Robert H. Smith School of Business - University of Maryland, College Park

Smith Alum in the Running for BusinessWeek’s
Best Young Entrepreneur 2008

Robert H. Smith School of Business finance alumnus Anik Singal ’05, was named one of America’s most promising young entrepreneurs in BusinessWeek.com’s fourth annual roundup. Singal is a finalist for the top of the 25-and-under crop — online voting will narrow down the 25 finalists to determine the top five businesses that readers feel hold the most promise.

In January 2005, Singal, now 25, launched Affiliate Classroom, an online training site for people who want to become affiliate marketers and a service for companies that use interactive marketing. At the time, he was a Smith student and participated in the university’s Hinman CEOs living-learning entrepreneurship program. Affiliate Classroom is housed at the University of Maryland’s Technology Advancement Program incubator, part of the A. James Clark School of Engineering’s Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute. Singal reports that his business has turned a profit since its first year and he has doubled revenues in each succeeding year. Last year, he opened two offices in India.

“I could never have succeeded in business without the training and support of the Smith School of Business,” Singal says. “The knowledge and support of my professors combined with the amazing resources really gave me an advantage that almost felt unfair!"

Singal said his company generated $1.5 million in revenue in 2007 and now has 10 employees and 15 contractors. He’s projecting $2.5 million to $2.8 million in revenues this year. This fall, Affiliate Classroom is launching several new technologies and new versions of some of its products. “Our plan is to continue building ourselves into the training authority for affiliate marketing and online marketing,” says Singal.

BusinessWeek asked readers to nominate candidates aged 25 and under who are running their own companies that show potential for growth and establish the talent of the founders behind them. After the call for nominations ended in late July, BusinessWeek staff and contributors narrowed down the record number of submissions. Editors posted the finalists online in a slide show of the results and invite readers to vote online. BusinessWeek will post the top five vote-getters at the end of September, so vote now!