In times of rapid change, one thing remains constant: it’s the leaders who innovate, adapt, and execute with relentless purpose who rise above. They don’t wait for the perfect moment: they create it. These are the entrepreneurs shaping the future in real time.
2025 isn’t about playing small. It’s about thinking bigger, moving faster, and solving problems at scale. The individuals on this list embody that mindset. They’ve built powerful brands, forged disruptive business models, and, most importantly, they’ve done it with clarity, courage, and consistency.
These entrepreneurs have one thing in common: they lead with action. They don’t just talk about success: they model it. If you’re serious about leveling up, your business, your mindset, your impact, then these are the people you need to be watching.
Here are the Top Entrepreneurs To Follow in 2025.
Grant Cardone
Grant Cardone is a renowned American entrepreneur, real estate investor, bestselling author, and sales trainer known for building a multi-billion-dollar property empire and a global business education brand. After graduating from McNeese State University in 1981 with a degree in accounting, Cardone battled a decade-long struggle with drug addiction before completely transforming his life. By his mid-thirties, he began investing seriously in real estate—laying the foundation for what would become Cardone Capital, a privately held real estate investment firm with more than $4 billion in multifamily assets under management across the U.S.
Beyond real estate, Cardone is the founder of multiple companies including Cardone Training Technologies and Grant Cardone Enterprises, which offer sales training, consulting, and digital education for individuals and corporations worldwide. His aggressive, no-excuses approach to sales and success—known as “10X thinking”—became the basis of his 2011 book The 10X Rule, which has sold over a million copies and inspired a global movement. Cardone also hosts the annual 10X Growth Conference, one of the largest business and entrepreneurial events in the world, drawing tens of thousands of attendees.
A prolific content creator, Cardone has written several bestselling books including Sell or Be Sold, Be Obsessed or Be Average, and If You’re Not First, You’re Last. He’s also a self-made social media powerhouse, amassing millions of followers across platforms and producing hundreds of hours of video content aimed at helping entrepreneurs, investors, and salespeople scale their businesses and mindsets. His straight-talking, high-energy style has earned him both admirers and critics, but it has undeniably positioned him as one of the most influential figures in the modern self-development and business education space.
Carlos Camargo
With over four decades in journalism, Carlos Camargo has become one of Venezuela’s most recognized voices in lifestyle, entertainment, and personal development media. His career spans some of the region’s most respected outlets, including El Bloque Dearmas and Diario El Nacional, before expanding to the United States, where he directed Alta Esfera magazine and contributed to publications like El Venezolano and Diario Las Américas. For the past 25 years, Camargo has reached millions of readers through his popular weekly column CamargoNotas in Diario 2001, where he continues to explore culture, celebrity, and the pursuit of well-being.
Beyond his work as a journalist, Camargo is the CEO of several international magazines, where he blends editorial expertise with his mission to inspire through storytelling. His portfolio of books, available on platforms like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, and Kobo, includes titles such as Feliz y sin ataduras, Mentalidad de éxito, and Hackea tus hormonas de la felicidad. His latest project, Las aventuras de Beto, a bilingual children’s book teaching universal values through the story of a wise crocodile, marks his first foray into literature for younger audiences.
At his core, Carlos describes himself as a “gestor de felicidad”—a curator of happiness whose mission extends beyond headlines and bestsellers. His vision for 2025 includes the release of three new books on the science of happiness and the expansion of Las aventuras de Beto into schools and daycares, ensuring that values like honesty, respect, and tolerance reach the next generation. For Camargo, success is measured not in accolades but in lives transformed: “If every word I write changes even one life for the better, I’ve done my job.”
Daniella Pierson
Daniella Pierson (born August 4, 1995) is a Colombian‑American entrepreneur who founded The Newsette, a women‑focused media company, when she was a sophomore at Boston University in 2015. The newsletter, initially sent to merely eight subscribers, grew to over 500,000 mainly millennial women reading daily content about business, fashion, beauty, and tech. By 2021, it generated $40 million in revenue and achieved a valuation near $200 million.
In 2022, Pierson co‑founded Wondermind, a mental fitness startup, alongside Selena Gomez and Mandy Teefey, which reached a $100 million valuation shortly after launching. That same year, Forbes recognized her as the youngest wealthiest self‑made BIPOC woman.
Facing early rejections from venture capital—often being told she talked too much or was laughed out of rooms—Pierson persisted without initial funding, even writing The Newsette herself between 6 and 10 a.m. before classes. By 2021, the team had grown, and the business turned healthy profits.
In 2025, she launched CHASM, a membership‑based initiative aimed at closing the gender gap in venture capital. Through a “mentor‑to‑many” model, high‑profile members contribute $25,000 to support aspiring female founders with mentorship, networks, and grants. CHASM counts among its backers notable figures like Sara Blakely, Lionel Richie, Fidji Simo, and Tony Robbins.
Angela Benton
Angela Benton is an American entrepreneur, systems architect, and diversity advocate renowned for founding inclusivity‑focused ventures. In 2007, she launched Black Web 2.0, an online media platform spotlighting Black innovators in tech and exploring the intersections of Black culture and technology.
In 2011, Benton founded NewME, the first startup accelerator for minority entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. Under her leadership, NewME supported hundreds of underrepresented founders and helped raise over $47 million in venture capital. The accelerator gained prominence through a CNN documentary feature and sparked industry‑wide conversations around diversity in tech.
In 2018, she launched Streamlytics, an ethical, community‑driven data ecosystem focused on letting people—particularly those from communities of color—reclaim and monetize their media consumption data. Streamlytics has become a market leader, processing data globally, and introducing novel standards and frameworks for ethical data ownership.
A prolific innovator and advocate, Benton has received honors including being named among Goldman Sachs’ “100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs,” Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business,” and Business Insider’s “25 Most Influential African‑Americans in Technology.” Her work has been featured in outlets such as CNN, Bloomberg, Inc., Forbes, Good Morning America, and The Wall Street Journal. She is also a breast cancer survivor, author of Revival, and continues to champion wellness and equity in entrepreneurship
Scot Chisholm
Scot Chisholm is an American entrepreneur and industrial engineer best known as the co‑founder and former CEO of Classy, a SaaS fundraising platform for nonprofits. Founded in 2006 after a charity pub crawl in San Diego inspired the idea, Classy went on to help nonprofits raise over $1 billion annually by 2021 and was acquired by GoFundMe in 2022. Together, the platforms have facilitated more than $30 billion in donations for causes worldwide.
After stepping down as CEO in 2021, Chisholm transitioned to an advisory and leadership role and went on to launch several ventures, including Highland—a community and educational platform for startup founders; Haskill Creek—a holistic health‑and‑wellness retail brand; and Save Farmland—a nonprofit focused on preserving agricultural land. He also developed the Northstar Operating System, a business framework used by early and growth‑stage companies, and co‑owns the Albion Soccer Club youth organization.
Scot’s leadership earned him recognition as one of Businessweek’s “Top 5 Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs in America” and Glassdoor’s “Highest Rated CEO” for SMBs in 2017. In 2024, he was named a “Top Executive Coach” by Real Leaders and has been listed among San Diego Business Journal’s 500 Most Influential Business Leaders multiple years running.
Built from grassroots fundraising to tech-enabled impact, Chisholm continues to drive social good through entrepreneurial infrastructure and visionary leadership.
Travis Montaque
Travis Montaque is an American entrepreneur and tech innovator, currently founder and CEO of Holler—a conversational messaging technology company—and co‑founder and CEO of Group Black, a media collective and accelerator empowering Black‑owned media businesses.
Raised in South Florida, Montaque worked at Chick‑fil‑A as a teenager, managing franchises by age nineteen. He studied accounting and finance at the University of Miami, where he also served on student leadership councils. After launching Splyst during college—which later evolved into Emogi and eventually rebranded as Holler—he opted to pursue entrepreneurship over entering Wall Street.
Under his leadership, Holler raised $36 million in Series B funding in 2021 and earned recognition on Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Social Media Companies” list. Group Black, launched that same year in partnership with Richelieu Dennis, supports Black‑owned media and creators through investment and strategic networks. Montaque has been featured on Forbes’ “30 Under 30,” Entrepreneur’s “50 Most Daring Entrepreneurs,” Adweek’s “Media Executive of the Year,” and Ad Age’s “Diversity & Inclusion Champion,” among other honors.
Blending tech innovation with social impact, Montaque’s ventures define a new wave of inclusive media and conversational experiences.
Camille Fournier
Camille Fournier is a distinguished technology executive and author, known for her deep expertise in engineering management and distributed systems. She earned a BS in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University and an MS in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
After an early career at Microsoft, she spent over six years at Goldman Sachs, rising to Vice President of Technology and building complex infrastructure and credit‑risk systems. In 2011, she joined Rent the Runway as Director of Engineering and in 2014 became its Chief Technology Officer, helping scale the startup’s technical operations.
Fournier transitioned into leadership advisory roles, including Managing Director at JPMorgan Chase as Global Head of Engineering and Architecture for its Commercial & Investment Bank, overseeing an 800‑person engineering team. She authored the bestselling The Manager’s Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change and edited 97 Things Every Engineering Manager Should Know. She also contributes the “Ask the CTO” column for O’Reilly Media and is active in open‑source governance.
With her blend of enterprise-scale leadership, technical insight, and authorship, Fournier remains a leading voice in scaling engineering organizations and mentoring technical leaders.
Derrius Quarles
Derrius Quarles is an American entrepreneur, author, activist, financial innovator, and recording artist. Born and raised in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood, he overcame thirteen years in foster care and hardship as the grandson of a Mississippi sharecropper.
As a high school student, he earned over $1 million in scholarships—thanks to Gates Millennium, Dell, Coca‑Cola, and others—enabling him to graduate cum laude from Morehouse College and later earn a master’s in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. He founded Million Dollar Scholar, an educational social enterprise that has helped students access more than $5.5 million in scholarships. He then co‑founded BREAUX Capital, a fintech platform helping Black men pool resources, invest, and build financial literacy and wealth.
He is the author of Winning the Scholarship Race (Million Dollar Scholar), an Amazon education bestseller. Recognized with the White House’s Points of Light Award, named a TED Entrepreneur‑in‑Residence, and featured on Inc.’s 30 Under 30 list, Quarles speaks widely on finance, education equity, and social justice. His work has appeared on CNN, HBO, AP, Time, and BET.
Fusing lived experience with entrepreneurial ingenuity, Quarles continues to advance educational and financial access for marginalized communities.
Sarah Kauss
Sarah Kauss is an American entrepreneur and founder of S’well, a reusable insulated-product company she launched in 2010 after being inspired during a hike in Arizona with her mother. She self‑funded the venture with $30,000 in savings and built it into a global brand generating over $100 million in revenue and displacing more than 4 billion single‑use plastic bottles
S’well gained significant traction after being featured in O, The Oprah Magazine and expanding into partnerships with major retailers like Starbucks, expanding into 65 countries by 2017. Kauss has received numerous honors, including inclusion in Fortune’s “40 Under 40,” selection as an EY Entrepreneurial Winning Woman, and recognition as an Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow and Braddock Scholar.
After selling S’well in 2022, she now serves as an advisor and investor, focusing on sustainability, design, and purpose-driven brand building.
Ben Chestnut
Ben Chestnut (born 1973/1974) is an American internet entrepreneur from Augusta, Georgia. He co‑founded Mailchimp (Rocket Science Group) in 2001 as a side project from a web design company, later growing it into a leading email marketing and automation platform with over 13 million users and $700 million in revenue by 2019, all while remaining bootstrapped until Intuit acquired the company for $12 billion in 2021.
Acknowledged as Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2016 and “Most Admired CEO” in 2017 by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, he stepped down as CEO in 2022 after more than two decades at the helm.
Chestnut’s background in industrial design had a significant influence on Mailchimp’s playful, customer-centric brand identity, known for quirky merchandise and creative swag that strengthened customer loyalty in unconventional ways. He continues to be admired for building one of the most successful bootstrapped tech companies in history.
Dan Kurzius
Dan Kurzius is an American entrepreneur and co‑founder of Mailchimp, where he serves as Chief Customer Officer. Raised in New Mexico, he experienced economic hardships growing up in a family that ran a bakery-deli that was eventually forced out by larger chains.
Before launching Mailchimp, he worked as a DJ and in real estate; in 2001, he and Ben Chestnut turned their side web design venture into Mailchimp, maintaining full ownership and avoiding outside funding throughout the company’s growth.
Kurzius was estimated by Forbes in 2019 to have a net worth of around $2.1 billion, marking Mailchimp’s co-founder as one of the few successful bootstrapped billionaires.
Known for his user-focused philosophy, Kurzius helped shape Mailchimp’s culture of creativity and customer delight, alongside Chestnut’s design-driven ethos.
Isaiah Turner
Isaiah Turner is an American internet entrepreneur and software engineer known for co-founding the teen-centric social apps Monkey, Poparazzi, and Gas. While still a student, he earned an Apple Worldwide Developers Conference scholarship and famously “hacked” the viral app Yo at age 15, leading to his being hired to fix its security flaws.
Monkey, launched in 2017 with a friend, quickly surpassed 3 million downloads and over 300,000 monthly active users before being acquired by Holla. In 2022, he co-created Gas, a positive polling app for high schoolers that rose to #1 in the App Store.
A breakout figure in youth-driven innovation, Turner embodies digital-native entrepreneurship and platform innovation.
Adeo Ressi
Adeo Ressi is an Italian-American entrepreneur, investor, and relentless advocate for global entrepreneurship. Raised on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, his summers at Arcosanti—a sustainability-focused experimental town in Arizona—imbued in him a lifelong passion for environmental issues and systems thinking. At the University of Pennsylvania, he founded Green Times, an environmental newspaper with a circulation of 30,000, but never completed his degree because he submitted his paper issues as his thesis.
Ressi co-founded Total New York in 1994, one of the first advertiser-supported local news websites, which he later sold to AOL as part of its Digital Cities initiative. He then founded a web development firm, methodfive, in 1995 and sold it to Xceed in 2000 for $88 million. In 2002, he launched Game Trust, an online casual gaming platform later acquired by RealNetworks. These exits brought him early success and resources that he would go on to reinvest in entrepreneurial infrastructure.
In 2007, shaken by negative experiences with venture capitalists during Game Trust’s funding rounds, Ressi launched TheFunded—an anonymous review platform where founders could rate and critique investors. The platform’s popularity grew rapidly among entrepreneurs seeking transparency. Two years later, in response to challenging startup dynamics and a vision to “globalize Silicon Valley,” he founded the Founder Institute in Palo Alto in 2009 with Jonathan Greechan. Since then, the Institute has operated in over 200 cities across more than 100 countries, launching over 7,500 startups that have collectively raised over $1.85 billion.
Today, Ressi serves as CEO of Decile Group and Executive Chairman of the Founder Institute. Decile Group houses VC Lab, an ethical venture capital accelerator aimed at new fund managers. Ressi’s innovations include introducing tools like the SAFE note and the Mensarius Oath (an ethics code for VCs), aligning fund practices with UN Sustainable Development Goals, and pioneering AI-driven resources to augment venture diligence and decision-making. His work spans societal engineering, sustainable infrastructure, and founder advocacy—reinforcing entrepreneurship as a force for global good.
Jessica Ewing
Jessica Ewing is an American innovator and entrepreneur (born in Michigan), best known as the founder and CEO of Literati, a children’s book subscription service headquartered in Austin, Texas. She earned her degree in Symbolic Systems—composed of mathematics and artificial intelligence—at Stanford University, where she also served as a research assistant in the White House for the senior economic adviser to the president.
After graduating, Jessica joined Google as a senior product manager. Early on, she worked directly under both Marissa Mayer and Sundar Pichai, contributing to initiatives like iGoogle and co-authoring several patents in consumer technology design. Fast Company recognized her as one of “Google’s 12 Most Innovative Minds.” In 2009, she left Google to pursue a lifelong writing aspiration, spending time in Hawaii working on a novel. The challenge of publishing inspired her to build Excerpt, a platform to connect writers with agents and publishers. Eventually, she pivoted toward children’s literacy and in 2016 founded Literati.
Under Ewing’s leadership, Literati has scaled rapidly. The subscription sent monthly book bundles—tailored by age and reading level—to families nationwide. The company secured $12 million in Series A funding in late 2019 and raised $40 million in Series B by January 2021. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Literati donated thousands of books in collaboration with local and national partners. It also launched the “Luminary Book Clubs,” featuring selections curated by figures like Richard Branson, Malala Yousafzai, and Susan Orlean, plus a “Great Minds” edition with recommendations from titans like Sheryl Sandberg and Sundar Pichai. Literati now reaches over 1.5 million children annually through book fairs, e-commerce, and subscriptions.
Kristen Kish
Kristen Kish (born December 1, 1983, in Seoul, South Korea) is an acclaimed American chef, restaurateur, author, and television personality. Adopted at four months old and raised in Kentwood, Michigan, she discovered a passion for cooking early on, recalling how, as a child, she would perch on a barstool to watch Great Chefs of the World on TV, learning through an intuitive, visual approach rather than taste.
After attending Le Cordon Bleu in Chicago, Kish honed her craft across prestigious kitchens, first in Chicago, then in Boston with roles such as line cook at Top of the Hub and sous-chef and chef de cuisine under Barbara Lynch at Stir and Menton.Her culinary journey reached national attention when she won Season 10 of Top Chef, becoming the second woman ever to do so.
Transitioning from competitor to host, Kristen took the helm as the new Top Chef host starting with its 21st season in 2023, aligned with a seamless shift that critics embraced as empathetic and refreshing.She also hosted other acclaimed shows such as Fast Foodies, Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend, and Restaurants at the End of the World on National Geographic/Disney+.In 2018, Kish opened Arlo Grey, her own restaurant in Austin, Texas, showcasing her refined, contemporary culinary style. She’s also authored cookbooks like Kristen Kish Cooking: Recipes and Techniques (2017) and It’s All in the Sauce: Bringing Your Uniqueness to the Table.
