
Kids who become millionaires before they hit 20 make me pretty disappointed in myself. Why didn’t my website devoting entirely to the Powerpuff Girls earn me enough money to finance college? Why couldn’t I have sold my mother’s Hamburger Helper additions online?
But don’t feel too bitter. Maybe you can take some helpful pointers from these business-savvy teens and get yourself that first cool million before you hit 75. They’ll probably be billionaires by then.
Here are a few kids who made a million before they hit the ripe, old age of 20:
Ephren Taylor. Taylor was the little millionaire who loved video games just a little too much. He made a videogame for his Super Nintendo consul at the age of 12, and sold it to his friends for $10 a pop. This didn’t make him a millionaire, but his next project did. He became a web developer at the age of 13, advertising his services online and designing websites for $200. He soon realized that he could make a lot for more his services, and started charging upwards of $3,000. That project still didn’t make him a million, but his high-school project, GoFerretGo.com, did. The website was used for companies to post jobs for high school and college kids. Good thing Taylor sold it for $3.5 million back in 2001—who has posts jobs these days? Taylor’s really lost his moving and shaking youth though. He’s recently been hit with numerous law suits for running illegal Ponzi schemes.
Cameron Johnson. Cheers and Tears was Johnson’s first online company. He started selling greeting cards that he designed himself to his parents’ friends and colleagues. Johnson used the money he made from that business to buy a bunch of Ty Beanie Babies wholesale, and then resell those toys of eBay for the tune of $50,000. Next, he created My EZ Mail, a website that sent out emails without revealing the source, a site that generated $3,000 worth of monthly sales. Next, Johnson created a website called SurfingPrizes.com that used banner advertisements on top of web pages. Users who had the software would earn 20-cents per hour that they surfed the net. Johnson made money by partnering with ad salespeople that acted as middlemen between companies at SurfPrizes.com. Johnson was taking home $300,000+ per month as a 15 year-old.
Ah, remember the days when you could make a mint with a knockout idea and an internet connection? The times have changed.
