Boost VC’s 17 Year Old Bitcoin EntrepreneurThe general perception about Bitcoin entrepreneurs is that they are relatively younger than those in other fields. When we say younger, we usually refer to people in the early or mid 30s.
One young man from has turned this perception on its head.17 year old Louison Dumont has become the youngest ever entrepreneur to be included into Boost VC.For those of you who are not aware, Boost VC is the California based incubator that has developed 5 batches of numerous Bitcoin start-ups.Some may be sceptical about the induction of a 17 year old into this prestigious incubator, but truth be told, this young man does not lack experience in the field.When other kids of his age were busy snapping buttons of gaming console controllers, Dumont spent his days Bitcoin mining.
He started his love affair with Bitcoin around the tender age of 13.The 17 year old firmly believes that he has a greater sense of maturity than most people involved in the digital currency industry.He considers himself to be someone worthy of being called a veteran and believes that he is well versed about the ins and outs of trading.He talked about the time when Bitcoin mining was done using GPU and how it was surprisingly profitable. He looks back at his past Bitcoin adventures and mentions his struggles to get his Bitcoin mining gig up and running. Here are words from the prodigy himself.
“I told my parents about Bitcoin because I needed money to buy bitcoins on Mt Gox, so for a few weeks I was like ‘Please give me money,’” he said. “At the beginning it was very noisy, but I was mining a lot of bitcoins.”A long time has elapsed since his days of stretching his palms out in need of finance. Today, he is the mastermind orchestrator behind Bitproof, which is one among the 24 start-ups that have been accommodated at the Boost VC complex in San Mateo.The latest project that Dumont is considering revolves around his eagerness to explore the potential of space.
Dumont says,“Trading is a good way to make money, but it’s not very useful. I wanted to do something useful and I had this idea that we can use the blockchain to transfer the ownership of anything.”With Bitproof, users can authenticate documents using a simple interface. This interface certifies their existence and ownership. Dumont believes that his system offers a better alternative or an upgrade from earlier versions of the concept such as Proof of Existence.
“With that, if you share the file, you know the file exists, but you have no way to prove who created the file,” he explained. “This does ownership, so if you share the file you’re also still the owner.”His involvement with Boost VC is a story that will be of great interest to many. At the age of 16, he applied for a Thiel Fellowship which led him to attend a summit of other applicants.“I met a guy who was in Boost, I went to Boost and met [co-founder] Brayton [Williams] and [CEO] Adam [Draper].
It was very natural, I didn’t know anything about Boost,” he said.Draper and Williams noticed how incredibly talented and knowledgeable Dumont was for a young man of his age, and they wasted no time in landing him the offer to join Boost VC.
