In 2005, young Aaron Patzer grew frustrated with the Intuit-owned Quicken financial software he used to track his spending. He believed it was not user-friendly enough and decided to create a better version. In four short years, Patzer's Mint.com grew to be the leading free, online money management software in the U.S. In a twist of sweet irony, last week Intuit signed a definitive agreement to acquire Mint.com for $170 million.

The transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2009.

How He Made It Work
Patzer believes part of his success is that his software served a true need. Personal financial management isn't easy and he figured that if he was frustrated with the current products, other people would be, too. He was right. He recognized that the market for online banking was huge -- a quarter of a billion people worldwide -- so even a fraction of that market would render a healthy business.

Spending money on advertising isn't something Patzer believes in. Instead, Mint.com gained customers through social media, blogs, publicity, business partnerships with Motley Fool and the credit-report companies, and even as a featured application with Apple.

"Applying creativity to solve customer problems is part of an entrepreneur's DNA," stated Shane Krider, CEO, Polaris Media Group. "We applaud Aaron Patzer's dedication to 'make a better mousetrap' and create a company that has met with such great consumer and business success."