and is not being backed by government money.

StartUp Britain is the UK’s response to surprise, surprise, Startup America. The American campaign however is funded by the government.

The initiative is essentially offering a package of discounts and free trial on business services like insurance, broadband, advertising, office space and more. The claim is that this amounts to over £1,500 in value for every startup company in Britain. The StartUp Britain site is a portal to all these offers and sources of advice.

David Cameron has always been pro-enterprise and earlier had this to say:

“We won’t build the future we want to see in this country if we go back to the bad old days of big government spending, big borrowing and big debt. The recovery we need is a private sector-led recovery, a recovery with ‘Made in Britain’ stamped all over it.

“We need to see a country where new businesses are starting up on every street, in every town; where entrepreneurs are everywhere.

In the UK we see 270,000 businesses startup every year and unfortunately a high number of these fail, many due to the lack of support. What I like about this campaign, is that although it is backed by the government (and has David Cameron’s face plastered all over it; sigh) it is actually an initiative run by entrepreneurs. The fact that already over 50 businesses have signed up to offer help is a good sign and can hopefully spur others into helping startups in the UK; although at the moment it needs to progress beyond what looks like a bit like a coupon site.

It remains to be seen how this campaign will progress but it looks promising. Here is a list of the entrepreneurs that are backing this project:

- Jamie Murray Wells, Glasses Direct
- Rajeeb Dey, Enternships
- Duncan Cheatle, The Supper Club
- Oli Barrett, Co-Sponsorship Agency
- Emma Jones, Enterprise Nation
- Michael Hayman, Seven Hills
- Richard O’Connor, Chocolate & Love
- Lara Morgan, Pacific Direct

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