Cut up

In just a year and a half, Nick O'Donnell has launched a company, earned a mention in the Wall Street Journal and received the Florida Governor's Young Entrepreneur Award.

“I love things that act as proof of concept,” he says of the latter. “That yes, the business works and is a viable thing that can make me money and hopefully continue to into the future.”

That business is Sarasota-based digital-fabrication firm Terraform Design, which was born while 23-year-old O'Donnell was still a student in Florida State University's entrepreneurship program. He'd gotten intrigued by 3-D design and printing and taught himself the high-tech skills. After creating and 3-D printing a successful prototype over the summer after his junior year, he made his first furniture piece known as the Terraform Chair out of birch plywood cutouts.