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Every day, thinkers and observers challenge themselves to do something great, something life-changing, something so great everyone will want to become part of it. For those who own a business with a steady flow of income in mind, the very first step matters – and pushing on against the odds is equally important.

The popular adage says “Life begins at 40”, but for the most brilliant entrepreneurial minds, there is no use waiting for those numbers to bring those dreams to life. A spark of genius comes regardless of age, background or social status, and it pays to grab every opportunity to make a difference with that idea. Thousands of businesses today are founded by young people who, more than anyone, are expected to have a full grasp of what the market – of which they are a part of – needs.

A few notable young men and women kept on, not exactly thinking about creating life-changing multi-million ventures. But they did.

Business.com celebrates these ten people under 40 who have inspired and continue to challenge the business frontier with their genius:

1. Sophia Amoruso, 30, CEO/Founder of Nasty Gal

The online clothing shop earns $23 million in revenue, reported a three-year growth rate of 10,160%, and has over $40 million in investments.

2. Brian Chesky, 32, co-founder & CEO of Airbnb

In 2004, a jobless Chesky and his roommate Joe Gebbiadisrupted an entire industry with the $2.5 billion dollar company.

3. Tony Hsieh, 40, CEO of Zappos

After a shaky launch in 1999, Zappos reported $1 billion revenue in 2009.

4. Alexa Von Tobel, 29, Founder & CEO of LearnVest.com

The personal finance website “helps you feel amazing about your money.”

5. Matt Maloney, 38, Founder of GrubHub and CEO of GrubHub/Seamless

Maloney and co-founder Mike Evans started the “nation’s leading online and mobile food ordering company” in 2004, and are now in 700 U.S.

6. James Park, 37, CEO & co-founder of Fitbit

Park and longtime cohort Eric Friedman created Fitbit, now leading the pack in connected wearable technology while making our world a healthier place.

7. David Karp, 28, CEO & Founder of Tumblr

Karp and computer engineer Marco Arment founded the microblogging platform in 2007 that is now host to over 190 million blogs. Tumblr sold to Yahoo! in 2013 for $1.1 billion.

8. Marissa Mayer, 39, CEO, Yahoo!

Mayer has led Yahoo through a series of major purchases, such as Tumblr and photo sharing site Flickr, and stock has doubled.

9. Blake Mycoskie, 37, Founder/Chief Shoe Giver, TOMS

Mycoskie led a wildly successful company that isgiving to more than 10 million pairs of shoes to kids in need to date.

10. Kathryn Minshew, 27, Founder, The Muse

Previously called The Daily Muse, the rebranded website currently helps 3 million users – women and men discover their passions and search for jobs that reflected them.

Photo by Penn State