Too young to start a business? These founders prove otherwise

Starting young: lessons from entrepreneurs who took an early leap of faith

I know from experience how exciting it feels to bring your ideas to life, to finally have ownership over something that reflects your vision and values. But I also know the flip side—the late nights filled with self-doubt, the pressure of making decisions without much guidance, and the constant feeling that you’re figuring things out as you go. At that age, resources can be scarce, networks limited, and imposter syndrome loud. Yet, those early years taught me resilience, forced me to become resourceful, and helped me build a foundation that would shape how I lead and operate today.

I wrote this article because I wish I could have seen stories of entrepreneurs who started young and achieved success. The stories of these three entrepreneurs, like mine, show age doesn't define your ability to make an impact in the business world—it’s the passion, grit and willingness to learn that truly matter.

Each of them brings a different perspective on what it means to start a business at a young age. Through their experiences, we’ll dive into the challenges they faced, the lessons they learned and the resources that helped them keep going.

Mann Parikh is the founder and CEO of NerView Surgical, a company developing a novel non-invasive medical device for intraoperative nerve visualization to reduce accidental nerve damage during surgeries.

Shreyas Suri is the Co-founder and CEO of OneChart, a startup that created a solution to reduce documentation time and administrative strain for healthcare practitioners.

Sarah Simionescu, is the Founding Engineer at SalesBop, an AI software designed to enhance B2B inside sales teams' performance. But her first business started in high school. Sarah was also a mentee of mine through the accelerator The Forge, McMaster University.

What inspired you to start your business at a young age, and what were the biggest advantages and disadvantages of doing so?

Mann: I think the inspiration really came from a variety of things. Three years ago, I never thought I’d actually be in entrepreneurship. I didn’t even know what entrepreneurship was. It was something that came to me through a mix of experiences.

One of those experiences was a course I took that revolved around health ventures. It helped me understand the fundamental aspects of what a health venture or a health innovation looks like in a real-world scenario and how to create one myself. That course introduced me to the Stanford Biodesign Innovation Process, which walks you through how to identify problems, design solutions, and create something meaningful. That really fascinated me and opened my eyes to entrepreneurship.

Another thing that played a big role was my background. Growing up, I was always interested in technology and solving problems. I started exploring ideas and realized that building something impactful was what I wanted to do. As I got deeper into it, I saw how entrepreneurship allowed me to take an idea and turn it into something tangible. That’s what pushed me to pursue it.

As for advantages and disadvantages, the biggest advantage was definitely the ability to learn quickly. When you start young, you have the flexibility to experiment and make mistakes without major consequences. You’re constantly exposed to new ideas and people, which helps you grow. The biggest challenge, though, was credibility. When you’re young, people often don’t take you seriously. It takes time to prove yourself and show that you can build something valuable. But once you do, it becomes easier to gain trust and move forward.

Another disadvantage is experience. When you’re young, you lack the industry knowledge and network that older entrepreneurs might have. This means you have to work harder to build connections and learn from others. But at the same time, this can be turned into an advantage because you bring a fresh perspective and aren’t bound by traditional ways of thinking.

Shreyas: To give some context, we're building a product in the healthcare space to help clinicians save time, improve care delivery, and be more efficient in terms of clinical operations. This is a problem we're personally drawn to. We have friends and family in healthcare and saw the burdens that administrative tasks place on them. We wanted to tackle it head-on. As a team of young people, we saw no reason why many of these tasks in 2025 should still be manual, antiquated and slow. We wanted to make a difference by tackling something we were passionate about.

In terms of advantages and disadvantages, there's definitely a twofold aspect. From an advantage perspective, a lot of people are willing to help young entrepreneurs. They're willing to take that first call and share insights. As a young founder continually expanding my expertise and skill set, one disadvantage could be the concern around having deep insights—being able to fully understand a space and tackle a problem from all perspectives. As a young founder, it's important to recognize where your limitations lie and augment those with advisors, supporters, and ecosystem partners to better cover those bases.

Sarah: I started my first business, a wedding videography company, in high school. And really it was my family and friends who encouraged me. With my current business, it was a bit different. Because it was a start-up, my family was concerned that this was a distraction from university or internships. To be honest I just really wanted to do it because I was really excited about the idea. The biggest advantages are we are young, still in school and have no responsibilities, and this decision will only get riskier down the line, so why not now? The worst that could happen was that I would have a super cool personal project for my resume when applying to software engineering jobs and I would gain a lot of skills. The disadvantage was, of course, lack of experience. We were developing a B2B SaaS product for an environment we have never worked in before. It took a lot of customer research to discover those "secrets" into how to truly solve problems for our potential users.

What were the biggest challenges you faced as a young entrepreneur, and how did you overcome them?

Mann: One of the biggest challenges was just figuring out where to start. When you have an idea, there’s a lot of uncertainty, and it can feel overwhelming. I remember struggling with how to validate my idea and find the right people to support it. It took a lot of trial and error, talking to potential customers, and refining the concept before I felt confident in moving forward.

Another challenge was balancing everything. As a young entrepreneur, I was also managing school, personal commitments, and the demands of building a business. Time management was a huge learning curve. There were definitely moments of self-doubt—wondering if I was making the right decisions or if I was capable enough to pull it off. But I think those doubts are normal, and what helped was surrounding myself with the right mentors and peers who encouraged me to keep going.

There were a few key moments. One was when I got my first validation from an industry expert. Up until that point, I was questioning if my idea really had value. But when someone with experience told me, “This is something worth pursuing,” it gave me the confidence to keep going.

Another breakthrough was when we secured our first paying customer. That was a game-changer because it proved that what we were building had real-world value. It was incredibly motivating to see someone willing to pay for our solution—it made everything feel more real.

Shreyas: One of the biggest challenges we had initially was understanding the regulatory landscape for our idea. We're building in a very complex and regulated space—healthcare. It was critical for us to understand how we could build an idea and bring it to market. We tackled this by spending a lot of time speaking with industry stakeholders and key opinion leaders, which gave us deeper insights on how to build a product in a safe, secure and trustworthy way.

We were fortunate to work within the McMaster innovation ecosystem and connect with privacy experts and regulatory advisors. This gave us insights into the workings of HIPAA, IPDA, FIPA, and similar regulations. Understanding this landscape was essential for overcoming one of the biggest challenges.

Sarah: The biggest challenges I faced as a young entrepreneur was advice overload. There are many, many voices in the space, so many opinions Being so young, not having the experience myself, it's hard to catch signals through the noise. If you followed every person's advice, you would do nothing at all.

One of the best things we did was just learning things the hard way; trying stuff to see if it would work, failing, asking ourselves why and taking the next best step forward. This is where connecting with a wonderful mentor—that's you Ingrid—was incredibly valuable. Our mentor took time to listen and meet us at where we were coming from, connecting with where we were at, and asking questions that pushed us to grow.

What key resources or support systems (mentors, accelerators, funding, etc.) helped you the most in your journey?

Mann: The Startup Survivor program (at The Forge, McMaster University) was honestly critical and really a launchpad for whatever came next for us. They were really big in giving us that incubation space to just learn, fail, and iterate.

Another space here at McMaster was the clinic. I went through their programming, the Health Innovation Bootcamp, and the residency program. It was super important because The Forge is more general business-focused, teaching how to create a viable business and the core components of prototyping and iterating—basically, creating a business model canvas. On the clinic side, it was more focused on health commercialization and health innovation, which aligned with my area of expertise and interest.

The support from both accelerators and incubators was immensely valuable in the early stages.

But I've also received support from many others after that.

Shreyas: We’ve been incredibly fortunate. At McMaster University, we were part of the McMaster Force program, which is their university incubator. We also leveraged resources from Innovation Factory, an accelerator in the Hamilton region, particularly their Synapse life science consortium. We also worked with IP guidance bodies like Milo, and on the U.S. side, Wesley, one of our co-founders, was involved with the Wesleyan University New Venture Awards program, which provided early-stage funding.

As we progressed, we gained resources and early-stage investment from Launch Co., a Silicon Valley fund, and Ripple Ventures in Toronto through their Ripple Fellowship program. These resources, designed specifically for younger entrepreneurs, provided mentorship, guidance, and funding, which were crucial to advancing our idea.

Sarah: Building on what I was saying earlier, a key resource has to be our mentor Ingrid and the Forge (McMaster’s University accelerator).

Looking back, what were the most critical decisions or turning points that led to your success?

Mann: I think it was really committing. As someone in a STEM major, we tend to do a lot—research assistant, teaching assistant, extracurriculars.

The critical decision that allowed me to succeed and get to where I am today is committing, while also having immense focus on the one thing you're truly passionate about.

If you focus on one thing that really matters, there's less dilution and more saturation in that area you're interested in. If you're doing five or ten things, each one gets 10% of your energy. But if you focus on one or two things with the same level of energy, you allocate 50% to each.

That focus and commitment toward activities that are meaningful and fulfilling to you is what allowed me to succeed.

Shreyas: Looking back, we initially built a product in the medication compliance space, which was what we focused on during the FORTIS program. As we went through the process, we continued doing deep discovery with clinicians, end-users, and customers. We realized there was a bigger problem to solve around workflow automation, administrative tasks, and clinical documentation. This insight led us to pivot our focus and resources to that space, and that decision was a key turning point.

As we progressed, we also recognized the importance of focusing on specific specialties rather than creating a general solution. Listening to our customers and understanding their needs was crucial in shaping the right solution. The key inflection points were about having the flexibility to adjust our approach based on real-time feedback and being open to new opportunities.

Sarah: Looking back, the most critical decision that led to our success was admitting when we were wrong, scrapping some code and not giving up. There were so many moments when we realized we built in the wrong direction~ and in moments like those, we were discouraged and considered giving up all together. Until we realized that being wrong is almost the whole point of the thing, it means that you've learned something. In software, this means a lot of painful refactoring.

What misconceptions do people have about young founders, and what do you wish you had known earlier?

Mann: People tend to underestimate the passion and grit young founders bring to the table.

Yes, we're young and have our whole lives ahead of us, but people overlook the passion entrepreneurs bring, thinking it’s all about the idea. When people invest or mentor you, it’s not just about the idea—it’s about the person you are. That’s often misunderstood.

As an entrepreneur early on, I don’t think it’s fair to compare me to someone with 20 years of experience. Yes, there are differences in skills and resumes, but that doesn’t mean that person will work harder than me.

I can outwork them at every stage and do just as well, if not better. That’s a common misconception—that young founders aren’t the hardest workers in the room. But in reality, we usually are.

Shreyas: A common misconception is that young founders are less capable than older founders. However, young founders have advantages, such as the ability to move quickly, learn fast, and not be constrained by pre-existing assumptions. We don’t have expert bias, which allows us to listen to different perspectives and approach problems with a fresh mindset. Young founders are just as capable as any other founder. I think young founders often don’t get enough credit.

For those considering starting a company, my advice would be: Don’t wait too long. Dive in headfirst and learn as you go. You’ll figure out a lot along the way, and the experience will teach you what you need to know.

Sarah: To no one's surprise, a big misconception is that we are not capable and we don't have the experience it takes to solve their problem. What I've learned and wish I had known earlier is customer discovery conversations can take you a long way. Even if you have been working in the field for 40 years, you will benefit greatly from talking to your users, listen with open ears and understand their problems deeply.

What is the most important piece of advice you would give to young founders looking to build a successful business?

Mann: As cliché as it may sound, the key is to just get started with who you have around you.

Your environment and the people you surround yourself with speak volumes about who you will become in the future.

For anyone looking to get started, I suggest they start as soon as possible. If they don’t see themselves progressing, then it’s not about their passion or effort—it could be their environment.

For me personally, integrating myself into the space of entrepreneurs—at the clinic, The Forge, venture lab, innovation factory, and other accelerators—surrounding myself with hardworking people motivated me and inspired me to follow that path and achieve the same, if not better.

If you fail, fail early, learn to iterate, pivot, and understand where you can improve next. That’s something I truly believe every aspiring entrepreneur should hear.

Shreyas: The most important advice is to listen to your customers. Focus on the people you're solving a problem for and hold your solution tightly but your problem loosely. Focus on the people and the problem you're solving. The solution will evolve from there, and the rest will fall into place. This is the most critical piece of advice I’d give to any young founder.

Sarah: The most important piece of advice I've heard was "Go talk to some users and write some code. If you've done that, it's a good day."