The incredible rise of Box CEO Aaron Levie, who stared down the naysayers to prove them wrong

Reuters

In a couple of weeks, Box will be celebrating its 11th anniversary. It launched as a corporation on April 8, 2005, with an $80,000 seed round. 

It's been a whirlwind decade for its charismatic founder CEO, Aaron Levie, in which he's been hailed as both a Valley wunderkind, and then as the master of a "house of horrors" and is now being vindicated once again.

Aaron Levie was born in Seattle, which means he grew up surrounded by Microsoft. When asked if he ever want to work there, he answered: "No."

Source: Box CEO Aaron Levie Talks About His Love/Hate Relationship With Microsoft

Aaron Levie was obsessed with running an internet company from an early age. He launched about 15 companies as a teenager, including one called Zizap, which Levie jokingly described as "the fastest search engine on the Internet – minus Google."

Source: Box CEO Aaron Levie Launched 15 Startups As A Teen 

He founded Box.net with his friend from middle school Dylan Smith.