Could This 12-Year-Old Be the Next Steve Jobs?

November 16, 2011

Some 12-year-olds are uncomfortable standing up and speaking in front of a class, let alone an entire auditorium of executives and technology enthusiasts.

Not Thomas Suarez.

Suarez is a sixth grader from Los Angeles and is already making waves in the technology industry for his talents as an app developer, but more, as an eloquent, confident and smart budding entrepreneur.

Suarez wowed the crowd at a recent TEDx event in Manhattan Beach. TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a nonprofit dedicated to spreading intelligent ideas through conferences and events, and hosts some of the smartest minds in a wide variety of industries.

Seemingly without nerves, Suarez took the stage among tech gurus and delivered a speech that described his apps and how he came to develop them. He released his first app called Earth Fortune in 2010, which is a simple app that uses random colors to determine what kind of day you’ll have.

Another app that Suarez created is about Justin Bieber. Bustin Jieber, is a Whac-a-Mole-inspired game where players have to whack Justin Bieber’s face as it jumps around the screen. He said in his speech, “I created it because a lot of people at school disliked Justin Bieber a little bit.”

To continue his app entrepreneurship, he created a company called CarrotCorp. He even created a club at school to have kids gather to discuss app development.

His interest in computers and coding started as a mere kindergartner, where he began teaching himself how to write code and create programs. He said on his speech, 'My parents, my friends and even the people at the Apple store all supported me... and Steve Jobs inspired me.'

If Suarez continues on this path, he will most definitely serve as inspiration for many.

Take a look at Suarez on stage. What a kid!