Esta es la historia de Michael Sayman, quien a sus trece anos creo una empresa de desarrollo de aplicaciones iOS que llamo la atencion de Mark Zuckerberg. Desde entonces, ha trabajado para Facebook, Google y, actualmente, para Roblox, la conocida empresa de juegos virtuales.

Emprendedor por naturaleza e hijo de inmigrantes hispanos, Michael lucho desde nino por encontrar su lugar en el mundo. En App Kid, nos cuenta como, a raiz del colapso del negocio familiar que llevaban sus padres, aprendio a programar por si mismo, lanzando una aplicacion para iPhone que llego a recaudar miles de dolares al mes, lo suficiente para mantener a flote a su familia. Entrado en la adolescencia, nos comparte la increible experiencia que vivio al pasar de la escuela secundaria directamente al mundo profesional, entrando a trabajar en Facebook como su empleado mas joven, y creando nuevas funciones operativas que cautivaron al mismo Mark Zuckerberg. A lo largo de su trayectoria, se enfrenta con retos y preguntas existenciales que le llevan no solo a alcanzar exitosamente otras metas profesionales, sino tambien a descubrir su orientacion sexual y a aceptar, con el apoyo de su familia, que es gay.

Sinceras y emocionantes, las memorias de Michael incluyen todos los altibajos, tanto los exitos como los fracasos, del apasionante camino que ha recorrido hasta llegar a sus 25 anos. Es la fascinante historia de un joven hispano que, aun sin tener mayoria de edad, se destaco en el feroz universo de Silicon Valley, convirtiendose en una inspiracion para miles de ninos y jovenes que se encuentran en la busqueda de su propio exito e identidad.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

An inspiring and deeply personal coming of age memoir from one of Silicon Valley’s youngest entrepreneurs-a second-generation Latino immigrant who taught himself how to code as a thirteen-year-old and went on to claim his share of the American dream.

As his parents watched their restaurant business collapse in the wake of the Great Recession, Michael Sayman was googling how to code. Within a year, he had launched an iPhone app that was raking in thousands of dollars a month, enough to keep his family afloat-and in America.

Entirely self-taught, Sayman headed from high school straight into the professional world, and by the time he was seventeen, he was Facebook’s youngest employe ever, building new features that wowed its founder Mark Zuckerberg and are now being used by more than half a billion people every day. Sayman pushed Facebook to build its own version of Snapchat’s Stories and, as a result, engagement on the platform soared across all demographics. Millions of Gen Z and Millennials flocked to Facebook, and as teen engagement rose dramatically on Instagram and WhatsApp, Snapchat’s parent company suffered a billion-dollar loss in value. Three years later, Sayman jumped ship for Google.

App Kid is the galvanizing story of a young Latino, not yet old enough to drink, who excelled in the cutthroat world of Silicon Valley and went on to become an inspiration to thousands of kids everywhere by following his own surprising, extraordinary path. In this candid and uplifting memoir, Sayman shares the highs and lows, the successes and failures, of his remarkable journey. His book is essential and affirming reading for anyone marching to the beat of their own drum.