Brandon Reynolds

Brandon Reynolds (born November 1994) is an Australian entrepreneur and philanthropist. He founded Sociabl and established the Brandon Reynolds AIDS Foundation.
Reynolds expressed his desire to become an entrepreneur at a young age. At the age of nineteen with no connections or knowledge of investors, the Australian teen scoured the internet and found the emails of every single member of the BRW Rich 200 List, and sent them a pitch for his startup, Sociabl. In early 2016, due to controversy surrounding Sociabl and Reynolds sold a controlling share of Sociabl to Imagination Entertainment. He remains a shareholder in the business. Reynolds' later in 2016 established the Brandon Reynolds AIDS Foundation after his own personal experience with a false positive-HIV result.
Reynolds was surrounded by controversy by Australian media when rock singer-songwriter Jimmy Barnes accused Reynolds of using his name to promote his business without his permission, which Reynolds denies.
Early life
Brandon Reynolds grew up in Adelaide, Australia and started his first business at the age of 13 offering Adelaide businesses trademarking services. Skeptical at first, they quickly realised that he was in fact very serious and for a significantly lower fee than a lawyers office would organise various trademarks with IP Australia.
Reynolds was interested in business from an early age, starting at his family business at the age of 12. He has started approximately 20 businesses since the age of 10, with Sociabl his most recent.
Reynolds attended Immanuel College before going on to study a Bachelor of Business Management at JMC Academy in Melbourne, Australia. Reynolds left JMC Academy before completing his Bachelor to pursue Sociabl.
Sociabl
Reynolds left university in 2012, and started Sociabl at the age of 18 from his apartment in Footscray, Victoria with co-founder Jarrad Hrotek after realising there was an untapped market for celebrity experiences while working with then three-piece boy band, 5 Seconds of Summer.
Reynolds in an interview with Janine Perrett on Sky News explained that the first celebrity to respond to his request for a partnership was Adam Levine, who within seconds of receiving the proposal promptly replied "It's not for me". In another interview with Jane Hall and Matt Tilley Reynolds claimed another "swift and brutal" rejection from English singer-songwriter Elton John.
In October 2015, Reynolds turned down a $2.5 million offer from Dodo Services Founder, Larry Kestelman, in exchange for 50% of the company. In an interview with StartupSmart Reynolds said "...with the way the startup was structured and $200,000 already in the bank, we were in a position to forgo the offer in order to maintain control of the company. "Sending back with a ‘thanks but no thanks’, it was certainly a very tense moment when I pushed send on that email."
In December 2015, Sociabl was in negotiations with two venture capital firms for a $1.4 million investment that would value the company at $9.5 million.
Sociabl was named in the Top 5 Australian Startups to watch in 2016 by Business Insider and Startup Smart.
In January 2016 Reynolds threatened to sue the Nine Network after claiming David Campbell has defamed him on .
In February 2016, The Australian Financial Review reported that Sociabl had been bought out by Australian Entrepreneur and Imagination Games CEO, Shane Yeend, for an undisclosed amount.
Brandon Reynolds AIDS Foundation
In 2016 Reynolds established the Brandon Reynolds AIDS Foundation after an experience he went through while receiving his own sexual health check. Upon receiving a false positive-HIV result, Reynolds had spent 24 hours contemplating what this would mean for his future and other people's similar experiences.

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