Generation Y’s At Work San Diego’s Search Engine Entrepreneurs
October 2, 2007. It’s a typical day at SEOhaus in the largest office located within the company’s 1400sqft. space, employees sit in a semi-circle around a cordless speaker phone.
“We need to really focus on improving our PR,” a client says, his voice on speaker phone audible throughout the room.
“We can do that,” one of the employees says, glancing down at the yellow legal pad on her lap. “Let’s come up with a solution.”
Ten minutes later, when the meeting ends, the employees disperse to their respective offices, and the company’s owners, William Senn, 26, and William Canu, 25, take a short break from their hectic work schedules to share what it’s like being an entrepreneur under 30.
“We’re growing so fast,” Canu says, leaning back in his office chair and glancing over his shoulder at the busy traffic below on Kettner Blvd. “It’s amazing.”
The two Williams, who started SEOhaus from the proceeds of their last business venture’s mail-order DVD rental service, have seen their company grow from a single room with two employees (themselves) to a small business with approximately ten full-time employees and growing. Next week, the company will move to a much larger office suite down the hall.
“We’re excited,” says Senn, a former Google employee.” The walls of the new office are being painted right now, and it (the move) is starting to feel official.”
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is all about the art of achieving increased traffic, presence, and page rankings (i.e. higher search results) for a website, and this is achieved by a variety of different methods, including, but not limited to: building links, writing and marketing SEO content articles, social bookmarking, and web design.
“SEOhaus is a boutique firm,” Senn explains, “We specialize in customized services, and our employees are very good at what they do.”
SEOhaus and it’s twenty-something owners, represent a growing trend in American business: young entrepreneurs making an impact in their respective industries and developing successful businesses before their 30th birthday.
Their generation, known as Generation Y (1981-1995) is a generation of young entrepreneurs. The online publication Inc.com recently released the list of the “thirty coolest entrepreneurs under thirty,” profiling individuals who began their own companies—some while still living in their parent’s houses, and have seen them grow exponentially in only a few short years.