In a rapidly evolving business landscape, a new generation of tech-savvy entrepreneurs is making waves. The story of Throxy, a London-based startup founded by three friends in their mid-20s, exemplifies the growing trend of young visionaries taking the leap to start their own ventures.
Even before graduating from the University of Bath in 2024, Arnau Ayerbe landed a coveted role as an AI engineer at JP Morgan. However, the lure of corporate life soon faded as he realized he didn’t want to become “the person to [his] right and to [his] left in 20 years.” Joining forces with his high school best friend, Pablo Jiménez de Parga Ramos, and their university friend, Bergen Merey, the trio launched Throxy, a company that creates AI agents for sales teams.
Now all aged 24, the Throxy founders have raised nearly £5 million in two rounds of investor funding, with annual sales approaching £1.2 million. They are part of a growing number of Gen Z individuals, born between 1997 and 2012, who are eschewing traditional career paths to pursue entrepreneurship. Data from the British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans programme shows that the number of loans awarded to Gen Z founders has doubled in the past five years.
While the journey has been rewarding, it has also been gruelling, with the Throxy team embracing a “9-9-6” ethos of working from 9am to 9pm, six days a week. As Ayerbe candidly admits, “If I had known the amount of effort and work I needed to do to take the company to this point, I would probably have never started it.”
One of the key advantages these young entrepreneurs possess is their deep familiarity with emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence. Jiménez de Parga Ramos, who was working with early models of ChatGPT on research projects before their public release, describes the experience as “magic” and believes AI will fundamentally transform the way we work.
However, navigating the business world as a young founder comes with its own challenges. Rosie Skuse, the founder and CEO of Molto Music Group, a music and entertainment agency, recalls being mistaken for her boss’s assistant and having to break the surprising news that she was, in fact, the boss. “Some people wouldn’t even shake my hand. It was really tough, and I used to struggle loads with it,” she recalls.
Yet, Skuse has turned her youth into an advantage, using the “shock factor” to catch people off guard and gain their attention. “Then they’d say, ‘wow, you must be so proud – but you’re so young’. That shock factor was almost like a secret weapon, because I would catch people off guard, and they would end up actually listening.”
While the path to success may be paved with challenges, seasoned entrepreneurs like Lee Broder, a serial entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience, offer words of wisdom. Broder emphasizes that making your first million is not the be-all and end-all, but rather, the focus should be on building a sustainable and robust business.
As the tech landscape continues to evolve, these young entrepreneurs are redefining the rules of the game, harnessing their technological savvy and entrepreneurial spirit to disrupt traditional industries. Their stories serve as a testament to the power of youthful innovation and the boundless potential of the next generation of business leaders.
