Teenage tycoon
He owns a
company that expects to gross a million this year - but first he needs
to graduate from high school.
By AMY SCHERZER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 24, 2002
NEW SUBURB BEAUTIFUL - Tyler Dikman
bought his first platinum Rolex two years ago. He paid $17,000 cash
last year for his 1997 Infiniti J30. He has discussed the future of
wireless networking with Bill Gates and had his picture taken with
Michael Dell.
As president and CEO of CoolTronics.com
-- a firm that sells, delivers and sets up computers -- Tyler expects
to gross $1-million this year.
"I live, sleep and walk business 24 hours
a day," he says.
Wednesday, he graduated from Jesuit High
School.
He's 17, an altar boy at Christ the King
Catholic Church in South Tampa, yet he meets payroll for as many as six
employees and contractors, one of whom he pays to clean his room.
His client base approaches 250. He racks
up nearly 6,000 cell phone minutes a month, tending to the demands of
business.
"It started as a hobby and fun thing that
turned into a whole lot more," he says.
The son of a homemaker and a real estate
agent -- Jane Hardin and husband Bob Dikman -- Tyler was on the road to
financial security when most kids were still getting allowances. Tyler
never needed an allowance.
He attributes success to good marketing
and an ability to relate to people.
"So many people know computers," he says.
"But how many know how to speak to clients?"
Tyler does.
He could sell his mother a broken
motherboard.
"He's a nice boy," Jane Hardin says. "I
think he'll make the world a better place."
In ways, he already has. Thursdays, he
plays cards, checkers and chess with veterans at the James A. Haley
Veterans Hospital. For the past two summers, he has volunteered there,
first in geriatrics, then in the spinal cord unit, where he learned to
lift quadriplegics in and out of wheelchairs.
Back at work, he smoothly teaches
grannies to surf the Internet and send e-mail, linking them to families
across the country.
They marvel at his impeccable manners. He
pays attention when they speak and looks into their eyes, patiently
answering questions.
"He's definitely not your typical
teenager," says Scott McRae, a Plant High student. Tyler pays Scott to
design Web sites and network with clients.
"He's very driven," Scott says.
The drive keeps Tyler going day and
night, fueled by endless Cokes. It's a rare evening when he's home
before 10:30 p.m. Dinner comes through a window at McDonald's or Taco
Bell, although he enjoys fine restaurants. A girlfriend? No time.
He sleeps five hours a night, tops.
"Usually on the family room sofa," notes
sister Laura, 13.
If he's not troubleshooting or teaching
customers, he's often traveling. He doesn't leave home without his
exclusive American Express Centurion card, reserved for card holders
with at least $150,000 in charges a year.
"I got my card before Larry Ellison," he
says, beaming at the thought of besting the president of Oracle Corp.
Because the card entitles him to
upgrades, he'll fly first class next month when he accompanies his
grandmother, Ruth Dikman, on a 10-day cruise along the eastern coast of
Canada. He expects they'll be upgraded to a suite.
He likes Las Vegas. He's been there four
times.
That's where he engaged in tech talk at a
November COMDEX technology show attended by Gates, chairman of
Microsoft, and Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Computer Corp.
"Gates was real loose, laid back," he
says. "We talked about the future of wireless networking."
Tyler introduced himself to Dell,
broaching the subject of the company's "Dude, you're getting a Dell"
kid, actor Ben Curtis.
"I should be the real kid in the Dell
commercials," he recalls saying.
Dell gave Tyler the name of his
advertising guy.
* * *
Tyler's road to the Silicon Valley began
early.
At age 5, he was earning $15 an hour
peddling lemonade from his New Suburb Beautiful driveway. He lured the
thirsty with a discarded Bacardi Rum display. An early marketing
discovery: Moms liked him. His smile could earn a $1 tip.
Back then he wanted to be a heart or
brain surgeon. He also wanted to make money.
By age 10, he was charging $25 for
30-minute birthday party magic shows and using the money to buy stock
in Coca-Cola and McDonald's.
He got his first computer at age 10, an
old Gateway his Dad brought home from the office. Sim City was the
first game he remembers buying.
"That Christmas, I actually got a
top-of-the-line Micron with Windows 95," says Tyler. He studied it
inside and out.
"The Micron was under warranty so I could
take it apart and break things like crazy," he says.
By eighth grade, teachers were excusing
him from class to fix their computers. It occurred to him that he could
earn a living.
A neighbor up the street, Joann Frazier,
says she was his first paying customer, in 1997.
"I bought a computer and a printer from
him, and he taught me how to use it," she says. "Then I got a scanner
and he made me a woman of the 21st century."
Frazier and Tyler's mother told all their
friends, and Tyler's career was launched.
In the beginning, he charged $15 an hour.
He was too young to drive, so clients
would pick him up.
A babysitting job for Malcolm Taaffe,
then a vice president at Merrill Lynch, led to a non-paying, summer
internship.
Two weeks into the internship, at age 14,
Tyler was on the payroll.
"Technology-wise, I was a neophyte,"
Taaffe says. "I told him what I needed, and he got me up and running."
Tyler took charge of computer
acquisition, setup, training and troubleshooting.
Taaffe was struck by his sense of
personal responsibility and compassion.
"He never complains," Taaffe says.
"There's never an ill word about anyone."
When Taaffe changed firms, he took Tyler
with him to UBS/PaineWebber, where the teenager worked 10 to 15 hours a
week.
"Once again, I trusted him, carte
blanche," Taaffe says. "He'd go off and do whatever had to be done."
By the middle of 10th grade, Tyler was a
serious businessman. In January 2000, he formed CoolTronics.com, a sole
proprietorship. Largely self-taught, he trained to be a Microsoft
Certified Professional.
Now he charges $45 an hour for
residential consulting, repairs and upgrades, and $60 commercial.
About eight months ago, he established a
partnership with Dell.
"I'm their youngest partner," he says.
He could be, says Sebastien Roegiers, a
Dell senior account manager. He calls Tyler "impressive."
"When he told me how old he was, I was
like, 'wow,' " Roegiers says.
As a Dell reseller, Tyler must sell a
minimum of $100,000 annually in Dell equipment. "The more volume, the
better the discount pricing," Roegiers says.
That's how Tyler can beat Dell's online
prices.
If he's the youngest Dell dealer, he's
also the most junior member of the Junior League's community advisory
board.
Earlier this year, after selling,
updating and networking three Dell computers in the Davis Islands
headquarters, the Junior League asked him to be the board's technology
director.
"I was the only one who had to get out of
school to go to the luncheon," he says.
So now what happens, when the boy voted
"Most Likely to Succeed" leaves home for college?
Strategically, he picked Santa Clara
University, partly because it's a Jesuit school, but also because it's
down the street from Yahoo, Intel and Ebay.
Come September, he'll put his Tampa
business in the hands of two high school friends. He's training them
now, and informing clients.
"California is only a cell phone call
away," he assures them.
And Tampa, just a plane ride away.
Who knows, business could be even better
out west. College students are a prime target for new computers.
"I will be
selling some Dells in California," says Tyler.
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