Are u a teen and run a hosting biz? I'm just curious as to how many other teens there are out there that are running a host and do u resell or own your own servers (dedicated or otherwise).

Don't expect too many replies lol.

I know that there's that one dude that runs Genius Hosting and was wondering if there were more.

a teen as well? 15, 16, 17+ ? :eek:

I'm a newborn baby. Does that count?

well splashhosts are a very sucessful company and alan their owner is a tennager

Originally posted by TopDog21
a teen as well? 15, 16, 17+ ? :eek:
Yes Dog, I'm 14.

How old is Alan? I'm coming up for 18 in a couple of months.

That's what I'm asking myself. I personally think it doesn't matter as long as the teenager is doing everything by the rulez. Paying TAX, giving good support, etc.

18 in August

Originally posted by SplashHost.com
18 in August

Wow very professional alan never would have guessed age,

and age doesnt matter

Okay guys, I'm going to be honest here. :)
Just check my Profile and you'll see. I don't try to hide anything from my customers. Never. ;)
I believe honesty is the most important thing in business and I think age doesn't matter indeed as Starhost stated. :)

We're running Genius Hosting with 2 people, and it's going great. Really. :)
Positive comments, over 10 signups last week (!!) etc.
I'm doing this with all my heart, and it would really hurt me to suffer (myself & GHS) from the fact that I & my partner are teenagers. :(
Up until now, nobody has ever asked our age (except in that one thread, where Starhost picked it up ;)), and nobody would have ever noticed it neither. We're handling our clients in a more professional way than the majority of hosting companies out there.

I hope that this post will sympathize you,
instead of haunting you away...

Kind regards,


Thomas Kussé
CEO - Manager
Genius-hosting.com

I once had a client who ran his own plant nursery with more than a dozen employees. A very well known and successful plant nursery. He was 14 and his dad had to sign all the legal documents for him.

Steve

I've been doing this since I was 13 does that count? :D

Worked for 3 places, and now founded 3 :)

Turn 20 in August.... ugh.... i'm getting old :)

Originally posted by DanielP
I've been doing this since I was 13 does that count? :D

Worked for 3 places, and now founded 3 :)

Turn 20 in August.... ugh.... i'm getting old :)

Now there's something I didn't expect/know.......mind sharing your approx. net worth with us??? :D 6 figures yet?

I am 15 and I run an online lacrosse magazine, which costs about $3/month for a subscription. It is pretty successful, I am bringing in some decent money. Well, it only launched a week and a half ago, but we already have quite a few members in just that short period of time.

Heh, i'm not worth that much yet, but yes i'd say if i were to liquidate all of my assets and ownerships in companies i'd say I'd be in the 6 figures.

But alas most of my assets aren't in liquid form :)

Althou they do make a very impressive resume espically if I wanted to go work for someone, but I prefer running my own companies for the most part :).

I'll be 20 in September :)

19 in August, although I'm not the only owner of the company.

But as I states before age DOESN'T matter. It is just the fact if you are doing everything the wright way. :-)

Big congratulations to DanielP!

Way to go on your achievements -- at any age!

BTW, FWIW, If I already had a business going that looked like it could continue to provide a good living, I would be VERY hesitant to go to work for someone else.

Some kinds of senior management positions with super good compensation packages are of course quite nice. But for someone used to the much more unfettered world of growing one's own company, working for someone else can be quite the culture shock.

Once one owns less than 51% of what one is involved in, lots of potential troubles can crop up for one used to being able to turn on a dime in a dynamic marketplace -- without needing the "sign off" of several others who may have various visions and motivations of where they would like for things to go. Make no mistake -- cases where one does not become just a glorified employee are rare over time when one owns less than 51% of a company.

Among other things, needing to cut through loads of red tape large companies seem to always have before one can get stuff approved, let alone done -- and having to work though and around "large company ways" and the various visions, motivations and quirks of others might be both quite frustrating and really rub one the wrong way.

Plus, having to convince others to go along with your plans can be quite draining when they simply don't "get it" or are very risk adverse.

Best wishes for continued success to you!

Louis

18 in December - Had no problems, in fact most my clients are my age anyway...

I'm not saying that age matters! :angry: If u haven't noticed, I'm a teen myself that's starting a web host ... and I was simply curious as to how many other teens there are out there that own a venture such as this :eek: And DefCon, I think you're doing great - I was tempted to go with your company (10 bucks a month for 10 gigs and 1000 megs wow! :D ) before deciding to go with Integra. Geez.

i didnt say in my earlier post, im 18 will be 19 in November......Its amazing really when u read some of the posts and realise how young some of the big boys really are :D

And then we wonder why it's so hard to find a reasonable webhosting company that's been around for more that 2 years! The majority of the internet infrastructure is running on the minds, creativity, and marketing skills of those under the age of 25. I suppose that give me something to be proud of, as I myself am 15. Currently owner of Exbabylon Internet Solutions, paid more in taxes last year than my age x 1000.

Out of curiosity, what are my peers using for accounting? I have found QuickBooks to be superb, however I just setup a client with Atrex, customized it for his business, integrated POS billing/sales with his website, and the Atrex route seems to be a little more friendly for reoccurring billing.

Also, how many of you are still attending school and planning on going on to a higher education? And for those who are, what kind of grades are you retaining?

Best Regards,

Alex Stanton

Well i am 22 years old in a couple of months...

Founded SurrenderOnline in 1998 as a web design studio in Sydney, Australia i had picked up some major web design contracts for many small and medium sized companies around the city and suburbs...

I currently have 3 staff (Support) members and 4 contractors doing webdesign for small update jobs... We are in the process of building a studio.

We are funded by another 2 people that have nothing to do with IT industry.

In 2000 we started our online storage solutions and asset managment system - We also had some resellers using these services.

Just this past 6 months i had a business and marketing plan to take on a good piece of the Australian Budget Hosting as i believe there is alot of money to be made. (Due to one of our main sources of funds pulling out i was left only to cut my marketing plan down 75%)

I keep on mentioning we this and we that, i like to consider everyone in SurrenderOnline as a team, because everyone knows teams always work best.

Its excellent to see that many people are young in web hosting industry but im afraid to say this is the same age group people that give the hosting game a bad rep by jumping in to make a quick buck then jumping out leaving un happy customers.

I have not told my story before.. Now I FEEL REAL REAL OLD...

Thanks for taking the time to read it.

I’m 18 right now. Running a business looks very nice on college applications. So far I got into the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Penn State university park, college of nj, rutgers, and NYU stern school of business.

Great to see another Aussie in these forums who is also young :)

I am 22 years old from Wollongong, Australia.

I started my hosting business when I was 18 after I finished high school. I ran my business while studying full time university and it grew from there. I've now graduated from university and work fulltime for myself.

I now have over 1000 sites and the lowest priced package is $29 AUD per month. There are 3 other staff members plus 50 contracted developers situated around Australia.

I am also starting three other hosting companies directed at different markets and expanding my main business into five other countries.

Cheers,
Nigel

21 Here <--- HostRocket.Com

-Brendan

I think I'm in the wrong thread (32)

Originally posted by Pilgrim
I think I'm in the wrong thread (32)

Heh! I'm 40.

Steve

Its simply that we were raised with technology in our lives -- imagine what our children will do :D

Originally posted by Chysical
And DefCon, I think you're doing great - I was tempted to go with your company (10 bucks a month for 10 gigs and 1000 megs wow! :D ) before deciding to go with Integra.

May I ask why you decided to go with Integra instead of Genius Hosting in the end? :confused:


;)

Sorry to say it but isn't this a thing that should be discussed of forum? Just because it hasn't got anything to do with this topic.

am I a teen host?

No.

40 years old, started my hosting business 3 years ago and all I can say is good on you guys

Originally posted by bbi-linux
am I a teen host?

No.

40 years old, started my hosting business 3 years ago and all I can say is good on you guys

Hmm... strange first post, bbi-linux. :rolleyes:

:D

To Starhost: you're right, sorry. :(

No problem :)


For bbi-linux. 40 that's just a little younger then my dad and he even can't start Word without my help :D

I think that it is great to have this many young people in the industry. In my opinion, it has much to do with technology changes in the last 15 years. You have to understand that {gulp: I can't believe I'm saying this} older persons, like myself (33), lived in a world where high-tech was an Apple 2e. We had to adjust to the technology. There was no such thing as internet, as we know it now. Those of you that are teenagers, or were a very short time ago, are maturing in a world where internet and technology are part of your life. It is a given. Technologies that will seem new to you 10 years from now, will be "old hat" to your children.

I would have loved to have been in the business at age 15.

Will someone please get me a walking cane...I need to take a nap.;)


-Lamar

Thanks Lamar. I bet all young hosts as myself appreciate these kind words of you. It gives us hope to go through with it. :)

I have noticed that most people that have replied to this thread, are all very young, still young and are new to this business. I have been around since the birth of hosting, well pretty much. I became involved in 1998, when hosting was starting to become important, and $30 or $45 for shared hosting was very common. Servers back then were really expensive and I sure missed those days (not this very cheap hosting these days). Most of you don't probably remember Host Investigator, but Matt Freeman, the owner of this forum, had that site. I was one of the lucky ones to be chosen to get his award, along with Futurequest, Hostingsolutions.net, etc.. I know both of those guys too, especially Deb at futurequest pretty well. I have seen hosting companies go and disappear like Communitech, Virtualis, Hostpro, etc. I remember Matt giving me an award but not to a friend of mine, Chad at dids.com, but then I think he eventually did, which was very funny to me.

I started on my 17 birthday, June 2, 1998 and it will be my fourth year this June. It's funny to see all these companies just get started all around me, especially in the last two years, hostrocket, Alabanza (big joke), etc..

But there is one thing I can say that probably NO other person, teenager or "old" man/woman can say regarding owning a hosting company. That is, we have a $15 overhead, every check we get in the mail is pure net profit, we have created and built a reputation for our name, while most people think we are the actual host. But you want to know the big difference? We are not resellers and we do not own anything. You can call us one big huge sales agent, or sales rep. We have built our site to sell another company's hosting service, the orders go to them, they bill the customer, support them, buy the hardware, etc.. They do it all and we get a monthly residual income. But we have the hardest and one of the most expensive jobs, and that is bringing in the customers. You tell me of some other hosting company that will allow you to build a site, sell their service under your name and hope/trust that you don't ruin their reputation, as that is what they are doing, putting their complete trust into so you do not false advertise, etc.. It would be like trying to sell Dell's hosting service, but just pass on the orders to them, which they will never do.

So you can see that we probably have the easiest, or the least amount of work, hosting business than any other hosting company alive, with zero overhead. Can you top that? :-)

Have a good one.

Oh my god DanielP I never would have picked that (Sorry to go back in the thread a ways, but damn man good for you!) :)

And great for the other young guys too! I'm not far out of my teens but far enough to feel old.. especially around these parts heh

My antique collection includes an Apple ][e, an Apple ][c (which got me thru the first 2 years of college), an original "Mac Classic" and no, not the one that was marketed as the "Classic" but rather THE original (which got me thru the last 3 years of college).

I learned to program BASIC on Apple ][e's in the 7th grade.

I'd say us fogies have done purdy well adjusting to this "new world" that you young pups have basically had hardwired into your lives since birth.

*wink*

Gotta love it! I've enjoyed reading about so many of your accomplishments, everyone!

:D Karin

Im 17 and run a hiphop site that has four 'real' employees and currently recieves 2.5 million hits monthly. :cartman:

So even though its not the same thing; (webhost company & rap site). I still think the general principal applies, that when push comes to shove we can work at paces equal or greater then an Adult. For instance, I, a teen. Update my site from 1-4 hours a day. And Im not even responsible!

As already said, age doesn't matter.
Look at what I do, and Im a lazy high school dropout. Now, Im sure these kids are alot better students in school, less lazy/more productive, and just overall more computer inclined.
So I think there more then qualified to run a hosting company.

With that said: I would like to share with you guys, that I own VenturesOnline and am currently 8 years old. haha

A little late for April fools don't ya think Masta? :eek: :D

I feel something needs to be interjected here. Obviously many of the younger ones here are very successful in their business dealings, and have proven that age does not necessarily either create, nor degrade one's responsibility level. Flourishing in the professional world is a great thing, and I feel a very respectable goal for those in their adolescent years. However, too often left behind, or perceived easily disposable, are those who are older than us.

No matter how technologically or resourcefully inclined we may be, still lies the shear experience level obtained by those who have been in the industry longer than ourselves, our "elders" if you will. Granted, it's been shown time and time again, a teenager can run a business that has better service, provides superior quality, and, in the end, is more profitable than many "adults". But I assure you that this teenager has had some sort of "adult" influence upon his/her life.

That being said, as young business people we need not forsake the teaching and wisdom of the experienced. All too often I see it take place where an attitude is formed, perhaps one does have a reason to be proud, but never obtain the viewpoint which says, "I know more than you." For in some aspects you may, but there again, in other facets the older will have one up on you. With this in mind, be willing to learn from anyone with more experience than you, if you show due respect to one with more experience they’ll be more open to your new, innovative ideas. I guarantee you'll go farther in business, and life. I know I have, as well as many other youth who have succeeded in the professional world. Besides, the old guys almost always have more money than us :)

Dang, I guess I am old.. I keep telling myself I'm not..

37, till July.

All I can say, as a host that has been around for more than 3 years, (since '98) is I am glad to see so many younger people doing well.

My largest reseller just turned 16 this year, and has over 100 accounts with us, and one or two dedicated servers elsewhere with a total of at least 500 customers, most likely many more but I don't know the exact number.
Point is,,, he is doing a great job.

Like the other older guys here, we all think... wow, if I were that young when I started think of where I would be now.

Best of luck to all of you.

Tim L

Anyone interested check out this story.

http://www.dfwtechbiz.com/displayarticledetail.asp?art_id=56131&cat_id=157

This kid was only 15 when he started his web development company. Now he is doing close to 7 figures a year. Not bad.

That's awesome! :agree:

Exbabylon Internet Solutions <----------- Look for us on the front page of the upcoming editions of Time, Fortune 500, and NewsWeek :D

I was surprised to see this thread; little attention has been given to teenage entrepreneurs since the end of the dot-com era, and perhaps rightly so. After meeting a number of "young entrepreneurs," I've sadly learned that most, but not all, teenagers are not responsible enough to actually manage a business.

That being said, I am nineteen years old, and currently a student at Harvard. I started Think Computer Corporation when I was fifteen, and the company has grown considerably since then. I plan to continue running it as long as I am able.

Best of luck to everyone!

18 in June.... :(

WHATS YOUR SECRET!!!!????

I thought starting young would make me rich! ;) I've done this stuff for 3 years. 2 clients..... :bawling:

:rolleyes:

Marketing. I've found a lot of great developers out there who couldn't get a job for their grandmother. A willingness to reach out pays off. Attend local area networking meetings, partner with existing, respectable companies. Also, form a portfolio! Too much "Comming Soon" on your site. Looks like you've got a lot more going for you than I do.... but I've got clients. :D

I notice that you're hosting packages at the NOC... great place! Just keep doing what you're doing, get some portfolio on there if possible... and get some demo's of that software.. it looks like some stuff I could use! I've got two clients I'm getting ready to deploy a custom database for... one a used acr dealership, the other a real estate company. I'd probably buy from you if I could see it in action. If they're done right you should be able to pull 2K per liscense off of them.

Oh, got any business cards? Send me an email or something, maybe we could work together...

The joys of being a teen entrepreneur.. :) I am so excited to see so many of you being successful in your businesses. Being an old timer (turning 23 next month, hhehe) makes me reflect on the various successes and failures that I have had. While it is nice to say age doesn't matter -- I have found that it does to an extent.

Many people have the mindset that older = better/more experienced --- As a result, expect to have to prove yourself on occasion, especially when your starting out. After you have some successes under your belt, it is easier to point to those as marks of your success.

If you achieve success -- DO NOT (and I'll repeat it --) DO NOT sit on your success! I have seen too many people (young and old) have some success and then become complacent and watch all of their hardwork and effort erode. Remember, you are your most important asset -- continue to invest in yourself. Expand your knowledge of your business, expand your knowledge of the business world in general -- make reading magazines/books/etc a priority. Continue to expand and build your network of associates. Listen to your customers.

As the head of your company (and for many of you, your own boss for a significant part of your life) you are the defacto visionary. Every few months, outline what you think will happen in the future. Perhaps a few years out, a year out and a few months (6mo or so..) --- What will be happening? How can you prepare for it? Write these guesses out. Review them every once in a while to see how well you did. Out of everything I have done in the past 10 years, this has been one of the most important exercises that I have and will continue to do.

First off, it allows you to understand how macro interactions effect the world around you. Additionally, it will start to help you understand how to understand the potential of various new technologies or emerging trends. As a result, it will allow you to see new opportunities and potential threats to your business and give you time to prepare for them.

For a company I worked for the past 5 years (I quit working for them last summer), I had such a good understanding of the business, industry and external forces that I was able to successfully predict where the industry and local competitive environment were headed several years in advance. Unfortunately for the owners of the company, they were egocentric and were unable to see these trends (I always thought of them as middle managers at best -- not leaders of a company) --- and if they were able to act strategic and not reactive, the company could easily be 6-7 times the size it was at the time I left. Its extremely important to understand and project what might happen and be able to prepare for it (I believe practice helps make better judgements of these types..)

<-- 20 on July 5th... Started this in March of 1998 - Very successful :) Very happy.

<--- Turning 15 this May(28th if anyone wanna sends me a present Cough-server-cough) Anyways I have been around the Internet and hosting for as long As I remember. When I first got my 56k I was stoked, and wanted to learn more... then just grew from there.. Been jumping around this industry for a couple years, after high school I am going to go to The University of Toronto and take Computer Engineering and then jump back in:)

Chris

I'm 16, I've been hanging around the internet for almost 4 years now.. I've recently decided to start a small webhosting business and I havn't even advertised yet but I have 3 customers :).. I must be doing something right if I don't even try ehh? I really don't know how these people found my site either :).

Anyway, I know age doesn't matter usually, if the person is serious. I decided to leave public school and do homeschooling because my school is worthless, and I mean it.. I don't even want to get into that :angry:. But that allows me to be here safely by my e-mail and PuTTY all day ;).

Anyway, experience is the best teacher regardless of age.

I have Bs in everything, but in keyboarding or computer repair last year I had VERY high As, just because computers intrest me so much :D. I find anything but computer-related classes are almost unbareable to me, but I can park myself in front of a computer for hours on end and learn tons, I LOVE IT! :).

I owned the teachers in my computer courses, so I got out of those required classes.

--Brian

Originally posted by Shyne
Don't expect too many replies lol.

I guess that wasn't a good prediction, huh... :D

Originally posted by Nigel
Great to see another Aussie in these forums who is also young :)

I am 22 years old from Wollongong, Australia.

I started my hosting business when I was 18 after I finished high school. I ran my business while studying full time university and it grew from there. I've now graduated from university and work fulltime for myself.

I now have over 1000 sites and the lowest priced package is $29 AUD per month. There are 3 other staff members plus 50 contracted developers situated around Australia.

I am also starting three other hosting companies directed at different markets and expanding my main business into five other countries.

Cheers,
Nigel

Heh I've lived in Wollongong... as a matter of fact I'm an Australian citizen :D . My father used to teach at University of Wollongong.

Originally posted by XDude
.....I decided to leave public school and do homeschooling because my school is worthless, and I mean it.. I don't even want to get into that :angry:. But that allows me to be here safely by my e-mail and PuTTY all day ;).....

I'm homeschooled, too. I left after my Junior year because the school I was attending was really picky, and wouldn't let me just take the class (notice, singular) without staying the entire day at school. I also hated all the teachers and a LOT of the people around me.

I find that I can do my work in my spare time without having the devote my entire day to waking up early and spending my entire day in stupid elective classes. I took all the computer classes available at my school, so they wanted me to move into automotive and engine repair stuff (not my thing).

This is the end of my senior year, and I couldn't be happier with my decision to leave school, and try and work full time with my web development business. Non-homeschoolers can't believe that there are actually GROUPS of homeschoolers around that have activities and attend classes together (either at technical schools, or classes taught by some of the parents). I live in an area that isn't highly populated, and I'm graduating this May with 15 other homeschoolers....

Anyway, sorry for the sorta off-topic response. :D

hello,

I'm 15 and I own http://www.pctwist.com
It is a web hosting biz, free and paid web hosting.
I've been designing sites for over 5 years!

-brian
webmaster

I'm now 20, so I don't technically fit into this category, but I'm essentially in the same boat you guys are. I've been developing web pages since about August, '98, and just started Web Hosting in July of last year.