Building Businesses Before Age 20 W/Jack Dyer
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Episode Description
In this episode of the On The Rise Podcast, host Jeremy Dyer welcomes a very special guest — his own son, Jack Dyer. At just 19 years old, Jack has already launched and operated multiple business ventures, from a drop shipping company and a coffee roasting brand to a six-figure outdoor services company. He and Jeremy have an honest, energetic conversation about what it really looks like to scratch the entrepreneurial itch early, why college isn't the only path to success, how faith shapes the way Jack approaches risk and purpose, and what he's building next. A refreshing and inspiring episode for parents, teenagers, and anyone who believes the entrepreneurial spirit doesn't have an age requirement.
Summary
1. The Entrepreneurial Instinct Shows Up Early — If You Let It Jack's selling instincts showed up before grade school — clipping flowers from the garden to sell to neighbors, hauling car parts in a wagon to a mechanic down the street, and winning a school sales competition in third grade to earn a phone. The pattern was clear from the beginning: Jack is wired to create, sell, and build.
"I feel like I typically am better at things that are fun to me that I actually enjoy. So that was a good starting point."
2. Your First Business Doesn't Have to Be Your Best — It Just Has to Be First Jack's drop shipping company in 10th grade made $2,000 and taught him about e-commerce, repeat customers, and the limits of low-margin products. The coffee roasting company taught him production, operations, and door-to-door sales. Neither business lasted forever — but both built skills that funded everything that came after.
"Just because the one didn't work out doesn't mean that there's not another way to go at it."
3. Keep Moving — Direction Matters More Than Certainty When asked how teenagers should handle the pressure of having it all figured out, Jack's answer was direct: stop trying. Nobody has it figured out. The goal is not certainty — it is motion. As long as you are doing something, learning something, and moving in some direction, you are on the right track.
"You're never going to have it figured out. As long as you're still moving, as long as you've got motion, you're on the right track."
4. College Is Not the Answer for Everyone Jack's view on higher education is nuanced and earned — not theoretical. He tried the college path, pivoted to a gunsmithing program, and ultimately returned to entrepreneurship. His conclusion is that college makes sense for doctors, lawyers, engineers, and those who learn well in a classroom — but for business-minded, hands-on learners, doing beats studying every time.
"In business, you'll learn a whole lot more just doing it than you ever do sitting in a lecture."
5. Faith Gives Purpose to the Platform You Build Jack connects his entrepreneurial drive directly to his faith — believing that God gives each person specific gifts and that using them fully is an act of stewardship. He also sees business success as a vehicle for influence, and influence as an opportunity to expand the kingdom.
"I believe that God gives us all individual gifts and it's the respectful option to use them to the best of your abilities — you're supposed to do everything as if you're doing it for the Lord."
6. Fake Productivity Is the Enemy of Real Progress One of Jack's most hard-won lessons is the difference between feeling productive and actually being productive. Reorganizing spreadsheets, tweaking logos, and other low-value busywork can feel like progress while the real work — finding customers and generating revenue — goes undone.
"A lot of times the most productive thing you can do is just going out and finding your clients. The biggest problem a business can run into is if money's not flowing in."
7. Starting Young Means Risking Less Jack makes a practical case for launching businesses while still living at home — the downside is limited, the safety net is real, and the lessons are cheap. The longer someone waits to take their first entrepreneurial risk, the more they have to lose and the harder it becomes to start.
"It's always good to start while you're still living at your parents' house. I could start a business and it could be gone tomorrow and I still have a roof over my head."
8. Find Someone Who Has What You Want — Then Study Them Jack credits watching Grant Cardone's Undercover Billionaire episode as one of the catalysts that made him believe building a real business from scratch was actually possible. His advice to anyone starting out is to find a person who has achieved what you want to achieve and use their story as your roadmap.
"Find something that inspires you to do what you want to do. If you're going to be an engineer, go find an engineer that's very successful and go follow them."
