Erick Van't Westeinde: freshman entrepreneur

Fort Worth, TX

9/18/2008

Before he was even old enough to drive, Erick Van’t Westeinde bought a Porsche. A 1973 911S, to be exact. He fixed it up and sold it for twice what he paid for it. Doing the same thing with other high-end luxury collectible cars, he has made about a quarter of a million dollars—before he graduated from high school. That feat, no doubt, wowed the judges and helped him win the Grand Prize scholarship in the 2008 TCU Texas Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

“I was surprised to learn that there was a contest for people my age who had a business,” said Erick. “My high school counselor told me about it, because a student from our school (Jesuit College Preparatory in Dallas) had won the year before.”

Erick had never been to the TCU campus before he dropped off his application, and then he was in such a hurry that he barely noticed the surroundings. When he came back as a finalist for the two-day event in February, he admired the beautiful campus on either side of University Drive.

At the end of the two days, the winners were announced. Erick and his parents were in attendance at the award dinner.

“I had never been (honored with) such a prestigious award,” said Erick, a first-generation American whose Dutch-Peruvian family came from humble roots. “I’ll never forget being called up in front of all those people and making my speech. I got a little emotional.”

Erick is an example of taking one’s passion and turning it into a profit-making venture. At age 12, he was collecting and trading pricey, miniature reproductions of Porsches and Mercedes, before stepping up to the real thing. At TCU, using the $10,000 scholarship he won over 22 other entrepreneurial student finalists, Erick will major in real estate finance, following in his father’s footsteps, and possibly double major in entrepreneurial management.

“I’m looking forward to learning about something that I like and am interested in,” he said. “I’m also looking forward to meeting people – I’ve met so many in the last few days – and finding out what organizations I fit best with.”

And he wants to help spread the word about the TCU Texas Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Award. He admits that many young entrepreneurs run their businesses rather quietly. Many times, their classmates and school counselors don’t even know about it.

“I’d like to see more people take advantage of it,” said Erik. “I didn’t know there was an award for entrepreneurs my age. When even more people know about it, they’ll be as excited as I was to enter.”