I’m a girl, aged 14, based in the North – working on a tech startup; “stop making excuses, make something awesome”
If you're in the tech startup scene, stop with the excuses, meet cool people, and work on something you enjoy, says 14-year-old Cec Plascott
Cec Plascott with Patrick Socha and Simon Tabor (together they form Propelly), at Tomorrows Web Meetup, London. Photograph by Ben Reyes.
I hate having to make excuses and I hate seeing others do so too. If something is physically possible then you can achieve it if you try hard enough (you definitely can’t grow wings and fly though). I’m loving the young tech/startup/entrepreneur community and I’d like to share my opinion on why there’s negativity towards some people involved.
There’s a lot of interest in young people involved in the tech/startup scene. Some positive, some negative. One of the big problems? Too often do I hear fellow teens either claiming to be something they’re not (then moaning about not being taken seriously), or worse, complaining about how difficult it is for them to start something whilst they have school and so many other responsibilities (lol). As a fourteen year old living in the North of England I have a load of crappy excuses available. Oh you’re running an event in London? Sorry, that’s like 250 miles travel for me, can’t make it… and then there’s the fact that I’m only 14… but I never use those excuses.
'As a fourteen year old living in the North of England I have a load of crappy excuses available - but I don't use them'
Us young guys and gals are extremely awesome
Teens have done brilliant things. You only have to look at people like Nick D’Aloisio, Jamal Edwards, and Josh Buckley to see that. Even check out the GoSquared story – the team started out when they were still at school. Also worthy of a mention are all the teens that do brilliant things at Emma Mulqueeny‘s Young Rewired State every year - it’s focus is to teach young people how to code. A challenge is set over a week every summer to build digital products: mobile and web, using at least one piece of open data. (They need to find £20,000 by 7th May in order to run the event, and you can donate to the cause via peoplefund.it)
Jumping into the startup world at a young age can feel extremely intimidating.
In my case, I’m constantly with people older than myself, whether they’re my “tech friends”, customers, or partners. The automatic assumption scared teens seem to make is “they won’t take me seriously” or “they’ll think I’m wasting they’re time”. From my experience this is incorrect. I have attended two events where I was the youngest at both. I’ve met a handful of people a lot older than me, a lot cooler than me, and a lot smarter than me. People like this are intelligent enough to know they shouldn’t judge you on appearance, age, gender or anything else asides from your personality (douchebag/not douchebag) and your ideas.
There are teens who unfortunately don’t get taken seriously – but there are reasons why
This is usually because they’re claiming to be something they are not. It’s remarkable, really, to meet the CEO of a non-existent company. Or an entrepreneur who’s…hang on…not done anything? If you’re doing really cool things you don’t need to worry about labelling yourself in your Twitter bio. Actions speak so much louder than words.
There’s always enough time in the day to work on each individual part of your life
Speaking of taking action, teens are in one of the best positions to do so. Being young is the single greatest advantage I can think of. Boohoo I have to go to school, boohoo I have to have a social life, boohoo I have to do homework. Damn my life is hard. All these older entrepreneurs have to do is: feed themselves, keep a roof over their/their families head, potentially hold down a job, pay bills and more. The point is you should never allow anything to get in your way of working on a project.
More awesome women doing awesome things
Before this starts to sound like too much of a rant I’ll touch on something very positive: more awesome women doing awesome things. As a girl extremely interested in tech and startups I’ve mainly had male role models. However recently I’ve been inspired by some brilliant female entrepreneurs like Leah Busque, Deena Varshavskaya, and more. There is no where near an equal male:female ratio in tech yet so there’s a big danger of an interest being cast upon us girls not because we’re building quality products, but because we don’t have a penis. The reason I have so much respect for Leah and Deena is their focus is fully on their companies not their gender. It’s the same for younger entrepreneurs, the press can almost turn a blind eye to whether their idea is cool or not, and reward coverage based entirely on age. What’s better: an average quality product made by a 15 year old, or a great product made by a 30 year old? It’s obvious.
To wrap up, I believe the main reasons for any negativity shown towards teens are:
- Claiming to be something you’re not (honesty is the best policy in life, of course).
- Unnecessary moaning.
- Making excuses for lack of action.
Cec's startup Propelly describes itself as 'digital retail, all in one click'
Stop with the excuses
But you know what? It’s not a big deal. When I first stumbled into the startup scene (thanks, YouTube) I did pretty much all of the above. I was generally a complete ignorant, incompetent, tool of a 13 year old. I’ve learnt my lesson by surrounding myself with nice, smart, competent people. Which in turn has led to me having my own project to work on, Propelly. We’re helping people sell and share their digital work online. The best thing? Getting to work with lovely people and helping out with exciting, up and coming projects.
Stop with the excuses, meet cool people, and work on something you enjoy.
11:34 am 25th April, 2012
This is super-awesome. I work for a start-up with a young founder (yes, not 14, but he’s been working on the idea since university) and I totally agree with you about the media coverage.
Often it has been focused on him, on his age, whereas it should be all about the ‘trying to change the world’ bit, because we all know that’s more exciting. Some of the best people in their field have started working and getting paid for what they are great at in their teens.
Here’s an example: If you look at the Gov.uk team you’ll see a lot of them have been programming from a very young age, and one of their developers just turned 18. Kudos to a government department for not replying on graduate talent only and for trying to bring start up culture to the civil service!
5:02 pm 25th April, 2012
Hey, thanks! I do wonder what it’s like working with a younger founder, and how it must feel when the focus is as you said placed on him and not your idea. Then again the team is just as important, if not more important, as the idea so I guess you can see it in a positive way and know you have an awesome team.
That’s really awesome to see! Glad to see real skills being valued, not just qualifications.
11:36 am 25th April, 2012
What a truly inspiring article. Well done Cec and here’s wishing you the best of luck for your future.
5:02 pm 25th April, 2012
Thanks William! Good luck to you too!
12:22 pm 25th April, 2012
As I live further North than Cec, I find it is especially hard to obtain those vital connections that may help your business or startup as these are mainly found in London and in the States. I think the JFDI philosophy is the rule of thumb to any business, project or even idea you find interesting and thus, passionate about.
You should check out Alex Mangini, a 18 year old designer who sold one of the most popular “how to blog” blogs for $20k and has setup KolaKube, his design business which is one of his sole routes of income.
5:04 pm 25th April, 2012
I think the thing to remember is that it’s not impossible for you to jump on a train to London. For a day (a very long day), weekend, or week. Whatever time you have to meet interesting, talented, likeminded people is valuable and thanks to Skype/Twitter/Facebook you can further develop those relationships online back in the North
12:26 pm 25th April, 2012
Good for her. Young, female and coming from a tricky geographical location that’s relatively distanced from the start-up scene must be incredibly tough.
Unfortunately for her, she’s going to really struggle to have people heed her good advice for quite some time as it’s experience and success that dictates the value of your advice.
12:33 pm 25th April, 2012
Ah, “the” start-up scene, AKA “everything that’s wrong with London-centric UK”.
I hope Propelly takes off and reminds the tech-luvvies that there IS a world outside London. It might stretches as far as Scotland, if you squint hard enough and don’t listen to fat Alec too much.
5:06 pm 25th April, 2012
I agree that people may have no reason to listen to me, at least not yet. Hopefully however I’ve proved that you shouldn’t let anything stop you from at least from starting.
12:28 pm 25th April, 2012
I wonder how much of a role her parents play in her life. Not to denigrate her achievements but a 14 year old is (typically) still dependent on their parents/guardians.
1:34 pm 25th April, 2012
I think she made that pretty clear in the article. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with starting young while being ‘kept’ by your parents. It gives you a great start with fewer overheads (as she pointed out). I doubt they are doing her work for her!
5:08 pm 25th April, 2012
You’re right, my parents are a very active part of my life (as most parents are with 14 year olds). I owe a lot to them but at the end of the day when it comes to the running of Propelly they are in no way involved.
3:32 pm 25th April, 2012
Great post, thank you.
3:41 pm 25th April, 2012
Thanks Cec and Charlie! It’s inspirational to read about those who don’t make excuses. 14 years old is pretty good, but have you heard about the 9-year old entrepreneur who made his own arcade? Check out http://www.cainesarcade.com for an inspirational video.
I also wrote a blog post about how people make excuses in their life, and how to overcome these excuses: http://blog.blainelight.com/2012/03/one-essential-job-skill.html
5:08 pm 25th April, 2012
That guy is great!
3:44 pm 25th April, 2012
Great article – gives me hope for the future. I wish I had this kind of thinking when I was 14!
5:08 pm 25th April, 2012
Aha, thank you Rob!
5:42 pm 25th April, 2012
Thanks for this article Cec! It’s truly inspirational. As a 19 year old female in tech working on a startup, it’s great to see younger teens starting even earlier! You’re such an inspiration to all of us in the scene and even people who aren’t. Keep up the amazing work and as another female teen in tech, feel free to let me know if you ever need anything and how I can help! I’m cheering for you!!
5:46 pm 25th April, 2012
Woah, thanks Stacey, the support is really appreciated!
Good luck with your startup, you’re awesome!
6:35 pm 25th April, 2012
Its true, young people are the future. Myself only 18 have worked on small startup projects and given assistance to them, when networking I feel people do not take you seriously as your young.
9:07 pm 25th April, 2012
A young entrepreneur to be proud of. This is an inspirational story…I want to wish the team all the best. I have, stumbled, digg, etc….this story.
9:10 pm 25th April, 2012
Thank you!
9:16 pm 25th April, 2012
Brilliant article Cec,
I can identify with people complaining about being up in the north and “out of the way”, however things are really beginning to change.
Initiatives such as Rookie Oven, Tech Meetup, Startup Digest have made being part of startup culture much easier in Scotland, as well as the awesome entrepreneurial spark incubator in Glasgow.
Things are just starting to get awesome up there, so hang on tight and make sure you keep social in your local city as well as in big smoke!
9:30 pm 25th April, 2012
Surprisingly, I’m also working on a start-up, and I really like your article. It is like a rallying call to other young people. Keep up the great work.
John
10:12 pm 25th April, 2012
Out of curiosity, how does the start-up scene’s focus on London effect things? Since for a lot of start-ups money is pretty tight, do travel costs – conferences, community events, etc. – become a significant burden?
4:33 pm 26th April, 2012
The travel can be a problem but I love it, so it’s worth it. What’s great is I’m starting to find out more and more about closer events, people, and startups.
11:41 pm 25th April, 2012
I want a daughter just like that.
2:36 pm 25th April, 2012
This is a great article and a wonderful example of teens doing something productive and positive away from all the negative headlines that most teens seem to generate nowadays. Cec, I wish you well, no doubt you will be a future star and I don’t believe your location in the North will stop you achieving anything you want to do. Nor is being young and female an issue, you have the right attitude to progress, that’s what matters! Good luck in what you do. Regards, Paolo – http://www.creative-discovery.co.uk
4:53 pm 25th April, 2012
I live in the north as well and i think that it puts me as a disadvantage, whenever i successfully get in contact with someone or a company and ask them to meet me to see my ideas they always want to do so in London with which i currently am not easily able to do. I don’t think that age or sex should have anything to do with whether someone should be listened to, it’s their talent that counts!
I think that if you have a passion and the ability to attempt to achieve something you should just go for it and do it.
Good luck to you and i hope it all goes well!
5:13 pm 26th April, 2012
I do agree that a lot of people want to meet in London, which is quite hard to get to, but I think it’s worth it. There’s a lot going on in London.
6:13 pm 26th April, 2012
One word for the tech startup dreamers: “Skype”
A lot of major companies use it now, and bridges the gap which in the past would red-tape your idea from reaching outside your local area.
7:28 pm 26th April, 2012
In reply to Colin’s comment about Skype – I was speaking to a VC and Angel Investor the other week and they said they have serious concerns over investing in companies that operate over Skype or have a long distance separating team members.
It’s very easy to fall out and for communication to drop off when reliant on Skype rather than living near to eachother or having an office.
We’ll all obviously continue to use Skype at Propelly as it’s the best that can be done given our circumstances, but nothing beats actually living near eachother.
9:09 pm 26th April, 2012
Oh definitely simon, you’re absolutely right that theres nothing better than “close-quaters” co-workers. However, in the absence of this, its widely accepted to use Skype as a communication means with partners, sometimes investors, and potential clients.
6:11 pm 25th April, 2012
Knowing a similar environment this young lady is taking part in, I can sympathise with a lot of the points she is raising – the clear one that strikes truth with me is knowing other young startups claiming to be what they’re not.
The only gripe I have with this whole article, or perhaps the way this is coming across – is its not all as easy as its made out to be.
“Just fucking do it” isnt really an option for most. Excuses aside, and taking this Propelly business into consideration, I must ask quite strongly: Where are the funds coming in from this? Do young people really have access to these resources?
I am inclined to think this isnt one girl on a mission, but a project lead by real industry proffessionals taking time out to support those young individuals in progressing in the business environment from a young age.
My experience proved to be no matter how hard you worked, nothing comes for free. And that statement alone is what I would like to pass on to those teenagers looking to start up a business, no matter how motivated – you will have to sacrafice a lot of your proposed project, ideas, and goals in order to make the first 6 months work, and from there its an uphill struggle without assistance from an adult who can either financially back you – or a supervising adult to authorise credit/loans.
All in all – I found this a bit too unbalanced – as I can garuntee you that young people are more capable and have more oppurunities to create start up companies from scratch – there is an awful lot of help out there.
- @Fiftyleaves
7:45 pm 26th April, 2012
I’m not completely sure what you mean when you say:
“I am inclined to think this isnt one girl on a mission, but a project lead by real industry proffessionals taking time out to support those young individuals in progressing in the business environment from a young age.”
However I agree with the fact that teenagers can’t do everything. Obviously when it comes to the legal side of things if you’re too young then there are other options you have to take.
9:06 pm 26th April, 2012
Apologies if I wasnt clear there – what I meant is I left with the impression you had project groups or other organisations aimed at getting youths to start business who have assisted you or guided you. This is what I assume by most of these tech startup meetings – its quite common these days, didn’t mean any harm by it: just that a lot of your current starting success must still be credited to those industry proffessionals with schemes who are making this possible for people like you.
Wish you the best of luck with Propelly! (Dont forget to let people know you abide by data protection and privacy, didnt see it on your site and makes a lot of people more comfortable if they see it
)
10:58 am 30th April, 2012
I’m also a little confused by what you have said. IT came across as – and please, correct me if I’ve got the wrong idea – that you feel she wouldn’t have this job if she wasn’t 14, and that her company is providing it somehow out of sympathy or to create a prodigy or something?
Interesting viewpoint, but working in a start-up myself, there’s no room for dead weight, no matter how nice we might be, or well-funded, or interested in the future talent of the nation. I don’t think we are talking about a mentoring program here.
I agree that nothing comes for free and all start-ups have to get funding from somewhere, but if you have no money and a good idea, you can articulate it and are really determined, you can get funding for it. Even if it takes a while to get going. It’s definitely not easy; that’s why this article is worth reading.
1:17 am 25th April, 2012
I really find her enthusiasm great, I have been similiar a few years ago. Nevertheless she’s a little ignorant considering other students’ problems. Some really have or want to learn for school as they don’t really fit in the system. For some 250 km are too expensive to travel. And some are not able to discuss with people in the business because their parents are not in it – they don’t have the advantage of being socialized this way. In my opinion those three factors often appear together so it’s really cynical to point at them and say: “You’re not as good as I am!”
4:05 am 27th April, 2012
Yes, while ‘just fucking do it’ is a great sentiment it doesn’t take a lot of factors into account. For example, teenagers from abusive or financialy unstable backgrounds not only have a lot of practical obstacles in their way, but will also often lack the confidence and sense of security to try it – it’s harsh, but taking risks with a safety net requires a lot less courage.
11:05 am 30th April, 2012
Sure- but some people don’t fit into the school system so they should try doing something outside like this. And you don’t have to have parents ’in the business’ to be an entrepreneur. You do, however need to be pretty outgoing and ballsy to network on your own. There are plenty of very privileged kids with all the safety nets who never take risks, and parents who never help their kids become confident enough to do something like this.
8:15 am 25th April, 2012
hey- perhaps we can help you support your tech business @nexters.co.uk ?
keen for non London social tech entrepreneurs.
[email protected]
8:44 am 25th April, 2012
Fantastic – more of this please – people just need to get going and involved in startups – there is so much support out there and success spurs others on. Being young = less baggage – no problem.
Lack of money? if you have the desire and the drive, it will happen. Bery best of luck
David. http://www.mentor118.com
3:24 pm 25th April, 2012
Great to see someone young with such an entrepreneurial can-do attitude! It’s people like you who end up the Sir Alan Sugars of this country.