How To Make A Million Before You Turn 20
author: Melanie Lindner
Business Idea: An array of
online enterprises, from advertising to gift certificates
Back in 1994, at the ripe old age of 9, Johnson launched his first business out
of his home in Virginia--making invitations for his parents' holiday party. Word
of his skills spread, and by the seasoned age of 11, Johnson had saved up
several thousand dollars selling greeting cards. He called his company Cheers
and Tears.
But the little guy didn't stop there. At age 12, Johnson offered his younger
sister $100 for her collection of 30 Ty Beanie Babies, all the rage at the time.
The young entrepreneur quickly earned 10 times that amount by selling the dolls
on eBay (nasdaq: EBAY - news - people ). Smelling potential, he contacted Ty and
began purchasing the dolls at wholesale with the aim of selling them on eBay and
on his Cheers and Tears Web site.
In less than a year, Johnson banked $50,000--seed money for his next venture, My
EZ Mail, a service that forwards e-mails to a particular account without
revealing the recipient's personal information. He hired a programmer to flesh
out his idea, and within two years My EZ Mail was generating up to $3,000 per
month in advertising revenue.
Johnson still wasn't done. In 1997, he joined forces with two other teen
entrepreneurs to create an online advertising company called Surfingprizes.com,
which provided scrolling advertisements across the top of users' Web browsers.
Those who downloaded the software received 20 cents per hour (a tiny fraction of
the value to the advertiser) for the inconvenience of having ads splay across
their computer screens.
The boys employed a classic pyramid strategy to spread the service: Users who
managed to refer Surfingprizes.com to a new customer would nab 10% of that new
person's hourly revenue.
But Johnson and company didn't just want to sell software--they wanted a piece
of that juicy ad revenue too. Their solution: partnering with such companies as
DoubleClick, L90 and Advertising.com, which could sell the ads for them. Under
the agreements, these middlemen would collect 30% of any ad revenue sold, while
the three boys split the remaining 70% (less those referral fees).
"I was 15 years old and receiving checks between $300,000 and $400,000 per
month," says Johnson. At 19, he sold the company name and software (but not the
customer database) to an undisclosed buyer. Says Johnson, "Before my high school
graduation, my combined assets were worth more than $1 million."
After spending less than one semester as a freshman at Virginia Polytechnic
Institute, Johnson caught the business bug again. With a pile of unwanted gift
certificates, he and friend Nat Turner launched a business called
Certificateswap.com. Their strategy: lower prices. While gift certificates
routinely changed hands on eBay, the auctioneer charged a healthy fee--"up to
13% of the cards' value," says Johnson. "We took only 7.5%." Johnson and Turner
sold CertificateSwap.com in 2004, when Johnson was just 19, for an undisclosed
"six-figure" amount.
Now 23, and with other ventures under his belt, Johnson spends his time giving
speeches and promoting a new book. "Put yourself out there," he advises. "Don't
be afraid of rejection. Don't be afraid to ask anything."