Steve Sonnenberg credits his entrepreneurial “superpower” with helping him turn a side hustle into a company that’s now valued at $1 billion, he says.
The key to his success, he says: He’s not fazed by the risk of launching a new venture, or by the inevitable setbacks that follow. “When it comes to entrepreneurship, my superpower is all about just beginning. It’s very easy for me to start, because that’s just who I am,” says Sonnenberg, 44, the co-founder and CEO of employee rewards platform Awardco.
And when he experiences obstacles with his business, “I just pivot really fast, because I know it’s going to work,” Sonnenberg says. “You just have to have that level of confidence.”
Founded in 2011, Awardco was most recently valued at $1 billion following a $165 million funding round in May. Clients like AT&T and Hertz use its platform, which gives employees reward points they can redeem for millions of items on Amazon Business’ marketplace.
Sonnenberg started working on Awardco after his previous company WholesaleMatch, which he’d started in college, was named as a defendant in a civil lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission. The lawsuit primarily concerned one of WholesaleMatch’s clients, and Sonnenberg’s assets were frozen during the legal proceedings. He filed for bankruptcy, shuttered his business and “had nothing left” to support his family with four young kids, he says.
