Every entrepreneur has a “light bulb moment.” Cole Zucker’s was quite literal.
After getting fired from his job in New York, Cole Zucker booked a one-way ticket to Shanghai, in search of adventure in a country where he knew no one and spoke no Chinese. After three years, he became fluent in the language, found a business partner, and returned to the U.S. to start Green Creative, a commercial LED lighting company. Living out of his car in San Francisco, Zucker then went door-to-door selling the new technology out of a display suitcase. Last year, Green Creative was acquired by Harbour Group, and its cofounder is still selling its products to end users like Walmart, Papa John’s, J. Crew, and other retailers.
VENTURE
I HAD A MIDDLE-CLASS JEWISH upbringing and thought I wanted to be a doctor, but I quickly realized that wasn’t me. My grandfather was in the towel business and loved talking about China and the World Trade Organization. In 2003 I decided to do a semester abroad in Beijing, which made me realize there were a lot of places to explore in the world.
This story is from the May 2018 edition of Fortune.
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This story is from the May 2018 edition of Fortune.
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