We spend a lot of time at the office, so recently, I was given my FAVOURITE job ever of making the place look less like a teenage boy’s hangout and more like a comfortable lounge.

One of the things I picked up was a coffee table, which cost me $45 brand new. What sparked our interest even more was this this thing was handmade by a guy in Wellington, who turned out to be a 16 year old kid.

Even more interest sparking was caused by the fact he was selling these things on Trademe (NZ’s version of Ebay), which pointed to his own website. This guy, at age 16 has literally started his own production company out of his garage, and has successfully marketed his product over the internet…

What this means for entrepreneurship

Aside from making me feel geriatric at the ripe old age of 23, Ben (coffee table maker) proves that we are entering a new wave of entrepreneurship. 16 year olds these days have literally grown up with the internet and everything it brings:

• 16 year olds have grown up KNOWING that there is a cheap, easy way to independently make money Ben was struggling to find a part time job when he decided to start making coffee tables
• 16 year olds know how to use technology from some ridiculously young age Ben’s website, although basic, includes 3d style, computer generated images of his coffee tables in lounges.
• 16 year old these days have so many more tools available to teach themselves They don’t rely on learning in the classroom, they can discover what they are interested in and teach themselves it.

How the exceptional becomes the mundane

The funny thing was, Ben’s father put his son’s seemingly incredible achievements down to “That’s what 16 year old boys do…”. Tim and I nearly fell over in shock… Is it really?