Entrepreneurial Venture Age 14-17

Pokéfans.net

Building one of Germany's largest Pokémon trading platforms as a teenager

Overview

At the age of 14, Carsten identified a market opportunity in the German-speaking Pokémon community. He built and operated Pokéfans.net, which grew to become one of the five largest online Pokémon markets in German-speaking countries. This early venture demonstrated his ability to identify market needs and execute on them effectively, even as a teenager.

Key Achievements

  • Built platform serving thousands of active users
  • Traded several hundred shiny Pokémon
  • Maintained personal collection of 400+ rare specimens
  • Developed complete e-commerce infrastructure
  • Managed customer service and community relations

Skills Developed

Technical Skills

  • Full-stack web development
  • Database management
  • Payment processing integration
  • Server administration

Business Skills

  • Market analysis and positioning
  • Community building
  • Customer service management
  • Inventory and logistics

Impact & Lessons Learned

This venture taught fundamental lessons about e-commerce, community building, and market dynamics. Managing a platform that served thousands of users as a teenager provided invaluable experience in customer service, technical infrastructure, and business scaling. The success of Pokéfans.net demonstrated that age is not a barrier to entrepreneurship when you understand your market and can deliver value to users.