Will Pearson, cofounder and president of Mental Floss, learned that you should never keep your best ideas to yourself.

Courtesy of Will Pearson

Pearson cofounded Mental Floss magazine, a publication dedicated to fun history and trivia, with Mangesh Hattikudur when they were students at Duke University in 2001. They sold a stake in the company to Denis Publishing in 2011 and are now dedicated to growing their brand's global image and their profitable ecommerce business.

When he was starting out, Pearson learned that it's impossible to predict how you'll catch your break, so you shouldn't limit who you speak with.

"Early on, we had this meeting with the CEO of one of the largest publishers in the world and we left the meeting feeling pretty good," he says. "Later that day, we ended up having dinner with a family friend/stay-at-home parent where we casually discussed our business and goals for the future. It's amazing how people really do conspire to help you, and to our surprise, it was the conversation with that stay-at-home parent that dramatically changed our lives when she put us in touch with one of her best friends, who happened to be the CEO at a different publisher."