Kristi Zuhlke, 29, worked for six years at Procter & Gamble's consumer and market knowledge division, working on brands like Gillette and Old Spice. Growing up, Zuhlke says she was always dreaming up ideas for new products and services. She even kept a business journal filled with ideas. She spent two years creating new products for Gillette in emerging markets. But Zuhlke's vision for a future business was outside the scope of her current job, so she left her steady gig to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams.
Zuhlke launched Mole Detective, a mobile application that calculates the symptoms of melanoma. The idea for the app was inspired by her husband, a skin cancer survivor, and it has received positive reviews from Shape and Glamour magazines. Zuhlke teamed up with the Melanoma Research Foundation and Miles Against Melanoma to raise money and awareness of this type of cancer. Zuhlke is currently working on another business that will offer market size data to startups.
The following startup founders decided to take the scenic route -- as opposed to the eight-lane highway -- toward business success. Here's what they were thinking.
