J.J. Colao founded Haymaker Group in 2014, with no previous PR experience, and funded the business with credit card debt in its earliest days. The agency now boasts a staff of five professionals, and clients like Grubhub, Etsy, Handy, and SeatGeek. Prior to founding Haymaker, Colao worked as a staff writer at Forbes, where he wrote more than 35 magazine stories, 200 web articles, four features, and a cover story, along with a variety of video interviews. When he’s not managing Haymaker, Colao also finds time to mentor Columbia University entrepreneurs and run the New York Media Meetup.