Hi!
This is my first thread here... :-)
And the last when I'm 25.... :bawling:

What was your age when you started your business and what inspired you to get into this industry... :)

Have a great day :)

regards
amar

i was 16!

:(
Just one post... This is my first thread guys.. And I can't wait very long. I'm getting old... :bawling:

Have a great day :)

regards
amar

I am very sorry, Amar!

You have 486 posts, and this is your first thread?!?!?

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! :)

Well I didn't reply, because the age when I started my business was... :( NEVER :(

But Bob and Amar,
I do sell listerine!

Hi!
When did you start selling listerine

Have a great day :)

regards
amar

P.S. There is no BOB.... ;)

Originally posted by bobcares
:(
Just one post... This is my first thread guys.. And I can't wait very long. I'm getting old... :bawling:


Amar, don't worry, you got my 100th post before midnight :)

We started my own business when I was 20 I think. We did it because we were kind of opportunistic or pressed. Those are times when we were struck by economic crisis, when suddenly a hosting account (or anything for that matter) cost us 8 times than it costed a week before. My friends and I maintained a few web sites back then, some of them were high profile but not for profit sites. When the crisis struck us, we were unable to pay the bills. And then my friend (on another hosting company) have this crazy idea. He offered me and his competitor to share a single server. Yes, a single server for three hosting companies (well, it is two hosting companies and me, since I haven't sold web spaces yet). Of course we accepted the deal, it is much better than getting those sites offline :). The server was an old P133 (I think) colocated to a local ISP. The O/S was BSDI BSD/OS (I forgot which version), I splitted the filesystem into three chroot jails for each of us. We had these chroots so we wouldn't step into each other toes, we only needed to trust each other to use only the assigned IP :) We did that for 2 years I think, I started accepting clients to cover the bills, friends first, and then their friends followed up, :) and then we did an ad on local magazine. After that we were able to have our own first dedicated server and then some.

So, for my case it wasn't even serious from the start, but it worked and becoming more and more serious. Today I'm always thinking how we survived the crisis, and without it we probably wouldn't have our own business today. :)

That is a wonderful story! You are very lucky!

I was 7.
Lemonade was at its biggest boom of the century.
I was able to buy a ninja turtle skateboard after the first day of business.

nineteeeeeeeeeeeeeen

woohooooooo! :wavey:

not legal yet: :beer:

but who cares (well.. other than bob ;) ).. i was never much of an :angel:. more like a :dgrin:

anyways.. back to :sleeping:

i made my first deal when i was 7 year old. ;)

by the way i am in biz. since 16 (garment merchant with my cusin) and in comps. biz. since 17 and in hosting biz. since 18. :)

umm.. i was 16 when i started my own thing... :)

mahinder, how old are you now?

Originally posted by kunal
umm.. i was 16 when i started my own thing... :)

mahinder, how old are you now?

21 i will be 22 next month. :)

I was 11 when I started reselling shoes door to door. :) What a crazy kid I was.

I still don't own a business now, but I was 26 when I partnered to start one.

Originally posted by bitserve
I was 11 when I started reselling shoes door to door. :) What a crazy kid I was.

I still don't own a business now, but I was 26 when I partnered to start one.
I did the same, but I stole shoes from my sisters closet and sold them :D.

Hope shes doesn't visit this board........

Originally posted by Rewdog
I did the same, but I stole shoes from my sisters closet and sold them :D.

Hope shes doesn't visit this board........

Think she'd still hold a grudge, if she knew? :)

Did my first online deal on eBay selling FF8 stuff back in 1998. It was good money then, but now the market is saturated - very hard to find stuff to sell there that no one has already thought of selling previously :(

And with regards to webhosting, Amar should know that I'm ready to go live in the very near future ;) Hopefully, I'll last longer than 6 months...

Hey,
We have real dynamic people here.
I really feel there is a big future for all of you.
When I was 7 I was a very quite kid. When I was 13 I was into full time sports and I had my first crush when I was 15... I see kids here doing business before that... I'm really impressed by all of you.
I have another question. Is there anyone else like me who when to college studied engineering and then started business rather than working elsewhere.

I mean you lived a full life as a child and went to college and then started business.
Out here in India I guess things are very conventional and I guess I'm a perfect example of one of these conventional people... :

Have a great day :)

regards
amar

P.S. Sirius I'm sure your business would last much more than 6 months... :)

Hrm lets see down memory lane........

Got on the net in 1991 (Age 8)

Started as a manager of a business in 1995 (Age 12)
Worked various jobs then got back into running companies in 1999 (Age 16)
Ultraspeed in 2000 (Age 17)
Ventures online in 2001 (Age 18)

Currently overworked, lifeless and extremly happy (Age 19 :)

Durring the gas criss I was 11 and that summer I bought pop and walked 3 miles of gas lines all day selling it for .75 ( i bought it for .32 ) drank the icewater not to cut into the profits. saved about 1000 for my pocket

bought a c-64 for $ 896 does anybody recall that advertisement 1980 august, had my first programing contract job by October ( made a Dungeon masters guild program for a few guys in New York ) 1200 paycheck

1981 first time I had to visit a lawyer for an explination on something ( tax liens) from that day foward I was buying, packaging and reselling taxliens like nobodys business until 1986
earnings : well in better terms I was buying at par interest rates at 20% to 24% and selling at par around 11% to 14% keeping the spread to myself.

traded stocks all durring highschool and got my grades improved because I handled most of the teachers investment, Punished one teacher because she attempted to fail me without justification ( catholic high school, and I was non-religious with a good amount of distrust towards the roman catholic religion ), by forbidding any investment advice being issued to her or told to her. Called into school for questioning with mom and dad. Nobody saw a problem with what I was doing ( after a very long and careful explinations with more that 8 teachers called into questioning ).
net : good grades portfolio up over 300% in 4 years teacher up 100% in 3.75 years

ahh wallstreet right out of highschool, worked for EF Hutton ... I was the youngest broker ever hired at Hutton , taught how the NYSE trading floor worked, became a floor broker. l developed trading systems that was using the firms capital and made a healthy profit kept it black box so nobody could figure it out. made some great friends just like me.

1987 day of the crash, Hmmm they blaimed it on program trading Oh well. company (hutton) sold to shearson. I went to Solmon brothers with my skills ( and the black box software I had created ) made some more noise ....

leave it at this let's just say that 1991 is when it finally get's interesting.

I hit it big at 10 where I sold cookies and lemonade and some of those disgusting Pokemon cards that I had got for my birthday. I made a good $220.

These are GREAT STORIES!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Daniel P. had a GREAT STORY!!! I want to be like him!!!

dbzgod, GREAT JOB!!! :) Those disgusting Pokemon cards...haha

sqposter, GREAT WORK!!! I don't remember a gas crisis...

Originally posted by TimM
These are GREAT STORIES!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
sqposter, GREAT WORK!!! I don't remember a gas crisis...

It was the same time that Iran held the hostages. If you are a student in the USA, I'm very much surprised at the school you went (I'm thinking that you should be over 15). the gas criss has affected every american since then. The USA has had 2 gas crissing in very modern times ( criss defined by shortages, modern as after 1960 ).

1972 - 74 has a gas crunch when OPEC learned how to flex it's Power. Stopped it's production, and used the quota system. Giving the full death to muscle cars. gas doubled in price from 30- 40 cent range to 60 - 80 cent range. now you may not think anything of that price change. but back then a Mustang would only cost about 3 grand and a Corvette was 5 grand and a great paycheck was about 350 - 450 a week or 22k per year

1978 - 80 due to the Iran hostage taking, Afganistan invasion, the start of the Iraq - Iran hostilities, interest rate rising, and the Hust Brothers attempted cornering of silver. The US economy was racing out of control. at that time gas went all the way to 1.80. Small bit of knowledge to pass along. Those that lived in Texas or Louisiana, or along the cost of NY , NJ. We could see the tankers waiting to drop off crude. but the cargo owners would not deliver them because they desired to have a higher price. therefore reducing supply into the market. prices screamed up.

We have not seen a gas shortages since. But we have seen spot shortages in local markets. but that's about it.

If gas moved with inflation we would be paying about 4.50 to 6.50 per gallon of gas.

alternitive fuels ( liquid, pumpable in stations ) be come profitable when oil trades at 52.00 per barrel. this is based on ADM's alternitive fuel statements about 1 to 2 years ago. and ADM is trying very hard to get into the Alt-fuel market.

-Sqposter / Michael

Oh I see, Michael. Thanks!

I remember the thing with Iran and Iraq.

I see everybody from the US start very early.

How many of you outside the US started
working earlier.
It's just a thought.
Here in India mostly people start earning by the time that are 19-22..

have a great day :)


regards
amar

Originally posted by bobcares
I see everybody from the US start very early.

How many of you outside the US started
working earlier.
It's just a thought.
Here in India mostly people start earning by the time that are 19-22..

have a great day :)


regards
amar


me is in india :)

Originally posted by kunal



me is in india :)

Really?? But I thought "me" is in India. :D

Originally posted by bobcares
I have another question. Is there anyone else like me who when to college studied engineering and then started business rather than working elsewhere.


ahh....I am trying to mix the two I guess.