Minkow was born in Inglewood, California to a Jewish family, and was raised in the Reseda area of the San Fernando Valley. When he was nine years old, his mother got him a job as a telemarketer with the carpet-cleaning business where she worked. At the age of 16, while a sophomore at Cleveland High School, Minkow started ZZZZ Best (pronouned 'Zee Best') in his parents' garage with three employees and four phones. In the early days, he had to rely on friends to drive him to jobs since he did not have a driver's license.