Meet 1 of the Youngest Kids to Land Funding from 500 Startups

In the middle of last year Studypool bid Atlanta adieu for Silicon Valley. Since then Cofounders Richard Werbe and Jimmy Zhong have been growing their customer base by leaps and bounds and become one of the youngest recipients to get accepted into 500 Startups.

Studypool’s now 21 year old leader, Richard was kind enough to share some nuggets of wisdom with us on what led them to their mounting success.

Studypool has grown past being a jack of all trades and instead a king of one – the online study sesh. “Studypool is an online marketplace that connects students with questions with tutors that can help them. Basically, Studypool is like having thousands of friends who are expert tutors that can help you with any question at any time.”

Studypool spent 18 months in Atlanta before heading out west, and while the Valley is quite different, some things remain the same. “The mentality in Silicon Valley is similar. Everyone you meet is either a part of a startup, or knows someone that is a part of a startup. Everyone is always willing to help someone out.”

It is this trend that led Werbe to what he defines as some valuable advice: “Be open to reaching out to people. It’s how we have grown so much in a year and a half to reach this point. People are willing to help if you are willing to reach out to them.”

While that tidbit has certainly been of great use to Werbe and his team, it is not the most valuable thing he has learned throughout this process. “We came in as an exciting and young team with a big idea. We learned to take that big idea and make it work in one space. It’s important to focus on being great at one thing and then expanding. We will continue to grow vertically for quite some time before looking to evolve horizontally.”