Matthew Sheffield is an entrepreneur. Like many entrepreneurs, he has started a number of companies, some more successful than others. An Android application he launched last year has been downloaded thousands of times. He has started several E-commerce ventures. His most recent project involves sunglasses with interchangeable frames, lenses, and arms.
Unlike other serial entrepreneurs, however, Sheffield has not even graduated from high school yet. The 18-year-old senior at High School South started his first business — an eBay store called AmazinDealsCentral.com — at age 12 and he has been on an entrepreneurial roll since then.
Sheffield’s newest venture, which he calls Shady Eyedeas, came from the realization that a teenager on a budget could not possibly afford a different pair of sunglasses to match every outfit. His patent-pending mechanism allows eyewear fashionistas to mix and match between eight different colors of frames and arms as well as four different lenses. A complete set can create 2,048 unique pairs of Shadys sunglasses.
Sheffield worked with engineers to create prototype Shadys. The key to making the components interchangeable without requiring any tools is small, powerful, disk-shaped magnets that are specially polarized to hold the glasses together securely without affecting their appearance.
He is currently fundraising via Indiegogo.com to finance the production stage of his venture. He plans to start sales on his website, then branch out locally. “At first I will approach smaller, mom-and-pop and boutique shops regarding carrying Shadys, as well as campus stores,” he says. “I have been in contact with several eyeglass distributors, who expressed interest in Shadys.” One pair of Shadys will cost $30, and the complete set will cost $150.
Sheffield has also funded Shadys using proceeds from earlier businesses. After AmazinDealsCentral, he started and sold three auction-based E-commerce websites in 2009 and 2010. In 2011 he founded and sold Bid Pack Central, which aimed to help small E-commerce websites expand their user bases. Shady Eyedeas and his Android app, Friend Lock, are part of his company eTeq LLC, which he incorporated in 2011. Friend Lock, designed to keep a person borrowing your smartphone from accessing personal e-mails, text messages, photos, and social networks, costs $1.99 for an advertisement-free version.
His entrepreneurial spirit is perhaps no surprise given his background. “My family is very entrepreneurial,” Sheffield says. “My grandparents owned their own business, and my mom started her own consulting company. As a family, we talk about entrepreneurship and starting new businesses all of the time.”
His mother, Lisa, is a marketing consultant who does many projects for High School South. His father, Eric, works for IRI, a global market research and business intelligence company, and serves on the board of Congregation Beth Chaim. He has two brothers, Jason, a sophomore at South, and Mark, a fourth grader at Village School.
The Sheffields moved to West Windsor from New York City 14 years ago. “My parents always knew that they wanted to live in a community like West Windsor where there are lots of great people and excellent schools,” Matthew explains. “We also moved to be closer to our family, many of whom live in West Windsor or within 20 minutes.”
Beyond his entrepreneurial pursuits, Sheffield is involved in the community as a technology tutor at Village Grande and volunteers in the school district and for Congregation Beth Chaim. For the past two summers he worked as a counselor at Black Bear Lake Day Camp in Millstone. He is also a member of South’s chess club and Consumer Bowl team. He plans to attend Lehigh University in the fall.
But among his varied interests, entrepreneurship is central. His favorite TV show is “Shark Tank,” a reality series that pits aspiring entrepreneurs against a panel of investors. And of course, he made an opportunity of his hobby. “Recently, I entered into a contract with a company that appeared on ‘Shark Tank’ to develop them an iPhone and Android App (for them),” Sheffield says.
Voted “Most Likely to Succeed” by his high school classmates, Sheffield seems poised to make that expectation a reality.
“My Android app (Friend Lock) has been successful, reaching over 25,000 downloads and a position in the Amazon Top 100 Utilities, and brings in revenue,” Sheffield says. “I hope that soon, I will be able to say the same about Shadys.”
For more information, visit www.ShadyEyedeas.com.
