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Michael Sayman
Founder, CEO & Software Engineer at Friendly Apps, Author, and Tech Innovator
Michael Sayman is a Peruvian-Bolivian-American entrepreneur, software engineer, and author who is best known for creating popular mobile apps as a teenager and his subsequent work at tech companies like Facebook, Google, and Roblox.2
Key Facts About Michael Sayman
- Born in 1996 in Miami, Florida to Peruvian and Bolivian immigrant parents2
- Taught himself to code at age 13 and released his first app on the App Store when he was 132
- Gained recognition from Mark Zuckerberg with his turn-based photo game "4 Snaps" in high school, which had over 1 million downloads2
- Became Facebook's "teen-in-residence" at age 18, helping develop products for the teenage demographic2
- Played a key role in creating Instagram Stories while at Facebook23
- Joined Google in 2017 to work on projects like Google Assistant and YouTube Shorts23
- Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 20192
- Worked at Roblox in 2020-2021 managing product teams for features like Friending, Profiles, and Roblox Graph3
- In 2022, founded Friendly Apps, a startup that raised $3 million in seed funding to build apps focused on mental health and well-being13
- Published his memoir "App Kid" in 2021 detailing his upbringing and career2
Friendly Apps
In 2022, Sayman founded Friendly Apps with the goal of creating a suite of apps that help people with their mental health and physical well-being in new ways.1 The startup raised a $3 million seed round in just 7 days from investors including BoxGroup, Weekend Fund, Shrug Capital, and founders from companies like Snap, TikTok, and Google.13
As Founder and CEO, Sayman is programming the front-end and back-end of the Friendly Apps products and managing their promotion to reach the top charts.3 He plans to incorporate perspectives from diverse backgrounds like teachers, mothers, students and immigrants to help guide the company's mission.1
Highlights
yo @TeamStubHub @StubHub can y'all actually help? or is the customer service line just for looks?
My parents ran a Peruvian chicken restaurant in a strip mall of the suburbs of Kendall, Florida.
They worked late nights, so my little sister and I spent the evenings playing games, and I’d make education tools/packets on the family computer to teach her math and whatnot.
Then in 2009, when the recession hit and we got evicted and my parents lost everything, I spent all my time after school learning how to build mobile apps and how to monetize them.
After a couple top charting apps, I joined Facebook before graduating high school… I could finally tell my parents that we didn’t have to fear another eviction ever again.
Almost 15 years later, the fears that drove my passion still live in me. I still race as if I’m about to get evicted.
All that to say, I love what I do. I wouldn’t have been able to push this route had I not loved it as much as I do.
I’m so grateful that I found something back then to help us.
And I’m so excited for all the new tools out there helping give more people the chance to become entrepreneurs than ever before.
I hope I can spend my these coming years helping make those tools even more accessible for all, no matter how young or old. ❤️
