Tynan on Tech

In my final installment of interviews, I talk with Anshul Samar, the 14-year-old founder and CEO of Alchemist Empire and inventor of the chemistry card game, Elementeo. Of all the 10 young turks I profiled in my PC World story (“Meet the Whiz Kids: 10 Overachievers Under 21,”) Anshul might be the most impressive. I’ve certainly never encountered any 14-year-olds who talk the CEO talk the way Anshul does. And his card game looks wicked cool. Here’s what he had to tell me.

TOT: What inspired you to start Elementeo?

Living in Silicon Valley, I have sees all of these people starting their own businesses, showing the world their product, and being entrepreneurs. I didn’t want to wait another 10 years to start my own business — I wanted to do it now.

TOT: Are you doing what you saw yourself doing as a small child? Are you living your dream? Or has your career path been more serendipitous?

As a small child, the only thing I wanted to do was to have fun by creating something new and unique. From writing poems since 2nd grade, stories on how to beat Microsoft in 3rd grade, creating 4 page newspapers in 4th grade, creating a printing press from colonial times in 5th grade, etc. And yes, I have had fun and am having fun.

My dream was to turn my idea into a real business — since fourth grade I’ve dreamed of being the CEO of my own business. And now in eighth grade I am finally one.

I haven’t thought anything about having business as a career, or anything else. I just do whatever seems fun to me.

If this business fails, I can still come home and have a nice dinner I will still have my basketball hoop in my backyard and my skateboard in the garage.

TOT: What’s a typical day like?

I work part-time. As a 8th grader, most of the day I am at school or doing homework Weekends are mostly devoted to working on Elementeo, my chemistry card game. This includes designing, engineering, R&D, corresponding with designers and artists, giving pitches to people that are interested, marketing, testing, and do a lot of brainstorming about the game. I have talked to VCs, lawyers, advisors, other kids, parents, and teachers. In the beginning days, I spent hours and hours doing research on all the chemistry elements and compounds. After the initial idea, I built and threw away dozens of prototypes over last 12-18 months. I have been to a few conferences, given talks, talked to press, TV, etc.

Let me tell you a bit about the Elementeo game itself.

In this action-packed board game, two or more players wage a chemical war with just one goal in mind – destroy their opponent’s electrons to zero! Armed with their arsenal of elements, compounds, and nuclear reactions, these young chemists strive to create, combat, and conquer the world! Your element cards range from the powerful creatures like Titanium Taurus and Sodium Dragon to ones with the mythical powers such as Oxygen Life-Giver and Carbon Conqueror!

You can also make powerful compounds such as Salt, Water, Sulfuric Acid and Polyvinyl Chloride. But the game doesn’t stop there — there are also Alchemy Cards like Nuclear Fusion, Slippery Base, and Electron Exchange that you can use to double up the action, excitement, and battle!

This game can be played by 2-6 players, and is suitable for 9-99 year olds. Kids are going to learn about chemistry without even realizing it. And grown ups are going to have fun even if they lose to their kids.

TOT: Where do you see yourself in 10 or 20 years? Do you think you’ll be doing the same thing?

Entrepreneurship and game making is way too exciting for me to stop doing it… but seriously, I’m in middle school, I have no idea what I’m going to be doing next year, or in 10 years from now when I will be finishing up college in …. hmm…. 10 years .

I want to do many things from being a lawyer, doctor, research scientist… I am completely open but I want to serve people one way or the other.

TOT: What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far? What challenges do you anticipate?

Time is the biggest issue. It is hard and stressful managing school and business both, but I stay calm by doing meditation.

Looking forward, my biggest challenge would be time, how would I reach out to the world to sell this game, how do I do it all with so few hours.

TOT: Do you feel like you’ve had to sacrifice what it typically means to be a kid to achieve what you’ve achieved? What has been the biggest sacrifice? What do you miss?

Why do people think that I am different from those that do tennis or soccer outside of school. Just like they play a sport, I run a business. And running a business is fun. Something only becomes a sacrifice when it’s not fun.

Sometimes I miss taking the vacations and long trips, but that is fine.

TOT: What advice do you have for other young people who may be looking to follow a similar path?

It took me two years with obstacles to get the product to where it is right now. There were times when I stopped doing it and then started again, but overall I have stuck to it. Don’t get discouraged — and keep on going. You should believe in yourself–that is all that matters.

It is also important to have a close mentor who has experience with the entrepreneur world, who can help you pick the right ideas.

It may get very stressful balancing school and business, and dealing with uncertain future of the business. I have managed this by practicing meditation and breathing exercises offered by the Art of Living Foundation.

TOT: What else do you want to say to our readers?

Age has no affect on entrepreneurship. Anyone can do it and anyone can “Create, Combat, and Conquer.” (TM)

The other WhizKid interviews can be found here:

Catherine Cook – myYearbook.com
Andrew Sutherland – Quizlet.com
Ben Casnocha – Comcate Inc.
Ashley Qualls – WhateverLife.com
Matt Wegrzyn – Bodis.com

Tags: CEO, chemistry, entrepreneur, silicon valley, teen, whiz kid

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