Ask HN: What's the best way for a 16-year-old to guarantee their success?

[B5E6ftS4tgpiW]

Hi there HN. I'm a 16-year-old who isn't quite sure where they need to go next.

I'm a confident web developer working with the JavaScript stack (Node.js/React). Though I've been moving towards Rust these days because I don't like the ecosystem.

I am doing an apprenticeship in webdev but am not really learning anything, but I'm okay with that. I am very lucky to be in this position.

I don't really have any ideas for something to develop and sell. Actually, that's a lie. I have a few, but I don't think they would lead anywhere. It feels as though the SaaS market is heavily saturated and almost everything that money can be made from, already exists.

I was thinking about going into cryptocurrency, but it's difficult for someone my age to get into, highly volatile, and I prefer the technology side to it rather than trading anyway.

I also enjoy learning about netsec. I've executed some common attacks in the past such as deauths and MITM attacks using open source tools, but haven't been able to do anything especially impressive with what I know. But again, I feel like this would just lead to a 9-5 job, albeit well paying.

If I had to define a goal, it would be the same as most peoples. Retire early. Perhaps I'm just asking the same question as they are.

Thanks.

[yousifa]

IMO, don't optimize too much, especially right now. You are not building things because you feel that the market is saturated and hard for someone your age to get into. I would drop that line of thought and do what you are interested in.

Take this time to learn and become the best in the world at something, it is unlikely that you will have this luxury in the future.

Note: -Some of the largest companies were built in industries that were thought to be heavily saturated (eg. Uber, Facebook, etc..) -Vitalik built Ethereum when he was 19 (I think)

[itamarst]

If your goal is early retirement, you will likely benefit from reading http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/.

[AnimalMuppet]

Good news: You're a very impressive 16-year-old. I mean that sincerely. You sound like you're going to be able to do just about whatever you want.

More good news: You don't have to know what to do now. You're 16. Spend your time learning how to do more things, and getting better at the things you already know. In Paul Graham's term, spend some time learning what the options are. (There are far more of them than you know about yet.)

When you see a goal that makes you say "I want to do that", instead of "that might be a way I could retire early", that's a decent sign that you should seriously consider chasing that goal.

[exolymph]

None. There is no way to guarantee success.