Nov 13, 2025

But within a few years, the young entrepreneur from Utah found himself filing for bankruptcy, his assets frozen, and his dreams in ruins. The collapse of his first company, WholesaleMatch, after becoming entangled in a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawsuit, left him with nothing but debt and despair. It was the most difficult time in my life, Sonnenberg told CNBC Make It. I had four kids under the age of five, and everything I had built was gone overnight. The idea that refused to die Most would have quit. Sonnenberg didnt. While walking on a trail one day, he says a powerful thought struck him: if you try to fight this, youll lose your family start over instead. That moment marked the birth of his second act Awardco. With just an idea and $5,000 (4.43 lakh) he didnt have, Sonnenberg bought the domain Awardco.com on his credit card. His vision: to build a platform that would redefine employee rewards through seamless integration with Amazons vast marketplace.READ ALSO: Mumbai entrepreneur, IIM grad complains of 'vanishing candidate', gets reality check from netizens: 'She's not getting...' Building from scratch, one night at a time To survive, Sonnenberg freelanced as a website developer while holding a full-time job at software firm Qualtrics. His days started at 7 a.m., and nights often stretched past midnight. Between family commitments and work, he was quietly shaping what would soon become a billion-dollar company. By 2015, Awardco had onboarded about 40 companies, steering nearly $300,000 (2.66 crore) in purchases through Amazon annually. Sonnenbergs wife manually fulfilled employee reward orders from home until Amazon finally noticed the innovation taking shape around its ecosystem. A story of persistence Getting Amazons attention was no easy feat. I called a random person I found on LinkedIn, Sonnenberg recalled. They said no. I just kept building. His persistence paid off when Amazon invited him to Seattle in 2015. There, he pitched Awardco to the team and walked out with a partnership. The collaboration allowed automation of the ordering process and accelerated the companys growth exponentially. By 2021, Awardco had six million users and was valued at $1 billion (88,700 crore) after a $165 million (14,643 crore) funding round. Reflecting on his journey, Sonnenberg calls his entrepreneurial strength the ability to just begin. For him, resilience and self-belief outweighed every setback. Every entrepreneur is a little bit crazy, he said. You fail first, but if you keep going, it works.READ ALSO: She ditched retirement to launch a startup at 60. Despite no tech experience, founder-CEO works 70-hour weeks with a clear exit strategyFor more news like this visit The Economic Times.