Have you ever heard of Teen-Entrepreneur and millionaire Erik Finman? Let me tell you his story.
Erik grew up in a small town in Idaho, and was home-schooled as a kid.
Then he started going to High School but wasn't enjoying it at all - he was a C/D student, wasn't very popular and was fed up with his teachers. He even developed an anxiety and asked his parents to drop out of school because he couldn't bear it.
In 2011, when he was only 12 years old, his brother introduced him to Bitcoin.
Scott, his older brother, discovered the concept of cryptocurrencies and told Erik all about how Bitcoin is going to be the future and even surpass the Dollar at some point.
During that time, one Bitcoin was worth about $12.
Erik, being a very open-minded teen with a sense for Entrepreneurship and Business, made a decision.
Initially, he just wanted to hold more Bitcoins than his brother because "he wouldn't shut up about it."
So Erik took all his savings, around $1,000, and bought a little under 100 Bitcoins.
He waited until 2013 when 1 Bitcoin was valued $1200 and sold them - turning his $1,000 into $100,000 .
But that wasn't the end of his story.
The then-15 year-old Erik used these $100,000 to start a business called botangle, an online tutoring service.
He got the inspiration for this idea because a single teacher in High School connected with him, making him realize that this is how teaching should be, and that learning and school can actually be fun if it's done the right way.
Shortly after, the news website Mashable heard of his story and wrote an article about him which went viral.
At this point, Erik already had over 30 employees from all over the world and hundreds of students using his service.
After the mashable article, the 15-year old suddenly received a lot more offers and opportunities, and decided to move to Silicon Valley for an internship.
"Some people can't comprehend how a 15-year-old could do something like this. What a lot of people don’t understand, young or old, is that you can create anything you want with no barrier to entry on the Internet."-Erik Finman in the Mashable article
In Silicon Valley, he experienced a completely new way of life.
From the small neighborhood in Idaho to the biggest tech hub in the world, he was fascinated by all the start-ups and entrepreneurs around him, and realized that this was what he wanted to do (and not return to High School in Idaho!)
His parents, both Stanford PhD holders, were of course not very amused - they wanted him to pursue college education at all costs.
So he made a deal with his parents: If he could make $1 million before turning 18, he would not have to go to college.
"I actually have a deal with my parents that if I make a million dollars before I turn 18, I don’t have to go to college. I’m going to do it or die trying"
Many people (even in Silicon Valley) discouraged him and told him making $1 million in just under 3 years would be pretty much impossible.
In 2015, the then-17 year old sold his first startup Botangle, and got offered 2 options: either 300 Bitcoins (worth about $200 at the time) or $100,000.
Although his parents (and probably most other people) urged him to take the fiat money because the Bitcoins were worth only $60,000, Erik chose the 300 Bitcoins.
He believed in the future of cryptocurrency and knew that this could become a profitable investment in the future.
And we all know: he was right!
He won the bet with his parents and currently holds about 400 Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies, valued over $1 Million.
The moral of the story?
No matter how old you are, no matter how your situation is, no matter the circumstances - you can achieve your goals if you keep working towards them.
And: it's always a good idea to invest in cryptocurrency!
© Sirwinchester