Ages: 26 (Taylor), 25 (Perry), and 27 (Myers)
Location: Goleta, Calif.
2006 Revenue: $15 million
Employees: 100
Year founded: 2001

Winning a business plan competition at the University of California Santa Barbara prompted these friends to take their idea for an oxygen concentrator and actually form a company. Perry's grandmother complained about the bulkiness and inconvenience of her old oxygen machine, so the trio designed their compact device to filter out the nitrogen from room air, eliminating the hassle of having oxygen tanks delivered. Inogen's machine can also be plugged in anywhere or used on the go with a rechargeable lithium ion battery. The company has sold more than 10,000 devices.