← All questions

#320 · the $50/mo cold email stack (minimum viable, 2026)

youtube ↗Mindset

Would a client work with me because I'm young? Would somebody work with you because you're young?

Oh, I see your question. So, is being young impacting my ability to get clients? Yeah, almost certainly. If you're 16 or 17 and jumping on sales calls, people will probably assume you lack experience in their industry. That's okay. When I was 21 or 22 and started door-knocking, a common objection was, 'Dude, what the hell do you know? You're a little kid. Get out of my office.' That's just how it is. There are multiple ways to sidestep the issue. I preferred calls because on the phone people would assume I was 30 or 40 just from my voice. Then I'd book a physical meeting with local people, who'd ask, 'Who the hell are you?' I'd say, 'I'm the guy you talked to earlier,' and they'd react, 'Holy shit.' There are multiple ways around that, like running a faceless business. That's really big—if you've wondered why so many 16- or 17-year-olds run faceless businesses, it's because there's no friction; you don't have to run a funnel, just grow a following on social media, using your inherent knowledge and advantage of being raised in a social-media world, and then sidestep the call funnel entirely. But yeah, I don't want to give anybody limiting beliefs, but if you're really young, most business professionals will look at you and think, 'How could you possibly help me? You've been in this for two days, while I've been doing this for 20 years.' Whether or not that's true, people will stereotype you because of that.

youngagecold emailmindset

Related answers

youtube ↗Cold Email

As a 15‑year‑old starting cold email outreach, does age significantly affect sales success, and how can I overcome skepticism due to my age?

When I was younger I looked very young—people often thought I was much younger than my actual age, and I got asked for ID (carded) regularly until I was about 26. This early skepticism is hard to avoid; I’ve tried many approaches and found there’s really no way around it. I did have a relatively deep voice, which helped. After doing door‑to‑door sales, I switched to calling prospects; the call results were significantly better than door‑to‑door because my voice made me sound older. When I later met those callers in person, they’d often ask, ‘Where’s the guy I was talking to?’—a funny reminder of the perception gap. My advice to young people in a similar situation is to lean into more faceless outreach methods, since many prospects simply won’t want to work with someone who appears very young. For example, cold email, phone calls, Instagram direct messages, or any text‑based communication lets you avoid the age bias inherent in face‑to‑face interactions. I’ve also heard from mentors like Mr. Martel that developing visible signs of age, such as gray hairs, can make people take you more seriously, though I’m not suggesting you should avoid putting yourself out there entirely. You will inevitably face an uphill battle, but that’s part of the process. I favor cold email because it eliminates the need for door‑to‑door work and scales well. You can run cold email as an acquisition funnel; many young people I’ve met recently use tactics like setting up automated sequences, making calls, sending IG DMs, or exchanging emails—none of which require you to be physically present. With this model you can operate a setter agency that books meetings, though you’re unlikely to become the high‑ticket closer who seals big deals. That said, the approach works and has been effective for me and others.

agecold emailskepticism
youtube ↗Mindset

How can a 16-year-old agency owner build trust and be taken seriously by clients despite their age?

It's a combination of factors. Being young means you lack perceived authority and life experience, and you likely haven't had enough time to develop sales skills. Statistically, you haven't been on the planet long enough to be seen as qualified for the kinds of jobs clients want, and you're still new to sales. To overcome this, you could have someone older act as the face of the business while you handle fulfillment behind the scenes—using an Upwork profile or a family member, for example—and communicate via messenger instead of face‑to‑face calls. This is a pragmatic way to move forward, though you'll still face an uphill battle. Another option is to gain more sales experience first, perhaps by taking a phone‑sales job for a year or two before diving into agency work. I've found that as I've gotten older and more mature, earning trust has become easier; it's a mix of age, maturity, and skill. I'm not trying to discourage you—many people are willing to work with motivated, young, technically competent founders and would even take your calls and discuss a profit split. You already have a strong starting point.

young entrepreneurtrustage biassales
youtube ↗Mindset

I'm 14 years old with about $35. Should I still be doing outreach to get clients or work on copyrighting formulas, or should I look into a volunteer internship instead?

Yeah, I think you'd probably run into major issues pretty quickly with any sort of sales flow if you're trying to sell to a legitimate company at 14 years old—I don't mean that to knock you, just think it would be difficult. So there are probably much higher-value things you can do at your age that wouldn't involve this level of friction, like trying to operate a company while being very confident you can help people. I'm not saying it's impossible; I think I had a 14- or 15-year-old kid do this with me. He reached out, analyzed my funnel, sent me a bunch of value, and said, 'Hey, can we get on a call?' I said, 'Yeah, for sure.' I didn't know who he was—I never talked to him, had no idea how old he was—got on the call and realized he was 14 years old. Some things seemed odd, like him answering my questions from a closet or bedroom, trying to be quiet so his parents wouldn't know what he was doing. Eventually I was like, 'All right, man. Like, thank you very much for the value. I'm not looking forward to it. I'm not looking um I'm not looking for this sort of arrangement right now.' I think my reaction is probably the nicest reaction you'll get at that age. So, yeah, you know, be better to just do something like get an introductory sales gig or intern or volunteer at an organization that does outbound. These are very, very, very valuable skills. And if you can get in early and you can really architect those mental models, you can internalize them from ages 14 to 16 or 17, then when you're in a slightly more mature position and actually create a business where you have to do some sort of sales flow, you're going to crush it regardless. Otherwise, I'd recommend just picking a business model that doesn't require you to put your face all over stuff or talk to people in person, which is doable as well. It just obviously depends on the business model you want to start.

age 14outreachinternshipsales flow
youtube ↗Client Acquisition

I'm 15 and can't use platforms like Upwork or LinkedIn, and clients lose trust because of my age. I'm spending about $400 a month on your program and tools. How can I overcome the age credibility issue and succeed?

My advice for anyone under 17 or 18 is to find an older person you can work with and have them be the public face of the business. You handle the back‑end work while they handle client interactions. You’ll need to pay them, but it’s similar to having a partner. Being younger actually gives you an advantage on the fulfillment side because you’ve grown up with the tools and can learn faster. If you become proficient in fulfillment over the next few years, you’ll gain a massive advantage in sales and client management compared to older competitors. In short, partner with an older front‑end while you focus on execution. The age credibility issue is real—people assume a younger person has less experience—but you can counter it by having an older face, leveraging your quick learning, and delivering high‑quality work. This approach lets you bypass the skepticism that comes with being 15 or 16.

agepartnerfulfillmentcredibility