‘A most influential teen for 2016’
Former Sydneysider Ben Pasternak has been named in Time magazine’s 30 Most Influential Teens of 2016 list, joining the likes of Sasha and Malia Obama, Jaden Smith and the youngest-ever Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai.
FORMER Sydneysider Ben Pasternak has been named in Time magazine’s 30 Most Influential Teens of 2016 list, joining the likes of Sasha and Malia Obama, Jaden Smith and the youngest-ever Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai.
The 17-year-old, who dropped out of high school and moved to New York City alone to pursue his passion for tech entrepreneurship, is the founder and CEO of Flogg, a Generation Z marketplace app he started building at home in Sydney.
Speaking to The AJN, Ben’s mother Anna said she felt a “mixture of pride and confusion” upon hearing the news.
“You just read these things and kind of smile. They don’t feel real,” Anna said, adding that Ben was “very very excited, very proud” of the accolade.
Asked how the teenager is coping living away from home, Anna replied, “Remarkably well. I can’t believe it. I thought he would last about three months, he’s been there for well over a year.”
She said Ben is “blossoming”, and having the “most remarkable experience”.
“The creativity and the energy and opportunities are over there [in New York]. Trying to get him to just stay at school and be a regular kind of school kid was just frustrating. He needs to be around this stimulus and energy.”
Noting that Ben’s siblings are very proud, Anna joked, “This is normal big brother behaviour, all big brothers go to Manhattan and create apps and meet fabulous people.
“He’s meeting the most extraordinary people. He’s got amazing mentors and support over there. He’s got a whole infrastructure over there.”
Ben shot to fame in 2014 when, at only 15, he designed an iPhone game called Impossible Rush, which became a huge success on the App Store in Australia and overseas.
It resulted in Australian television networks and newspapers clamouring to interview the then Reddam House student.
“Ten years ago, to make software was really, really complicated; you needed teams of people working on something,” Ben told The AJN at the time.
“The thing about apps is anyone can do it.”
Anna revealed Ben is releasing another app, which he’s finalising at the moment.
“He’s very excited about that. There’s going to be two apps on the boil, two very different apps but both geared to the teenage market.
“He’s just in his element.”
EVAN ZLATKIS
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