Issue Date: December 19, 2004
Internet mogul
At 20, Cameron Johnson has already created a dozen sites.
Johnson's sites take off as soon as they're launched.
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By age 9, Cameron Johnson had already run a few winning businesses: selling vegetables door-to-door, treats at his lemonade stand and, two months after getting a Compaq for Christmas, computer-generated greeting cards. More than a dozen dot-coms later, Johnson, 20, keeps cashing in. His recently launched and just-sold TrueLoot.com essentially pays users to look at ads. You sign up, identify your interests and earn points for receiving targeted ads through your Web browser, e-mail or cellphone. Soon you'll be able to redeem those points for gift certificates, merchandise, even cash.
Johnson and TrueLoot partner Nat Turner, 18, put a lot of faith in business online. In 2003, the two collaborated on the now-sold CertificateSwap.com, where users buy and sell unwanted gift certificates from retailers like Olive Garden and Amazon. They also run a friend-networking site, Oodalay.com, and InfiniteProfiles.com, where AOL Instant Messenger users expand their profiles with unlimited text and visitor counters.
These Internet moguls communicate the way you'd expect -- through instant messaging. Turner attends the University of Pennsylvania's business school. Johnson dropped out of Virginia Tech after one semester when he opened up a business textbook and found a story about himself. For now, he says he'd like to move on from starting businesses to consulting.
Although Johnson looks to be sitting pretty, he's not flashy with his cash -- except when it comes to shows and sports: "[My friends] know I'm good with tickets for concerts, NFL games, NBA games, etc. I like having the best seat in the house."
Elizabeth Suh
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