Busted Myths About The Under 30 List

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Summer is here. At Forbes, that means the U30 season is in full swing. Nominations for our flagship 2024 Under 30 list are open, and entries are pouring in—by the thousands. With the list top of mind, we felt it was the perfect time to bust some myths about the U30 selection process.

I’ll get penalized if I nominate myself: FALSE. If a business legend takes the time to nominate you, great. But if they simply write that you “should be on the list”—that’s not much help. What does help? A tightly-written nomination that provides concrete details on your business (revenue or funding numbers, credible backers, big partners, and impact). Think show, not tell.

The more nominations I get, the better: FALSE. We are looking for quality, not quantity. In fact, spamming the nomination portal can be a red flag for our Under 30 reporters.

There’s a secret formula to get on the list: FALSE. There are many ways to make Under 30. Forbes and our independent expert judges look at multiple factors, including originality, scale, revenue, business model, impact, potential, and more. There is no code, no algorithm, no secret handshake.

People have paid to get on the list: FALSE. Nope. The Under 30 is an editorial project, and like everything at Forbes, you cannot pay your way onto it.

Enough false myths. What is true—creativity, boldness, and big ambition are critical to joining the ranks of the 2024 Under 30 list. Another truth: each year, the vision and accomplishments of the Under 30 listers truly blow our minds.

These Are The Richest People In Every State

Elon Musk, Ken Griffin and 45 other billionaires have bragging rights as the richest person in their state but plenty of others, including Bill Gates, missed the cut.

On Our Radars

– Frat bros everywhere may have met their match because DishBrain, a living human brain cell-powered computer chip, has learned to play pong–well, Atari’s pong video game, that is. Cortical Labs CEO Hon Weng Chong is taking that technology to the next level by building biological computers which he hopes will surpass AI. (Forbes)

– Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg may go head-to-head in a…cage match? Musk responded to tweets about the up and coming competing Meta platform, by saying, “I’m up for a cage match if he is lol,” to which Zuckerberg responded, “Send Me Location,” with a screenshot of Musk’s twitter post on his Instagram. (New York Times)

Lister Lowdown

– This week, Rever, a startup reimagining the online shopping return process, announced it had secured more than $8 million in funding from Y Combinator, Mundi Ventures, Barlon Capital, among others. Oriol Hernandez i Fajula and Marius Montmany, 2023 Under 30 Europe Retail & Ecommerce Listers, founded the startup to automate label generation, refunds, and logistics for ecommerce companies, and provide analytics of customers’ buying and returning behavior. Rever is also developing an AI-powered feature that suggests alternate products based on users’ past purchases.

– Orbit Fab, the leading provider in-space refueling stations and shuttles, was awarded the World Economic Forum’s “Technology Pioneers” award, a list of the 100 most auspicious trailblazers in tech, Wednesday. Cofounder Jeremy Schiel, a 2023 Under 30 Science lister, created Orbit Fab to make extended space missions possible and sustainable. The company is currently expanding their operation to meet the demand for shuttles and depots that deliver and dispense propellants in space.

– Genies, an avatar technology company founded by 2019 Under 30 Consumer Technology listers Evan Rosenbaum and Akash Nigam, has created a $1 million developer engagement fund for developers building augmented reality experiences for a soon-to-be released Genies avatar social network. Developers can apply via application to the Genies Developer Incubator, where they will be mentored by Genies when creating their experiences. Developers selected for the Incubator will have the opportunity to be enrolled in the fund. Interested parties can apply here.

Have some news for us? Send any updates to [email protected].