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I was 12 years old when I started earning

2026-11-04 · Short · Ali · recording, 1:05 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Business and entrepreneurship · mode: Personal story

In a Short, Ali retells how at about 12 he emailed everyone he knew offering to make websites, was paid £30 by Stan, a friend's stepdad, and learned the skill on the job; offering a service and then figuring out the skill once you have the gig is now his top advice for entrepreneurs.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Paid £30 at 12 for a website for a friend's stepdad

  • ★★★ At around 12, wanting to learn website design and get paid for it, Ali asked his friends whether anyone needed a website and emailed all his Gmail contacts; Stan, a friend's stepdad, replied and offered him £30 to design his website. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Ali worked out how to build Stan's website with HTML, CSS and tables, delivered it on a USB memory stick and was paid 30 pounds in cash; he says he would have done it for free and that the moment completely changed his life. — 00:00:29
  • ★★★ Ali's top advice for entrepreneurs, drawn from his first paid website at 12: with no degree or experience, offer your services to solve a problem someone needs solved, and figure out the skill once you have got the gig. — 00:00:43

00:00:58 — His top advice for entrepreneurs and sign-off

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