25-Year-Old Goes from Corporate Day Job to Startup Success

One of those dream-come-true stories. Business Insider has published an interesting profile on Brittany Laughlin, the 25-year-old founder of Gtrot, a fresh startup that allows its users to share their travel plans, connect with friends and collect advice while scoring deals from sites like Groupon. That latter detail comes as no surprise considering that Lightbank, the venture firm launched by Groupon co-founders Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkofsky, recently gave Gtrot a boost with an undisclosed investment. On its About page, Gtrot describes itself as a site that allows you to “find Facebook friends who live in your destination, friends who will be there at the same time, and friends who have been there before.” Business Insider quoted Laughlin, who recently spoke at the IdeaMensch conference. “It's very much about saying, 'This is what I want,'” she said of her decision to leave American Express AXP. “I'm going to chase it as hard as possible because if I don't do this, I'm going to keep having that sinking feeling of, 'There's something I should be working on and I'm not doing it yet.'” “If you have that feeling, you owe it to yourself to explore it,” she added, recommending that you should plan ahead and start saving at your day job right now. “The second thing is to really get out there and to drink from the fire hose. Get as much information as possible and start testing out [your ideas]. You also can't be embarrassed to be wrong." Most of all she recommends that aspiring entrepreneurs go after their dreams. “Don't be afraid to fail,” she said. Follow me @LouisBedigian