When Erik Finman from rural Idaho received $1,000 from his grandmother, the precocious teen invested it in Bitcoin, an indistinct digital currency at the time. He held onto it for a year and a half and sold it for $100,000. Bam! Finman hasn’t rested on his laurels. He launched Botangle.com, an online tutoring service that runs on video chat, where he has a staff of 20: programmers, designers and animators, and over a 100 active users.
Finman credits the book Without Their Permission: How the 21st Century Will Be Made, Not Managed by Alexis Ohanian with inspiring him to pursue his passion. He tells Mashable, “I wanted to use the beauty of the open and free web so people like myself can get access to a great learning experience; whether they’re from rural Idaho, New York or even Africa.”
