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Erik Finman

Erik Finman

Erik Finman is an American Teenage Bitcoin Millionaire known for being an early investor of the token when he was just 12 years-old.

Biography

Early Life

Image that Erik Finman has shared on his Facebook.

Image that Erik Finman has shared on his Facebook.

Born and raised in the state of Idaho, he grew up in a small town near the city of Post Falls and has lived there for most of his life. He lived in a town that had Llama farms.

Erik has expressed that during his bring in the public education system, he felt that most of the classes that he was in were boring and uninteresting.

He had experiences where the teachers would often criticize their students in front of the class.

One teacher read aloud the grades of all the students in the class in order to shame them.

The only good moment he remembers in his education is when he had to attend a summer program and he says he had the best teacher of his life.

He was rewarded an A+ in advanced physics when he had a C- the previous year.

Coding

With the traumatic educational experience in mind he decided to do something about it so he began to learn how to code in order to fix the problem of not having good teachers.

His plan was to launch an online educational platform.

College Fund

Feature about Erik Finman titled: "I'm A Teenage Bitcoin Millionaire".

Feature about Erik Finman titled: "I'm A Teenage Bitcoin Millionaire".

When he was 12 years old he had saved up about $1,000 which was solely money from his grandmother.

The money was a gift to help with Erik's College Fund.

At the time, Bitcoin was priced at $12. Erik decided to ask his brother to teach him how to invest the token using his grandma's money.

Bitcoin

With his grandmother's money and another amount that was also saved up, he purchased 100 bitcoins.

He decided to sell high and low according to the market in the coming years and reinvesting the bitcoins.

When Bitcoin reached the value at around $1,200, he started selling.

He used the money to finance his first company which cost around $100,000.

Botangle

Photo of Erik Finman with a friend.

Photo of Erik Finman with a friend.

With the $100,000 Finman launched an online education company called Botangle in early 2014 after taking the time to learn how to code.

The experiences in his schooling inspired him to launch his own platform to help frustrated kids like himself who cannot find better teachers in the education system that they are part of.

High School Drop Out & Bet

After putting in the time to learn how to code and learning to launch the website, he felt he was beginning to gain traction.

He asked his parents if he could drop out of school in order to focus full-time on the company and they agreed, and he was essentially homeschooled.

His parents also agreed as long as he would agree to go to college if he does not make $1 Mill by the time he's 18.

Erik also used the funds to move the company to Silicon Valley where he met and became friends with Reddit co founder, Alexis Ohanian. He also traveled to many places around the world.

Botangle Part II

By the time he was 15 years old and living in Silicon Valley, he was busy looking for investors for his educational startup.

He felt that no one in the valley was taking him seriously.

He he meetings with high class people and known investors who considered him to young.

He recalls a time when an Uber high up executive ignored his pitched and discouraged him by saying that he would never win the bet with his parents.

Eventually he found a buyer who offered him $100,000 or 300 bitcoin for the company.

He chose the 300 bitcoin.

Experience

Erik Finman: 'I will Never Send my Kids to School' | WIRED.

Erik Finman: 'I will Never Send my Kids to School' | WIRED.

He worked for a company called Teraviks Robotics where he he was the Managing Director.

He also did the similar kind of job for Sprayable Energy.

In London, he was the Global Communities Manager for Smartup.

At Discovery Technology, he is a Robotics Mentor and Marketing consultant for Middle School schoolers.

He’s currently working on a project with NASA to launch a mini satellite into space with the recordings of regular folks, tech leaders and top artists. The launch is expected to take place in November of 2017.

Personal Life

Erik lives in San Francisco where he likes to spend time with his friends.

By the age of 18, he became a millionaire through owning Bitcoin, therefore winning the bet he had with his parents.

Although Erik did not graduate from high school and does not plan to attend college, the rest of his family has degrees like his brother Scott who went to Johns Hopkins at 16 and now has an enterprise software company, while his other brother Ross went to Carnegie Melon at 16 for robotics and is now pursuing his Ph.D. at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He has traveled to London, Dubai, Australia, and many other destinations around the world.

He is a fan of Elon Musk.

In school his GPA was a 2.1.

References

[1]
Citation Linkfacebook.comThe Public Facebookpage Erik Finman.
Oct 31, 2017, 8:27 PM
[2]
Citation Linklinkedin.comThe LinkedInprofile of Erik Finman.
Oct 31, 2017, 9:37 PM
[3]
Citation Linknasa.govWebsite that has a link to the project that Erik Finman is working on.
Oct 31, 2017, 9:41 PM
[4]
Citation Linkmashable.comArticle on Mashableabout the $100,000 for Botangle.
Oct 31, 2017, 9:59 PM
[5]
Citation Linkywqaugeunhowzrcj.public.blob.vercel-storage.comBe something for a day | Erik Finman | TEDxTeen
Oct 31, 2017, 10:11 PM
[6]
Citation Linkywqaugeunhowzrcj.public.blob.vercel-storage.comErik Finman: 'I will Never Send my Kids to School' | WIRED.
Oct 31, 2017, 10:12 PM
[7]
Citation Linkyoutube.comThe YouTubechannel of Erik Finman.
Oct 31, 2017, 10:13 PM
[8]
Citation Linkywqaugeunhowzrcj.public.blob.vercel-storage.comPhoto of Erik Finman with a friend.
Oct 31, 2017, 10:14 PM
[9]
Citation Linkywqaugeunhowzrcj.public.blob.vercel-storage.comErik Finman's first outer space project called Da Vince Project.
Oct 31, 2017, 10:16 PM
[10]
Citation Linkcnbc.comThe CNBC Newsarticle about Erik Finman.
Oct 31, 2017, 10:21 PM
[11]
Citation Linksiliconangle.comArticle about Erik Finman becoming a millionaire.
Oct 31, 2017, 10:22 PM
[12]
Citation Linkbrobible.comThe Brobible article about Erik Finman dropout.
Oct 31, 2017, 10:23 PM
[13]
Citation Linktechcrunch.comThe TechCruncharticle about Erik Finman.
Oct 31, 2017, 10:24 PM
[14]
Citation Linkprojectdavincispaceship.comThe Project Da Vinci website by Erik Finman.
Oct 31, 2017, 10:24 PM
[15]
Citation Linkywqaugeunhowzrcj.public.blob.vercel-storage.comErik Finman Speaks at the 2015 NWLA Liberty Symposium.
Oct 31, 2017, 10:41 PM
[16]
Citation Linkywqaugeunhowzrcj.public.blob.vercel-storage.comGif of Erik Finman being interview about his life as a bitcoin millionaire.
Oct 31, 2017, 10:54 PM
[17]
Citation Linkfacebook.comThe Facebookprofile of Erik Finman.
Oct 31, 2017, 7:49 AM
[18]
Citation Linkreddit.comThe RedditAMA of Erik Finman.
Oct 31, 2017, 8:19 AM
[19]
Citation Linktwitter.comThe Twitteraccount of Erik Finman.
Oct 31, 2017, 8:54 AM
[20]
Citation Linknymag.comThe NY Magarticle about Erik Finman.
Oct 31, 2017, 10:25 PM