What’s the Magic Age for Entrepreneurs?

When I started my first business at the experienced age of 12, I was selling garage sale treasures on eBay. I would weekly go to sales and started to develop an eye for the valuable items. The seller didn’t expect hardball negotiating out of a young kid so I usually walked away with bargains.

In 8th grade, I wanted a steadier supply of income so I transitioned into selling novelty goods, the things that “snap” or make a “pop” when you throw them at the ground. Purchasing these online, I bought by the case; some suppliers were in China and others domestic. I opened up an eBay store and my sales went up to 500 orders that year, and our family room transformed into a warehouse. Some of my friends knew about the business and thought it was interesting, but it was definitely foreign and abnormal to them at the time.

It was imperative that my customers never realized they were buying from a middle school student. Although I shipped quickly and responded to buyer inquiries with professionalism, I knew that my age would eclipse all the good, so I kept it hidden. This was easy to manage even when I split off from eBay to open my own ecommerce website, because I was only responding to customer emails.

In my freshman year of high school, I moved into outsourcing software development, getting jobs as a contractor for custom eCommerce solutions and then hiring developers online to complete the project. This is when age became most significant. Understandably, people wanted experienced developers. I had past references and so most never considered how old I might be, after all we never met, but dealing with the developers was a battle.

At first I was upfront about my age with the developers whom I hired, often Skyping with them to discuss the projects. Figuring they were not clients and I was signing their paycheck, I didn’t think my age would matter. I found myself faced with developers who missed deadlines, were poor at communicating, and in retrospect, ones who attempted to take advantage of my youth. Not knowing that this was not the normal quality of work I should expect, I completed a few projects, but it was a painful process.

One day, during a conversation with a prospective client, I found myself facing a blindside question, “Hey Matt, how old are you?” This wasn’t an email, I didn’t have time to think of a crafty way around it… and so I panicked, and responded 22. Why did I pick that age, who knows. I’m glad I didn’t say 40, it may have been harder to play! I got the contract, and decided to continue being 22, it had a nice sound to it. The beauty of the Internet was that I could portray myself as whatever I wanted, as long as my references were true and the quality of the work was solid, I didn’t think it was fair for me to be treated differently simply because I got a head start on my career.

Dealing with developers went from night to day. I no longer used video chat, only phone calls and email. Then magically deadlines began being met and my emails started receiving prompt responses. I ended up working with this client for almost a year, and completed multiple projects, all while he was telling my 14 year old self about his wife, kids, and college days (my experience at Lehigh University so far has been better). Realizing that the business world wouldn’t accommodate my true age, I continued with this strategy, “aging” each year as I worked with different clients, until I graduated high school. My business persona turned 26 that year.

Everything changed when I got to college. Like crossing a threshold in the business world, being 19 wasn’t something I had to hide; it was a badge I wore proudly. Whether it was professors, administrators, or working professionals, I wasn’t relegated because of my age, but rather they became more interested. In an age of Shark Tank and stories of young Silicon Valley pioneers, the world is focusing on young entrepreneurs for big ideas, but that focus seems to start after high school.

Before graduating, many adults and fellow students alike considered my business a hobby, at most an extracurricular on equal footing with playing a sport. But, when I got to Lehigh, everyone recognized that although I enjoy running my businesses, it is more than just an activity for me. Perhaps it is the mentality that high school prepares you for college, but college prepares you for life, which drives this stark contrast in how entrepreneurs are viewed during different stages of their lives. Getting into your dream college is a major milestone everyone is working towards for so many years that it is hard to conceive how an entrepreneur’s high school goals may extend beyond an acceptance letter.

The polarity between before college and during is remarkable. While being an entrepreneur in high school was novel to people, in college it is now highly encouraged with amazing programs aimed at cultivating student’s business interests. Whereas in high school I only knew a few similarly interested individuals, I am surrounded by them in college, including many friends who either work with me or on their own ventures. When I reach out to people about my business, one of my opening lines generally includes that I am going to be a sophomore next year, and the responses are receptive. I would never have started an email to a client say “I am a freshman in high school…”

If you are an aspiring entrepreneur in high school, or even before, I wish you the best of luck. I will always support the businessmen (or women), based on their business’ merits, but know that sometimes all of the good work you can do won’t outweigh your age in people’s minds. For those of you reading this who want to encourage young entrepreneurs, consider why we don’t focus on students younger than college. Older generations are always complaining that millennials are on their phones all of the time, but what if they are all just answering customer emails…

Shady Eyedeas

I started my company, Shady Eyedeas my senior year of high school. Shady are fully interchangeable sunglasses; By swapping the arms, frames and lenses using our proprietary mechanism you can create over 25,000 different color combinations! Check us out at www.ShadyEyedeas.com!