At 19, Cohen took a page from his mom’s street-smart and resourceful playbook. He launched his first venture to tackle inefficiencies in cash transactions and expand access for those without bank accounts. He raised funding, explored partnerships with major banks, and hired a reputable agency to launch the app.

When the bank went in another direction, Cohen turned to the agency to pivot. However, the agency’s enterprise-focused processes prioritized their scope and billings over the venture’s evolving needs, leaving little room for adaptation. This misalignment set the project back, forcing Cohen to bootstrap the next phase and find creative ways to keep the venture moving forward.

Did this pitfall kill his entrepreneurial dreams? Definitely not.

“I didn’t become an entrepreneur to escape volatility. I actually thrive in uncertainty. I’ve had all the ups and downs in my short career, including a company going bust, flipping and pivoting to another venture, and building something from scratch. It’s a roller coaster, but failing is not a bad thing, it’s an opportunity to learn. A lot of people give up right before they’re about to hit gold, but resilience and persistence have been my north star. Every entrepreneur’s number one question is ‘What if I fail?’ Failure is the strongest intellectual property an entrepreneur can have. Now you’ve learned something that you’ll take with you to the next venture. The quicker you fail, the quicker you’ll move toward success.”

Education Adds Value

After his first startup venture halted, Cohen decided to go to school. His parents are not college graduates so “it was a first-generation thing for me,” he shares. “Majoring in business at Touro gave me a foundational understanding of marketing, consumer behavior, creative problem solving and structured leadership. Besides meeting professors and mentors who I confer with to this day, my education at Touro taught me the language my clients would be speaking and enabled me to relate and understand the industry.”

While part time at Touro, Cohen joined the global venture group that supported his first startup as their chief marketing officer. “My idea was to service the venture group’s portfolio in a startup-centric manner by creating an agency that understands the ins and outs of being a founder and services the startups in an ethical manner, being mindful of budgets.” Through a partnership with D&T, an agency servicing Fortune 500 clients like Bloomberg and Pfizer, Cohen launched a startup-focused agency under their umbrella. He was later brought on as an equal partner at D&T but ultimately decided that starting his own company was his real passion and exited his equity to found OSMOS.

Today, Cohen is founder of an award-winning digital marketing agency called OSMOS. “My vision is clear—to help early-stage startups achieve long-term, measurable success and generate funding. We do mobile app development and digital marketing for tech startups and forward-thinking brands. We’re either helping early-stage companies launch or helping large traditional brands like Hearst Publishing and Leica do a complete digital transformation. Whoever the client is, we try to bring them customized, human-centered solutions that connect founders with the tools, resources and the guidance they need to scale. We’re creative in helping them bring their ideas to life.”

The Story Behind OSMOS

At any given time, his team of 25, based in New York, Italy and the Philippines, is working with 15 to 20 clients. Though only 27, Cohen has lots of stories to share, including the one about how his company got its name. “OSMOS stems from the word osmosis, which means to learn from our environment. My journey has been marked by learning from failure, asking questions and gaining insights by speaking to as many people as possible. Companies are made up of people. That’s what OSMOS is all about—learning from the environment and adapting to it.”

And, by any measure, Cohen and OSMOS have been way ahead of the learning curve. This year, two new clients in their equity portfolio have exceeded $5 million valuations. Cohen is particularly proud of the work he’s done for a mental health platform called Cocoon and a cannabis app XSCHACK, which he describes as “Uber Eats for cannabis that is creating a delivery service using AI to make sure customers are consuming a safe amount based on their experiences. XSCHACK just partnered with the largest point of sale company in that industry, which skyrocketed their valuation.”

Another client success Cohen raves about is Crawler, which is essentially a Waze for bars, that helps people find bars based on their personal vibe. “Is it a date night spot you seek? An elegant club or a place to watch the football game? Crawler will find you the perfect place. It’s driven by community insights, so you’ll never walk into the wrong place. Since Crawler’s launch mid-November, OSMOS has helped them get thousands of downloads, exceeding an $8 million valuation.”

Cohen describes the journey to being named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 as an emotional rollercoaster. The anticipation and uncertainty made the recognition even more meaningful, as it served as a reminder of the volatility and unpredictability of success in entrepreneurship. He was first contacted back in June to let him know he was nominated and had no idea if he’d made the list until it was actually announced in December. Since then, he’s had the opportunity to meet with the whole community of 30 Under 30 members and it’s been “great for networking… I’ve met some really cool entrepreneurs who are today’s disruptors and changemakers.”

Beyond work, Cohen has a full plate. His initial appetite for higher education was whet at Touro and now he’s pursuing his master’s degree in communications at Columbia University while getting up at night for the brand-new baby he and his wife, Ariella, just welcomed. Cohen stays grounded by rising early to go boxing and unplugging from social media in the evenings when he’s spending time with his family.

He hasn’t had a chance to decide on his parenting style yet, but the Forbes entrepreneur is pretty sure he’ll follow the lead of his very first teacher in all areas of life—his mom.