Ideas do not pop out of your head. You have to ‘sense’ an opportunity when it comes your way just as these youngsters did. See where they are now!
Akrit Jaswal: Now 19-year-old, Akrit Jaswal is considered a medical genius. Originally from India, Jaswal became renowned locally for his intelligence early in life. Though not a doctor at the time, he performed his first surgery when he was seven, when a neighbouring family too poor to afford the medical bills asked him to separate their daughter’s burnt, fused fingers.
At 12, he began undergraduate courses in medicine. By 17, he had begun his masters in applied chemistry. He has vowed to dedicate his life to finding a cure for cancer. Also, at one time, he was he was a big fan of Oprah Winfrey. Any pet peeve? Well, his Twitter is pretty underwhelming!
Robert Nay: He is a bit of a prodigy. At 14, Nay had no coding experience. He was a self-taught code writer who learned it the old-fashioned way: at the library. In a month, Nay already had 4,000 lines of code written for his game Bubble Ball. Once finished, Nay put the app online for free with Apple. In two weeks the game had over a million downloads; Bubble Ball eventually dethroned the insanely popular Angry Birds as the most downloaded game in the free app store. Over a two-week period, the game earned Robert nearly $2 million in income.
Cameron Johnson: At the age of nine, Cameron Johnson started making invitations for his parents’ holiday party. Two years later, Johnson had made thousands of dollars selling cards through his company, Cheers and Tears. When he was 12, he paid $100 for his sister’s 30 Beanie Babies (stuffed toys) and sold them on eBay, for 10 times that amount. He then bought the dolls directly from the manufacturer and made a $50,000 profit in less than a year. He used the money to start an internet business that brought in $3,000 per month in advertising revenue. By the time he was 15, he had formed other businesses with total revenues of $300,000 to $400,000 per month.
Charlotte Fortin: Charlotte is a young high school graduate who followed both her father’s and grandfather’s entrepreneurial footsteps when she decided to open up a business of her own called ‘Wound Up.’ Inspired by some small and funky boutiques in California, it was a clothing store targeting women between 18 and 40 years. The merchandise includes blouses, shorts, skirts and dresses. Fortin says that she has quickly grown up, and become much more responsible and conscious because of the experience. She is still able to keep in touch with her friends, after a long day.
Jack Kim: Kim is a Seattle teenager who founded Benelab, a search engine that generates donations. He had made some search engines in the past and quickly learned the power of a search engine in generating revenue from little traffic. Kim says the search engine’s mission is “to make philanthropy easy and more accessible”. After establishing the “no adults” rule, Kim began recruiting classmates to be part of his “non-profit organisation with a startup vibe” team. Kim aims to get the company to make $100,000 before high school ends.
Hart Main: Hart Main is a 14-year old who came up with the idea of ‘manly’ scented candles when he was teasing his sister about the girly scented ones she was selling for a school fundraiser. Although she didn’t expect him to fully pursue the manly scented candles idea himself, he did, and the idea has turned into a nationwide success. Main will stick with selling ManCans’ (candle brand) inventory for now until it’s time to shift his focus.