The main thing that 99designs is about is choice. Its a fantastic model that eliminates risk for small business owners and puts designers on equal footing.

I never really felt like my age stopped people from wanting to work with me. I was speaking at conferences and lecturing at universities at 18, and I think that was mainly because web developing and management was a really young industry.

The main thing that 99designs is about is choice. Its a fantastic model that eliminates risk for small business owners and puts designers on equal footing.

Ultimately a good logo is something that people recognize instantly and relate to.

On April 1, 1998, I launched Webmaster-Resources.com, and I remember that date specifically because it was the date that the price of a two-year domain name registration dropped from $100 to $70, and considering I was funding this out of my allowance, that $30 made all the difference.

A poor logo doesn't mean a business will fail, and a good logo doesn't mean it will succeed - it just helps. Ultimately a good logo is something that people recognize instantly and relate to.

I was really just a hard-core geek, if you will, in 1996, and was building websites as a hobby. I started doing a lot of web design and development and built my first website on the now-defunct GeoCities platform.