Adam Lyons[2] is an American entrepreneur and businessman. He is the founder of The Zebra, an insurance comparison website, and REALLY Wireless, a telecommunications company.
Adam Lyons | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 06/20/1987 (37 years) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Founder, The Zebra[1] |
| Years active | 2012-present |
Education
editLyons grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he attended Taylor Allderdice High School.[3] He dropped out of high school when he was 15 years old and had odd jobs until he became an insurance underwriter.[4] Lyons was taking classes at a local community college when he was recruited by the Risk Management & Insurance Department at Temple University.[5] He graduated from Temple University in 2009 with a Bachelor of Business Administration from the Fox School of Business.[6]
Career
editLyons worked in the insurance industry, starting at Lloyd's of London as a broker and underwriter.[7] Later, he worked as an underwriter for All Risks Insurance, one of the largest US insurance wholesalers.[8][9]
In 2012, Lyons founded The Zebra.[10] Lyons began to look for investors for the new business venture and partnered with Mark Cuban, after pitching the startup over a cold email.[7][4] Later, Cuban noted he liked the concept of The Zebra and commented on Lyons' succinct writing style.[10] Adam also partnered with Mike Maples, Jr., an early investor in Twitter and Lyft[11] of Floodgate Fund, UK billionaire Simon Nixon of Moneysupermarket.com.[12] and Silverton Partners based in Austin, Texas.[10] After securing $4.5 million in seed funding in 2013, Lyons relocated the company to Austin, TX.[2]
In 2015, Lyons was named to Inc. Magazine's 30 Under 30 list.[13] He was recognized as a finalist for the 2016 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award[14] and also made Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2017.[15]
In 2018, Lyons left The Zebra to explore other ventures including the development of a reality TV show with the Pilgrim Media Group in Los Angeles.[16][17]
In 2022, Lyons founded REALLY Wireless, a fully-encrypted and privacy focused wireless mobile network.[18][19]
References
edit- ^ "9 extremely clever startup funding stories". fortune.com. Fortune. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
- ^ a b Lahey, Susan (10 October 2012). "Why I Moved My Company to Austin". siliconhillsnews.com. Silicon Hills News. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
- ^ Smit, Deb (February 29, 2012). "InsuranceZebra wants to be the Kayak of the online insurance search". PopCity News. Archived from the original on June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
- ^ a b Erin Griffith (January 26, 2016). "High School Dropout Raises $17 Million After Cold Emailing Mark Cuban". Fortune. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
- ^ Cooke, Lacy (June 4, 2015). "Compare Car Insurance Companies Quickly And Easily Through The Zebra". ThriveWire. Archived from the original on 2015-06-18. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
- ^ "Office Hours: Adam Lyons". Fox Focus. Temple University. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
- ^ a b Zoe Henry (January 26, 2016). "How Mark Cuban's Advice Led to One Startup's Major Growth, and $21 Million in Funding". Inc. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
- ^ Hawkins, Lori (January 31, 2013). "Insurance Zebra raises $1.5 million and moves headquarters from Pittsburgh to Austin". Austin Statesman. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
- ^ Perez, Sarah (January 31, 2013). "Insurance Zebra Raises $1.5 Million From Mark Cuban, Floodgate, Silverton & Birchmere To Be The Kayak For Auto Insurance". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
- ^ a b c Lapowsky, Issie (December 10, 2013). "How a 26-Year-Old Founder Landed Mark Cuban's Money". Inc. Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
- ^ Perez, Sarah (December 10, 2013). "Kayak For Auto Insurance Site The Zebra Grabs Another $3M, Launches Nationwide". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
- ^ Patterson, Te-Erika (January 8, 2015). "9 Extremely Clever Startup Funding Stories". Entrepreneur magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
- ^ Winfrey, Graham (April 22, 2015). "How This Young Founder Landed Big Fish Investor Mark Cuban". Inc. Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
- ^ "Meet the 2016 finalists". EY.com. Ernst & Young. 2016.
- ^ "Six Austin Entrepreneurs Make the 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30 List". Silicon Hills. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
- ^ "Adam Lyons leaves The Zebra, hints at something new up his sleeve". Biz Journals. Biz Journals. August 3, 2018. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
- ^ "How Adam Lyons, a former CEO, is prepping for a career in TV; Coaching entrepreneurs is the goal". Biz Journals. Biz Journals. March 10, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
- ^ Linda Hardesty (September 21, 2023). "Distributed wireless company REALLY strikes deal with T-Mobile". Fierce Network. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
- ^ Sarah Lynch (September 21, 2023). "This Serial Entrepreneur Struck a Key Deal to Scale Up. Here Are His Tips for Achieving Fast Growth". Inc. Retrieved July 13, 2024.