When Sarah Ribner '16 and her co-founder Jess Edelstein launched PiperWai, an all-natural aluminum-free deodorant, there was a diverse selection of natural skincare products on the market, but deodorant options were few and far between. "I’ve always been into alternative personal care products," Ribner recounts, "but deodorant was the one thing I couldn’t find." Ribner’s co-founder had the same problem, and had been working on perfecting her own formula for eight years. The breakthrough came from an unlikely ingredient—charcoal, which, as Ribner explains, makes the perfect base ingredient for deodorant. "It is both effective and good for sensitive skin,” she says, plus “it can absorb up to 1,000 times its own weight in moisture, and it’s less irritating than many other natural deodorants that use baking soda."
Since their 2015 appearance on ABC’s Shark Tank, PiperWai has continued to grow quickly. "Customers message us every day to tell us that this product has either changed their lives or works better than anything else they’ve tried. It's remarkable to experience PiperWai's growth from a product I used to handcraft in a community kitchen with my childhood friend, into an internationally recognized brand," says Ribner.
Amper Music, co-founded by Drew Silverstein '16, is an artificial-intelligence composer, performer, and producer that allows anyone to create original music. It provides producers and directors with an end-to-end music solution, while also functioning as a collaborative AI tool to help artists be more creative, productive, and efficient."
Our goal is to help empower creativity—to help anyone, regardless of ability, express their creativity through music," says Silverstein. "We think that the future of music will be created through the collaboration between humans and AI. In everything we do as a company, we want that collaborative experience to propel the creative process forward."
Watch: Silverstein talks about Amper and shares music samples.
Explore the Forbes 30 Under 30 2018 Class.