Bitcoin first, company second
The order matters. Finman invested in Bitcoin as a schoolboy in Idaho, early enough that the position was worth a six-figure sum while he was still a teenager, and he then used roughly $100,000 of it to fund a company rather than to spend.
That company was Botangle, a video tutoring marketplace: students who were not being served by their classrooms could find a teacher online. Entrepreneur's 2016 round-up of kid entrepreneurs records both the funding figure and the fact that he dropped out of school to run it.
TIME's list, at 15
On 13 October 2014 TIME published its 25 Most Influential Teens of the year, and Finman was on it. The list is an annual snapshot that mixes musicians, athletes, activists and founders; a place on it is the clearest evidence available that a teenager's work reached a national audience.
He shared that 2014 list with, among others, the Irish science-fair winner Sophie Healy-Thow, whose Google Science Fair grand prize came the same year. The cohort is a useful reminder that the teenagers who get this kind of attention are competing in entirely different arenas.
Dropping out
Leaving school at 15 to run a company is the decision that made him a talking point rather than a footnote. The coverage presents it plainly: Botangle existed because classroom teaching had not worked for him, and he backed his own alternative with his own money.
That is also why the story is repeated in every list of young entrepreneurs. It combines the two things the genre likes best, an early cryptocurrency bet and a school-leaving decision, in one person.
What happened to the money
Erik Finman's name is now attached mainly to net-worth searches, and this is where care is required. The only financial figures in the sources used here are the approximate $100,000 he put into Botangle and the fact that it came from an early Bitcoin investment.
No current net worth, no holdings, no sale price and no company valuation appear in this record. Figures circulating elsewhere are not supported by anything on this page, and the honest answer to what he is worth today is that these sources do not say.
What is documented and what is not
Documented: an early Bitcoin investment made as a schoolboy in Idaho; roughly $100,000 of it used to bootstrap Botangle, a video tutoring site, at 15; leaving school to run it; and a place on TIME's 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014.
Not documented here: his date of birth, his family, Botangle's outcome, his later ventures, and any net worth figure. His birth year of about 1999 is derived from his reported age in 2014. Coverage of him has continued elsewhere over the years, but none of it is in this file.
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sawsan Ahmed | United States | Broward College's youngest graduate, at 12, in December 2021 | Age 12 |
| Arvind Mahankali | United States | Won the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee at 13 | Age 13 |
| Kerry Close | United States | Won the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee at 13 | Age 13 |
| Erik Finman | United States | Early Bitcoin investment and founding Botangle at 15 | Age 15 |
| Shania Muhammad | United States | Langston University's youngest graduate, at 15 | Age 15 |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- Named one of TIME's 25 Most Influential Teens on 13 October 2014
- Founded Botangle, a video tutoring site, at 15
- Bootstrapped it with about $100,000 from an early Bitcoin investment
- Dropped out of school to run the company (Entrepreneur, 2016)
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- Date of birth is not published; the birth year here is an estimate
- No net worth, holdings or later valuation figure is documented
- What became of Botangle is not recorded in these sources
Questions people ask about Erik Finman
How old is Erik Finman?
TIME's 2014 list reported him as a teenager of 15 that year, which puts his birth year at about 1999. No date of birth appears in these sources.
What is Erik Finman known for?
Investing in Bitcoin as a schoolboy and using about $100,000 of it to found Botangle, a video tutoring site, at 15.
What is Erik Finman's net worth?
No net worth figure appears in any source used here. The only financial detail documented is the roughly $100,000 he put into Botangle.
What was Botangle?
A site that connected students with tutors over video, which he founded at 15.
Did Erik Finman drop out of school?
Yes. The coverage records that he left school to run Botangle.
Is Erik Finman on Wikipedia?
This file does not confirm an article either way; the references used here are TIME and Entrepreneur.
Where is Erik Finman from?
Idaho, in the United States.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Erik’s story?
What did Erik Finman found at 15?
Where did the money to build it come from?
Which magazine named him one of the 25 most influential teens of 2014?
Sources
- The 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014 — TIME, 2014-10-13
- 11 Successful Kid Entrepreneurs Keeping Their Eyes on the Prize — Entrepreneur, 2016-08-04
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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