Oliver Zak and Selom Agbitor, 24

or some founders, getting a wave of orders before you’ve developed a product might be a nightmare. But), it was their whole game plan. In 2019, the seniors at Miami University in Ohio identified a potential opportunity after Zak got a tattoo and was looking for natural after-care products. “Tattoo after-care brands weren’t doing a good job of branding themselves digitally,” Zak says. “They were trying to develop their sales through contracting with tattoo shops—whereas our digital marketing skill set was a competitive advantage.”