What is the 30under30?
30under30 is an Anthill initiative launched in early 2008 to encourage and promote entrepreneurship among young Australians.
Each year, we invite our readers to nominate young Australian entrepreneurs deserving of recognition for their outstanding entrepreneurial endeavours. More.
Brandon Cowan, NSW (b. 1994)
Name: Brandon Cowan
Age: 19 (Born: December 1994)
Gender: Male
State: NSW
Known for: Crazy Dog Apps
As a teenager, Brandon Cowan had over 30 app ideas swimming in his head and was determined to see them come to life. Then he hit a snag. Existing app development companies quoted too much and were not interested in working for free on a profit-sharing basis.
So in 2010, Cowan who was only 17 at the time co-founded Crazy Dog Apps because “not turning at least some of my app ideas into reality was not an option.” Now, at 19, he is a sole owner of one of only 364 Aussie app development companies. Not bad huh?
Cowan, a 30under30 2012 finalist, is now even more entrepreneurial than last year. He has developed and marketed another app that hit no.7 on iTunes. Interestingly, this particular app, called App Making Guide could have cannibalised his business! Now that’s what we call guts!
With his second business which is already in the pipeline, Cowan has Google in his cross-hairs with plans to create and launch a better alternative to Google Adsense for advertisers and publishers.
“With Google Adsense, you can advertise your competition, display inappropriate ads and your users leave your site after clicking on an ad. My new business will solve all these and more,” he explains.
And like a true entrepreneur, he is not ashamed of his failures either, revealing, “Since the last 30Under30s, I have also launched my 2nd failure of an app – Gravityicons.”
Cowan also discloses that he is yet to get the Red Cross Blood Service on board with an app that will help their cause and organisation as a whole because “every path that I pursued was blocked by someone with a fancy job title and a high salary.”
Cowan has not given up hope though, saying, “I’m still fighting for the app to be created and launched. I can neither give up nor ignore a great idea that will save lives.”
His App Making Guide app has put him on Today Tonight, Nova 96.9, Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, The 702 Drive with Richard Glover, The North Shore Times, Shoe String Startups, 6PR and 96.5.
He has also appeared in Virgin’s in-flight magazine and Smart Company for his entrepreneurialism. News.com.au has even named him among the world’s top entrepreneurs.
Clearly, Brandon Cowan is a natural PR aficionado! In fact, many know him as that kid on TV that has made four top-100 apps.
In nearly 3 years of owning a business, Cowan has won or been nominated for 10 entrepreneurial awards, featured on prime-time TV 7 times, radio over 10 times and many other media outlets.
However, he says his biggest buzz is yet to come, hinting at a new app that will be “launched with a BANG!” We can only wait and see.
Anthill asks: Brandon Cowan, what motivates you as an entrepreneur?
I am driven to make the world a better place and also make money not just ‘to make money’ but the challenge of making money is a challenge that I enjoy. Making money is a desire that almost everyone has. There are so many ways to do it and I prefer to find a way to make money that fits into my lifestyle so I enjoy it. I also can’t stand it when good ideas remain ideas and not turned into a product or service. If I have an idea that is good enough, I turn it into a product.
Brandon Cowan talks about his iParkedHere app on The Today Show
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