These entrepreneurs don’t carry leather briefcases or wear designer suits. They are in their 20s-mid30s, value fun and creativity, and are worth millions to billions of dollars. A new breed of entrepreneur is making its mark on the business world.   Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Garret Camp (StumbleUpon), Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, and Biz Stone (Twitter), Chad Hurley and Steven Chen (YouTube) are just a few of these youngsters in the business world that are revolutionizing the way we use the internet and our perception of an entrepreneur.

Garret Camp, founder of StumbleUpon is a great case study for understanding this newest type of entrepreneur.  Thanks to the wonders of YouTube, our internet entrepreneurship class watched a short interview with Camp about his company.  Here are a few characteristics that stood out:

Focused:  The worldwide web has a lot of rabbit trails, but Camp is sticking to what he knows best and consistently delivering what his target audience wants.

Confident:  Maybe it is a generational thing, but these entrepreneurs are oozing confidence.

Intelligent and Articulate: Nobody will argue that that the new breed of entrepreneur is intelligent, whether a college dropout or Harvard grad.  Camp stands out as particularly articulate, which is not a characteristic of all these new entrepreneurs.  Some are just plain awkward, but when you are making billions, nobody really cares.

In-tune: These entrepreneurs have their finger on the pulse of their user base, both socially and technologically.

Not only are these entrepreneurs shattering the  stereo-types, they are introducing unique business models.  Garrett Camp’s business model ensures that 1 out of every 20 Stumbles is a paid-for site.  Not a bad idea considering that StumbleUpon has over 7 million users and is making an estimated 10 million a year.  Mark Zuckerberg’s estimated net worth is 1.5 billion – these guys must be doing something right.

140 characters. That’s not a lot, but it’s enough. Whether you disagree with the claim that Twitter really “connects” people or think it’s the best invention since sliced bread, there are some indisputable benefits to you, yes YOU, by using Twitter.

1. Achieve SUPER Stalker Status.

“You’d never know where your subject was at all times, what they were thinking, who they were with BT (Before Twitter). How did stalkers ever survive without it?”  Don’t settle for mediocre Facebook style stalking.  Be All You Can Be.

2. Learn to Relate to the Geek of  Your Dreams.

Girls…this one’s for you.  Daily Candy just held a contest called “Get with the Programmer” which rates the hottest Geeks.  Before you get lost in his eyes though, you might get lost in his programmer jargon.  Never fear – Twitter is here.  Who knows where a line like “I’m looking for commitment, not an open source relationship.” could lead you?

3.  Boost Your Self-Esteem, 140 Characters at a time.

Twitter is proof that there are people weirder than you out there in the world.  Enough said.

4.  Save Money on a AAA Membership.

Stuck on the side of the road because you ignored the little red light that signaled you were out of fuel?  Just twitter your location and your desperation.  You are bound to find someone willing to come to your rescue with a gas can.

*This benefit assumes you have a phone with internet capabilities to text twitter from your car but no actual friends to text or call directly.

5.  Maintain Social Grace.

We’ve all had that experience where we catch ourselves giving useless information about our day to a friend, acquaintance or unsuspecting stranger.  It starts with that “what did you do today?” question and before we know it we are talking about how we came home to find that our cat broke the automatic litter box, blah blah blah.  Twitter provides relief from these awkward situations.  Simply type those bits of trivia before leaving the house and the urge to vomit trivial bits of your day all over the next person you see can be easily avoided. I think the tagline for the site should be, “Twitter: the New Way to Communicate Pertinent Useless Information to People without Feeling Guilty”

The top five benefits of using Twitter are without question going to change your life…just a little bit.  What’s not to love?

Flea Markets always fascinate me as I drive down the highway and look out my window at the tables filled with piles of colorful widgets and whatcha-ma-call-its. I’ve never stopped at a flea market though because the probability that I’ll stumbleupon an original painting or ancient piece of pottery to pawn-off on Ebay seems slim to none.  I have the same attitude towards StumbleUpon, a glorified digital flee market of ideas, pictures, and articles.

7 million  users are currently clicking, sifting, and surfing through endless web pages to find that treasure of an image, article, or tibit that will revolutionize their lives.  It has to be there among the piles of junk like Aunt Mildred’s recipe for cooking artichoke hearts or Bobby Boy’s cat cartoon.  Is it worth it?  Maybe one day I will slow down my car and wander down the isles of a flea market.  Who knows, maybe I’ll even get lucky and find a diamond in the rough.  For now though, I maintain that StumbleUpon is not worth the time or the effort. I’m going to pass this one by.

oh…I spent about half an hour clicking through the website.  Here is what I found.  They say time is money. I think I paid too much for this picture.

Something I "Stumbled Upon"

“What’s it called again honey, My Face?” Try explaining to anyone over the age of 50 the difference between Facebook and MySpace and you’ll get a blank stare. There is a difference though…or so I have heard. In fact, the debate is almost as intense as the pop vs. soda word choice that my friends and I argue about on a regular basis. What’s the difference, and is there a right choice?

“The goodie two shoes, jocks, athletes, or other ‘good’ kids are now going to Facebook” and MySpace is “… home for … ‘burnouts,’ ‘alternative kids,’ ‘art f*gs,’ punks, emos, goths, gangstas, queer kids, and other kids who didn’t play into the dominant high school popularity paradigm.” reports Berkeley Ph.D. student Danah Boyd.

Interesting.I do not have a MySpace account, so I decided to poll 50 of my friends (students at GCC) to see if there was a prevailing attitude towards MySpace or Facebook.

Survey Results

• 33 of the respondents have a only Facebook account
• 0 of the respondents have only a MySpace account
• 3 of the respondents have both Facebook and MySpace
• 1 respondent has neither type of account

RESPONSES

MySpace is for teenie boppers, that for some ungodly reason aren’t bothered by abominable web page designs. I don’t care what or who the account is for, I usually immediately close the window as soon as it’s opened. It always pains me when some artist that I listen to uses MySpace as their only webpage. – Joe

Facebook is much cleaner and fulfills networking purposes much better. The best feature is that the advertisements are never offensively large or “in your face”. In fact it’s easy to forget that the ads are even there, which is probably the biggest reason Facebook wins. That and they don’t let users design their profile page. – Joe

I used to have myspace too, but then I got hit on by a creepy girl I didn’t know. So I deleted it. – Becky

Myspace is so highschool. That’s where I used to go to procure hookups. Now I just show my face in public… – Eric

MySpace sucks. Facebook sucks…less? Myspace is only good for music artists’ pages; facebook is better at social networking – Dustin

Myspace is old and outdated, and creepier people are on there. – Tim

Myspace is for jr-highers (or high schoolers who never grew out of the jr. high phase.) Facebook, however, with all the applications, quizzes, games, top-friends, etc, is turning more and more like myspace. (I think this happened when it became open to everyone.) Myspace also always made me feel like I was getting a virus or something. It just seems shadier. I no longer have a myspace account. – Amanda

Facebook is cleaner and gives the appearance of being safer.  Myspace pages are typically loaded with busy backgrounds and those online quizzes like “What Disney princess are you?” (fun but when you have to scroll through them all to comment it’s a little annoying) – Laura

Facebook took over myspace, myspace is for people behind the times.
Myspace is weird, but not gonna lie, it’s a part of my past… – Corrie

I think that Facebook has better privacy settings and is easier to limit to friends only.  Since its origins as a college network, I see Facebook as reaching an older and more educated population. – Amy

I think people with myspace use it for music mostly. – Barbara

THE VERDICT

My very biased and unscientific poll at least supports the theory that there are perceived class distinctions between Facebook and MySpace.  Forbes Magazine has examined this distinction in terms of advertising. Should advertisers notice the differences and use adds differently on each site to target different audiences? The correct answer is soda, but as far as Facebook vs. MySpace…