13-Year-Old Amazon Programmer

A story about how Shaan hired a 13-year-old programmer who became incredibly successful.

"Johnny called me one day at the office and said 'Hey, is this Shaan?' I asked how he got this number. He explained he met Pete, who works at our office, at the dog park. He told me he was in 8th grade, a programmer, and didn't know any other programmers. He just wanted to hang out at our office during summer around other programmers.

First day he was there, we needed someone to build a website. I asked Johnny if he could build it, and he stayed until midnight that night and had a working version. By 10th grade, he wanted to drop out of high school to work with us full-time. I met with his mom and told her 'He's not dropping out, he's going pro - it's like when LeBron James skipped college because he was that advanced.'

He ended up becoming the youngest Amazon employee during our acquisition. Now he's 19, starting his own startup, and just called me yesterday saying they got a term sheet from one of the best VC firms at a $38 million post-valuation.

When he thanked me for making time for him, I told him 'Bro, you don't understand - this is the best feeling I can get. I bet on you, you were my personal angel investment, and you actually did the thing I always hoped somebody would do - take the opportunity and become a superstar. I'll do this 10 more times even if I whiff 9 more times if there's another Johnny in there.'"