Profile: Ephren W. Taylor II

November 28th, 2008 1 Comment

Here’s proof that it’s never too early to start your own business. At age 12, Ephren Taylor began making 3D video games which he sold in school for $10 per copy. He got over a thousand dollars out of that first endeavor. Not too shabby, and he wasn’t even in his teens yet! Of course, that was just a glimpse of things to come.

But his real breakthrough came when he, along with his friend Mike Stahl, founded a startup company called GoFerretGo.com while they were still in high school. They initially used their combined savings of $1,000, and Ephren himself created the website. A gifted programmer and a hard worker, he already had six programming certifications under his belt at the time. GoFerretGo.com was built as a site that “offers a job search engine for high school and college students as well as a career development center that focuses on resume building and proper job interview etiquette.” They were able to raise hundreds of dollars from angel investors, and at age 16, Ephren became a millionaire.

In 2006, he became the youngest African-American CEO of a publicly-traded company in America: City Capital Corporation. Among his many projects is the Goshen Energy initiative, which aims to support sustainable energy sources and currently specializes in biofuels development. Others include starting investment clubs at schools nationwide and developing a national business plan competition for college students. Now 26, he’s a certified best-selling author and very successful businessman, overseeing over 250 million in assets. Not bad for someone who was born in a small town and raised in a house with a tin roof.