There's an important point not empathized enough in this article: Supportive Parents
The lack of support from your parents is probably the biggest brake you may have at this age. Fortunately for this kid, thanks to the support of his parents, he managed to succeed in a really short time. Kudos to the entire family.
His parents also had the "lots of money" that allowed him to "replace the wheels every few weeks".
I know that when I was a child, if I had a scooter and the wheels broke, I would never get to own a scooter again. So that's the kind of opportunity I'd have missed out on.
It says his mother helped him make a website to sell the wheels. That's pretty substantial, and surely his parents signed some contracts along the way to get deals done (which means money and time, not to mention the more ethereal "support" that you give someone when you sign a contract for their benefit and your possible detriment).
This is similar to the Jibbitz story of Sheri Schmelzer, the homemaker who one day got this idea. And fast forward a couple of years she earns $10MM by selling her business.
Oh and just by the way, her husband is a seasoned high powered sales guy. What a coincidence.
The lack of support from your parents is probably the biggest brake you may have at this age. Fortunately for this kid, thanks to the support of his parents, he managed to succeed in a really short time. Kudos to the entire family.