Jack Harris is a 19-year-old social media investor and growth hacker who started investing while he was in high school. Aside from investing, Jack plans to join TmGrowth in an effort to help clients grow their social media following, boost their engagement, and monetize their accounts to drive business growth and help enterprises further solidify their brand.
I was able to reach out to Jack through Instagram, and I had the opportunity to interview him to learn about his experience as a young entrepreneur and investor.
Q. What was the main driver in your life that led you to become an entrepreneur at an early age?
JH: The main driver in my life that led me to wanting to be entrepreneurial at a young age was my desire to break free from the norms of living the life of an average teenager. I became motivated to make money while I was in school. I soon realized that I would not have time to work a conventional job while juggling school work as a full-time student, so I decided to take a shot at investing.
Q. What strengths have you tapped into that have allowed you to reach the place you are today?
JH: The philosophy that I always have gone by when investing is only funding companies that I believe in conceptually. I invest in enterprises that tackle problems, problems that I can relate to, and look less at how well the business is doing presently and place more of an emphasis on the relatability and applicability a company and its products are towards driving a tangible change in a community, both digitally and conceptually.
Q. What was the first venture you took part in and how has it geared you towards your work at TmGrowth today?
JH: I have always tried to invest in areas that I feel have a growing market in terms of application with current trends. From my background of working in the talent agency field, I have been able to spot changes in social media, particularly with respect to Instagram. Currently, brands are less likely to pick someone based on how they look and instead tend to look for people based on the number of followers one has as a metric to evaluate individuals who can provide the most outreach for a company’s products. Regarding advertising, social media has been at the forefront of channels that allow businesses to get the word out to potential consumers about their brand and products. There are many people who want to be in this line of work at the moment, and many people aspire to be influencers.
Q. Can we discuss your tendencies as an investor? What kind of assets do you typically invest in, whether they be stocks, cryptocurrencies, etc.?
JH: I typically invest in stocks, I try to find companies that I am passionate about early-on and get involved financially as soon as I can. Though this is the case, my philosophy drives me not to invest based on how well the company is performing, but rather on how much I can resonate with a particular business idea.
Q. What is your advice to other up-and-coming young entrepreneurs of Generation Z? Where can they learn about starting businesses and investing?
JH: My advice for other up and coming entrepreneurs would be to go and experiment with the market, find a company that is not super popular that you believe in, put some money in and see how you do from an investment standpoint. I think these days every investor will tell you that they have the best strategy, that they know how to grow money more than anyone else rapidly. I couldn’t disagree more. Investing is a gamble and you either get lucky, or you don’t. I never invest more than I can afford to lose and I think although that means slower growth it is a much safer plan in my view.
