Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour

When Michael Simmons started his first company at 16 years old, his biggest insecurity was his age.

The only insecurity that fell second to his age in starting his web-development company was the fact that he had only built one website before… his own.

Michael and his business partner quickly learned that they were trusted by their first client not because they were the same as everyone else. They were trusted because they were different. Their age was their advantage.

Michael went on to say, “in a globalized world we are competing against everyone. There is more and more competition. When you are competing for a job or a client, someone who has a choice of 10s of people or 100s of people, the only way you can succeed is by being different.“

In his time as an entrepreneur, he has learned that “the biggest area where we think we are different, our weakness, is actually our biggest strength.”

Initially he tried to hide this insecurity, tried to hide the fact that he was young. He even joked about being more nervous about being seen getting dropped off at his first meeting by his friend’s dad then the meeting itself!

To Michael’s surprise, when the client learned the age of Michael and his partner - he was highly impressed! Michael was then able to see that he needed to “own” insecurity and use it as a point of pride and possibly even a brand; The young prodigy web developers!

Michael went on the found the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour with Sheena Lindahl. Among other things, Michael and Sheena were passionate about giving other young entrepreneurs more confidence through these relatable stories for inspiration.

If anyone follows Michael on Facebook (Facebook link) or reads his column for Forbes(Forbes Link) then you know how much Michael has grown since that insecure 16-year-old. He still has his insecurities, but he now seeks to discover them and relates to the world through them.

Michael shared this story in Florida to over 500 students at an Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour hosted by Daytona State College. It was his first time returning to the Entrepreneurship Tour he created in over two years.