In the early 2000s, Steve Sonnenberg seemed to have it all — a thriving e-commerce startup, 200 employees, and millions in annual revenue. 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 didn’t. While walking on a trail one day, he says a powerful…