5th graders turn passion for tech into real world success

By Jennifer Russo

When many fifth-grade boys are busy mastering levels and obtaining virtual items in video games, two very business-minded kids took it upon themselves to go on a real-life quest instead. Michael Glushchenko and Finn Hughes are students at St. Catherine’s School in Norwood, and have been great friends for some time, both sharing a love for technology and an ambition for business ideas. After building a couple of gaming computers completely from scratch and selling them to Hometown Arcade, they can now say they are business partners too. 

“Michael has always been very entrepreneurial,” Glushchenko’s mother Rodie said. “He and Finn tried to start a snow shoveling business a few years ago, at 8-9 years old, and he also sold tomato plant seedlings one summer. We really support his curiosity and endeavors!”

What impressive planning taken on by these ambitious young men. Inspired by online videos of people building computers, the boys needed to do some research to understand what materials they needed, create a budget, find and purchase the parts, and locate a potential buyer. While this was a lot of work, the boys were committed to the task, and determined to see it succeed. When they ran into obstacles, they pushed through and learned a lot in the process.

“One of the challenges we had was installing some parts of the computer, like the IO shield and the CPU cooler, but we kept trying and realized what we had to do,” Glushchenko said.

“With the first model, when we tried to power it on, it didn’t work!” Hughes said. “We thought the cables were the problem, so we spent time fixing them and that solved the issue.”

Like any business venture, it required some upfront capital funds, and the boys invested money they had saved from events like birthdays and holidays to purchase the parts they needed. 

“At first, I was apprehensive because he was asking to invest his own money, but I am so proud of them!” Hughes mother Maura said. “I love that they did this independently, investing their own money, doing a bunch of research, watching videos on computer building, and spending a lot of time problem solving and marketing.”

When they were done building the computer, they posted it on Facebook Marketplace and were thrilled to see that there was a huge amount of interest. The owner of Hometown Arcade, Matt Snow, bought it and was very impressed.

“We needed a pretty powerful gaming computer for one of the arcade games and found the listing,” Snow said. “The price was almost too good to be true given the specs of the machine (and unfortunately, you need to be worried about the large number of scammers out there). However, after talking with one of the boy’s dads, we worked out a deal and they brought the PC by our arcade in Norwood later that day. The machine exceeded our expectations and has been great for us. We ended up needing another PC for our location in NJ and the boys put a second one together for us. They really know what they’re doing from a tech standpoint and are pretty savvy entrepreneurs as well! We are super happy and lucky to have found them, and we will definitely be buying more machines from them in the future.  Just great kids all around.”

Glushchenko shared that his favorite part of the experience was seeing the computer turn on and work after building it for a while, and Hughes said the best part for him was learning how to build a computer and seeing how all the parts work together. Both boys are very goal-oriented and interested in continuing to pursue entrepreneurship in the future and have some advice for other kids who want to try something like this themselves.

“I would highly recommend it, but do a lot of research before buying anything,” Glushchenko advised.

“It’s hard, but if you do the research and are committed, then hard work can pay off,” Hughes shared. 

And for these two ambitious and determined students, the work certainly did pay off in a big way. Now their homebuilt computers are running games for the whole community to enjoy, and as their machines hum away inside the arcade, they can start considering their next project. It’s truly amazing what can be achieved when young minds are driven by exploration, teamwork, and the simple belief that it can be done. It’s also a great reminder that when we encourage kids to pursue their ideas and dreams, we shape an even brighter and more innovative future.

Editor’s Note: Just after deadline, Snow put in a third order for another computer!