Teenage Entrepreneur Squatted in AOL Offices

Eric Simons turned AOL campus into his personal office
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted May 26, 2012 2:09 PM CDT
Teenage Entrepreneur Squatted in AOL Offices
The AOL sign in front of the AOL Inc. offices in Palo Alto, Calif.   (Getty Images)

A teenage entrepreneur found the perfect place to develop his new software: AOL's campus in Palo Alto, Calif. Only problem: No one knew he was also eating, sleeping, working out, and doing his laundry there, CNET reports. Eric Simons had invented his educational software, ClassConnect, in a new campus "incubator" program called Imagine K12. But when his money ran out, Eric figured he'd see if his campus security access still worked. And it did.

So he set up a routine: working until late, sleeping on the office sofa, and getting up in time to exercise and wolf down something in the office kitchen. Then, one morning, he woke up to find the office security guard bawling him out. Busted, Eric left, found startup money for his software, and rented out a house. He still goes to the campus for meetings, he says, but "when I'm there, I beeline for the Imagine K12 office, and when I'm done, I beeline straight for the door." (More AOL stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X