Should a 17‑year‑old who can’t start a business yet get a job at a startup or focus on betting on himself with content creation?

#338 · how to get your first 1,000 users in 2026

Should a 17‑year‑old who can’t start a business yet get a job at a startup or focus on betting on himself with content creation?

You’ve only been a functional adult for less than a year, so a few months feels like a huge chunk of your life. It’s actually smart to get a job or work at a startup to gain experience; there’s nothing wrong with that. The most important thing is to just start doing something—any action beats waiting for perfection. Motion beats genius at rest, so don’t get in your own way. You have plenty of time ahead, so chill and keep moving forward.

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Related answers

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Is it worth documenting your journey to build a personal brand when starting out as a teenager?

Documenting your journey consumes time that would otherwise be spent achieving real business success. Beginners often get caught up in video production details like lighting or audio, spending hours creating content that gets very few views. Additionally, a 17-year-old sharing beginner automation advice will rarely capture the attention of mid-30s or 40s business owners. The audience ends up being other teenagers at the exact same stage, turning the effort into validation-seeking rather than effective client acquisition. The most effective approach is to first achieve top-tier results in your market or age bracket behind the scenes. Once you have built real scale and success, you can create content with true authority and leverage.

personal brandcontent creationentrepreneurshipmindset

youtube ↗Client Acquisition

As a 16‑year‑old, what should I focus on to overcome my lack of experience and turn my youth into an advantage?

The main disadvantage of being young is that people won't take you seriously because you lack experience. Clients' biggest risk is whether you've delivered the requested result before; without a track record, that risk stays high. To overcome this, you need social proof. If you have family members or friends who can vouch for you, use that to check the box and move forward. Since Upwork requires you to be 18+, you can't use it yet, but Freelancer.com allows users from 17, so prepare to join there when you turn 17. In the meantime, focus on building any proof you can — maybe small projects for family or friends — to demonstrate capability. When you're ready, launch on Freelancer.com and keep building your reputation.

young entrepreneurupworkfreelancersocial proof

youtube ↗Mindset

I'm 17 and feel pressured to make money quickly, which leads me to rush, skip steps, and bounce between tasks without mastering any. How can I handle this pressure and actually build something solid?

A lot of kids are obsessed with making money but don’t understand the process or sacrifices required. They see only the upside. It’s like trying to draw an owl: everyone wants to skip to the finished drawing without learning the basics. My advice: pre‑commit to something for long enough to dive deep and see results. Pre‑committing is tough because we’re sold the idea of infinite opportunity, but in reality doors close constantly. Accepting that is part of becoming mature. You must trade off some opportunity for results—whether it’s committing to a partner, a business, a lead‑generation approach, or a discipline like 75 hard. This trade‑off is a fundamental equation for achieving greatness.

pressuremindsetfocuscommitment

youtube ↗Mindset

What advice would you give to someone that wants to grow a school community and also run an automation business? Should I focus on one at a time?

Well, this is pretty funny because you probably didn't just wake up one day wanting to run a school community and an automation agency. You're likely looking for a means to an end, so ask yourself what end you think running a school community and automation business would help you achieve. In my case, I make a ton of money with this stuff, so the end I see is money. But consider that a 17‑year‑old might say they want to make $100 million in 10 years—you need to clarify whether that's revenue, profit, bank account, etc. More importantly, recognize that your values and goals will shift over time; you won't want the same things in 10 years that you want today. So you have to be mature about that and accept that you're a changing organism whose goals evolve.

goal settingmindsetbusiness focus