4 ms·

When I was 15 I coded a basic WYSIWYG editor for WAP pages (early days mobile internet pages) as a freeware, and I got contacted by a company willing to acquire

by fbnt 16y ago

When I was 15 I coded a basic WYSIWYG editor for WAP pages (early days mobile internet pages) as a freeware, and I got contacted by a company willing to acquire all the assets and hire me to work full time on a branded version of my editor. They bailed out once they realized how young I was (and still in school).

rick_2047 16y ago
I just hate when this happens. People look at you and they say "ah, he's just a kid" and don't take into account the amount of knowledge you have.
- samratjp 16y ago
  Ah, but that's an ego trip. It goes like this - "Damn, he's 15 and did that - how did he manage to do that? I didn't do that when I was his age, etc..." Because it is hard for someone to figure how something could have happened such as this scenario, it stokes them and hence the ego trip.
  - rick_2047 16y ago
    I don't think that's exactly an ego trip. They tend to associate knowledge with age.
- tomjen3 16y ago
  I agree, that is stupid. However, in this case it is properly the only course of action: Can you even legally hire a 15? (no matter if he is still in school, we all know how valuable hs is).
  - lsc 16y ago
    in the US, at least, you can, but there are a bunch of limitations and rules. You (the kid) have to get a 'work permit' and can only work certain hours. I got my first long term job at 14, and I had to go through rigmarole. it was pretty irritating; my mom made me quit my first job before summer was up because they didn't have the right paperwork and workmans comp, etc... Sure, i was being "exploited" as she said, but it was a very positive experience... and I got cheap used computer parts from that place for the next three years.
  - anamax 16y ago
    > Can you even legally hire a 15? (no matter if he is still in school, we all know how valuable hs is). It's possible to hire child actors, so why is hiring child programmers unreasonable? Yes, there are restrictions on the number of hours that they can work and so on, but ....
paraschopra 16y ago
Same story. When I was 14 I created PDFProducer (simple TXT to PDF creator) and released it as freeware. Some one contacted me and asked me to add ability to pass inputs as command line (instead of GUI). Trivial change but it made me my first $100.

by fbnt 16y ago

rick_2047 16y ago

I just hate when this happens. People look at you and they say "ah, he's just a kid" and don't take into account the amount of knowledge you have.

samratjp 16y ago
Ah, but that's an ego trip. It goes like this - "Damn, he's 15 and did that - how did he manage to do that? I didn't do that when I was his age, etc..." Because it is hard for someone to figure how something could have happened such as this scenario, it stokes them and hence the ego trip.
- rick_2047 16y ago
  I don't think that's exactly an ego trip. They tend to associate knowledge with age.
tomjen3 16y ago
I agree, that is stupid. However, in this case it is properly the only course of action: Can you even legally hire a 15? (no matter if he is still in school, we all know how valuable hs is).
- lsc 16y ago
  in the US, at least, you can, but there are a bunch of limitations and rules. You (the kid) have to get a 'work permit' and can only work certain hours. I got my first long term job at 14, and I had to go through rigmarole. it was pretty irritating; my mom made me quit my first job before summer was up because they didn't have the right paperwork and workmans comp, etc... Sure, i was being "exploited" as she said, but it was a very positive experience... and I got cheap used computer parts from that place for the next three years.
- anamax 16y ago
  > Can you even legally hire a 15? (no matter if he is still in school, we all know how valuable hs is). It's possible to hire child actors, so why is hiring child programmers unreasonable? Yes, there are restrictions on the number of hours that they can work and so on, but ....

paraschopra 16y ago

Same story. When I was 14 I created PDFProducer (simple TXT to PDF creator) and released it as freeware. Some one contacted me and asked me to add ability to pass inputs as command line (instead of GUI). Trivial change but it made me my first $100.