Tyler Dias is like a lot of other first-time entrepreneurs. He’s confident about his business plan, he’s putting together a great team, and he’s pushing to get his product to market as soon as possible.
He’s also 5 years old.
A few weeks ago, Tyler started going to work with his father, Vernon Dias, founder of the London-based digital agency Made by Fire. On the way home one evening, Tyler mentioned that he wanted to create an app. His father asked him why.
“I like money,” Tyler replied, “so I want an app to make lots of money.”
Turns out that he liked something more than money: toys. Tyler’s idea was to sell his old toys online so he could make enough money to buy new toys.
How would the app work? Tyler had that part already worked out in his head.
“I get my old toy, take a picture of it, enter how much money I want for it, and press send,” Tyler explained. “When someone sees a toy they want, they send me the money and I send them the toy.”
He even had a brand name for the app in mind: Giveaway. But he reconsidered when he realized that he wanted to be able to buy toys through his app, the way he buys them through Amazon. His new name? Givazon.
Tyler scheduled a 15-minute meeting with two of his father’s staffers, Adrian Daniel Bilan and Neil Japtha. He gave them a hard deadline—they’d have to finish his app in three days. They gently let him know that it might take a little longer than that. But they promised to have it finished by the time Tyler goes back to school in September.
As far as payment, Tyler offered them six pounds. And he had no desire to raid his piggy bank for the seed money.
“I can sell my daddy’s MacBook,” he replied.
Like a lot of entrepreneurs, Tyler has tweaked his business model. After learning that there are some kids around the world who don’t have any toys, he decided to add a philanthropic arm to him company. Instead of just selling their toys, users will be able to donate them as well.
When Tyler’s father told his wife that their middle child—Tyler has a 3-year-old sister and an 11-year-old brother—was now an entrepreneur, she was a little skeptical.
“Tyler’s mother was most unhappy,” Vernon joked. “She say she’s lived half her life with an entrepreneur. Now she’ll have to live with two.”
Vernon said after posting about Tyler’s business plan on LinkedIn, he has heard from friends who want to invest in his idea.
“I guess I can retire now,” Vernon said.
