Name: From Neopets to $100K: How This 25-Year-Old Built a Tech Empire
Uploaded: 2025-10-24T17:00:00+00:00
Duration: 43 min 16 s
Description: How did a childhood obsession with virtual pets lead to a $100K tech business? At just 25 years old, Mia Kotalik turned her love for Neopets into web development skills, then into a thriving company t

30 days ago

Podcasts entrepreneurship tech career freelancing young entrepreneur programming career startup story tech business college entrepreneur web development business tech industry

How did a childhood obsession with virtual pets lead to a $100K tech business? At just 25 years old, Mia Kotalik turned her love for Neopets into web development skills, then into a thriving company that works with Google and major corporations. This is her complete journey from 8-year-old gamer to tech entrepreneur.

At just 25 years old, Mia Kotalik has already achieved what most people dream of - building a six-figure business before even graduating college. But her journey started in the most unexpected way: with Neopets and a college essay that changed everything.

In this episode, Mia shares her incredible journey from starting to code at age 8 to becoming the co-founder of Curie & Co, a tech company that works with everyone from small nonprofits to Google and major pharmaceutical companies. She reveals the exact strategies she used to turn high school freelancing into a thriving business, and why she believes the traditional corporate path isn't for everyone.

🎯 What You'll Learn:
• How to start freelancing while still in school
• The biggest mistakes new freelancers make (and how to avoid them)
• Why she turned down traditional tech jobs for entrepreneurship
• How to work with major corporations as a young freelancer
• The real truth about what happens inside big tech companies
• Her advice for anyone wanting to start their own tech business

⏰ Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction: Neopets, College Essays & $100K Business
01:12 - Started Coding at 8 Years Old (The Python Book Story)
03:56 - The Famous Neopets College Essay & Guild Sites
05:22 - Balancing Freelance Work with College
08:35 - Why She Chose Freelancing Over Corporate Tech Jobs
12:41 - Biggest Business Mistakes (The Pricing Lesson)
16:59 - How to Start Freelancing (Portfolio Building Tips)
23:41 - Advice for Women in Tech
27:00 - Starting "Technically, A Podcast"
30:46 - Future of Tech & AI Impact on Programming