Camila Victoriano wasn’t trying to start a company — she was just trying to make the news more interesting. While working on R&D at The Los Angeles Times, she realized that readers might become even more engaged with a story if they could listen to it. She went on to launch a dozen podcasts at the publisher, and eventually turned her audio-storytelling skills into a startup of her own.
She cofounded Sonoro in 2020, a media company that now produces nearly 20 podcasts in English, Spanish and Spanglish. She started with telenovela-style shows like “Tejana” and “Princess of South Beach,” which Sonoro created, wrote and developed in-house. But Sonoro has since expanded its offerings and now partners with more than 300 creators — like 22 million-follower comedian Franco Escamilla and 10 million-follower influencer Karina Garcia — to develop, produce and monetize their own shows, host live events and adapt them into film and TV projects.
“Collaboration and creativity were part of our DNA from the start, because creativity is in fact always a collaborative endeavor,” she said. “Tech will not solve a lack of creativity or fix lackluster collaboration … but it can bring them to a new level.”
Victoriano is one of countless Under 30 Listers who have successfully combined tech, collaboration and creativity to build their brand. To highlight those living at this intersection, Forbes editors reviewed the past five years of 30 Under 30 honorees to identify 15 standout companies that exemplify this blend. Each of the following are small businesses — defined by the small business administration as a company with fewer than 500 employees and average annual receipts of less than $7.5 million — based in the U.S. And each one believes in pushing human creativity forward through innovation.
“You need collaboration to foster creativity,” Victoriano said. “Ideally, tech will close whatever gap may exist between the two, but not to replace either.”
Ada Hu
Cofounder, Nu Media
Award-winning marketing agency Nu helps F&D brands stand out. Franchises like East Coast ramen chain Kyuramen group, food conglomerate Chubby Group and more turn to Nu for social media marketing, public relations and influencer campaigns. Nu is based in NYC and counts more than 35 employees.