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Forbes Up And Comers: Joe Poulin, Cody Hopkins, Aaron Kletzing

This article is more than 10 years old.

This story appears in the January 20, 2013 issue of Forbes. Subscribe

Joe Poulin: Luxury Retreats

The Montreal native, 31, who started developing websites when he was a teen, flew to Barbados at 17 to build a site for a local villa-rental group. The trip inspired him to start Luxury Retreats in 1999 to market unused vacation homes to the jet set. Now he has 50 staffers traveling the globe to visit potential rentals, putting mansions through a strict 100-point inspection to ensure customer satisfaction. Rentals range from Mexican condos ($500 a night) to Richard Branson's Necker Island ($60,000 a day). Poulin's concierge service helps well-heeled clients secure private chefs and throw lavish parties.

Cody Hopkins: Conway Locally Grown

After graduating from Hendrix College and teaching high school physics in Rhode Island, Hopkins, 33, wanted to return home to rural Arkansas with his wife. Discouraged by the lack of jobs in the region, he considered getting a master's in economic development. Instead he became a farmer--and bootstrapped such development himself by starting Conway Locally Grown, whose online marketing platform currently helps 35 farmers in the area connect with customers seeking high-quality food. Hopkins collects 13% of gross revenue for his efforts.

Aaron Kletzing: RallyPoint

West Point grad Kletzing, 28, returned from deployment in Iraq to discover he had cancer linked to his service there. After six months of chemotherapy he returned to active duty, then headed for Harvard Business School, where he and fellow student (and veteran) Yinon Weiss founded RallyPoint, a sort of LinkedIn for the armed forces. The goal: to help soldiers increase their options within the military as well as in postservice careers. The pair have recruited some former Joint Chiefs of Staff heavies for RallyPoint's board: retired generals Norton Schwartz and George Casey.

(Follow me on Twitter at @erin_carlyle)