Innovative Media Moguls
Are Wired for Success
Starting at the bottom and working to the top, JA alumni are paying it forward.
Ian and Jeremi Karnell are the co-founders, and CEO and President respectively, of One to One Interactive, a successful Boston, Massachusetts-based digital marketing firm they built from the ground up. They have 120 employees and five offices on two continents; this year their company will earn US $21 million in revenue. Jeremi’s and Ian’s business is thriving by any measure of success. However, Jeremi and Ian didn’t always have it made. Their story is one of hard work, hard-won belief in themselves, and the power of the entrepreneurial spirit.
Ian and Jeremi Karnell are identical twins, born to a single, teen-aged mother in 1970 and raised in Elkhart, Indiana. Their mother and father got married, but the relationship foundered and they soon divorced. Their mother struggled to support her young sons, and eventually remarried. The twins’ stepfather would prove to be a positive, supportive influence on Jeremi’s and Ian’s lives.
At Elkhart Memorial High School, Jeremi and Ian participated in JA Company Program for three years. They learned the basics of running a business, such as writing a business plan, managing finances, sales, and interpersonal skills. The first year they participated in the company; the second year they took leadership positions; and, in their third year Ian and Jeremi ran a company. Their business was named JA Company of the Year in their home state of Indiana, due in large part to successfully leading the first merger/acquisition in a JA environment. It was a tremendous learning experience for both of them, as they had to successfully navigate complex post-merger challenges, such as combining operating teams and staff, cutting overlapping costs, and bundling their expanded product offering. That year, Ian was named JA president of the year and was sent to Bloomington, Indiana, to compete on a national scale.
Soon after Jeremi and Ian graduated from college in 1993, the Internet became commercially available. They quickly saw its power to fundamentally change how people interact with media. The entrepreneurial spirit that their family and Junior Achievement instilled in them was still very much alive, and in 1995, they started their first company—Cross Internet Communications. The Karnells were forced to restructure their company in 2005; but instead of being discouraged by this setback, they took advantage of the opportunity to revise their business model around a digital holding company concept, which proved to be a game-changing catalyst for growth.
The new company, One to One Interactive (www.onetooneinteractive.com), is entering 2010 well positioned to experience even greater levels of success. Over the last few years, One to One Interactive made six acquisitions. Although the stakes are now much higher than in the twins’ JA Company days, many of the issues they confront today in growing through mergers and acquisitions are strikingly similar to those they faced 20 years ago.
Jeremi and Ian are living examples of JA’s impact, which taught them the importance of teamwork, how to innovate, and the business fundamentals that helped them start their company on a solid foundation.
Today, Jeremi and Ian stay engaged with Junior Achievement by serving on the board of directors of JA of Eastern Massachusetts, by sharing their inspiring stories at JA events, and by helping the organization engage its alumni through a virtual network.
Jeremi and Ian Karnell’s Top Ten: Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
10. Teamwork
9. Get involved early and often
8. Fail early and often
7. Give back to your community
6. Value your equity5. Have a solid business plan
4. Always evolve
3. Be a student of your craft
2. Be willing to tolerate short-term
pain for long-term payoff
1. Do what you love!
