An AI business mogul has revealed how designing games in virtual reality as a child turned him into a millionaire – and is urging parents “not to limit screen time”.
Saif Elhager used to be “obsessed” with the online gaming universe Roblox.
The 20-year-old spent endless hours chatting to strangers across the globe and getting stuck into the virtual world as if it were reality.
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His favourite games were tycoon-style, where players can build and run their own businesses.
The rewarding feeling Saif got when his companies took off led him to come up with his own idea, which is now worth millions.
He is the co-founder of AiHello, a platform that automates advertising for brands.
“If your kid is actually hustling and taking these platforms seriously, don’t limit their screen time just because you think that’s the right thing to do,” said Saif.
“My older brother introduced me to Roblox and I was quickly hooked.
“I loved playing entrepreneur-style games as I liked building things.
“I was tycoon-obsessed.
“I’d spend all day growing my castle, factory or whatever else it was.
“I also liked competitive skill-based games, as it made me hungry for more success.”
Saif was very shy growing up, didn’t have any close friends and only left the house to go to school.
Instead, he found comfort in speaking with random people online, as they shared the same interests as him.
He quickly realised that he could use these interactions to his advantage by flogging his own games to other players.
At just nine years old, he taught himself the basics of Roblox and after playing for 500 hours, he’d already made his first couple thousand dollars.
He said: “I thought making my own games would be the quickest way to earn some money so
I trained myself in Roblox.
“I made really simplistic games, such as sword fighting, and relied on free models and ready-to-use assets.
“I ran adverts, invited friends and joined other games to speak to different people about my own games.
“When I had made enough money, I purchased limited-edition items on Roblox and traded them.”
Saif converted his virtual currency into USD or sold the digital products directly to his friends for cold hard cash.
He says his parents didn’t really understand what was happening until he began asking to invest his money.
By the age of 15, Saif was earning a whopping $60,000 a year from trading derivatives and teaching others how to trade.
Saif, who hails from Egypt but now lives in Dubai, said: “My parents trusted that I’d figure things out on my own and stay out of trouble.
“They just thought I was playing games online like any other kid.
“But then I asked to invest my earnings and allowance from birthdays into certificates of deposit [a type of savings account] – which had very high interest rates back then – and treasury bills.
“I also tried my hand at drop shipping, flipping Instagram pages and freelancing online.
“My dad thought it wouldn’t work out and I’d have to get a traditional job in the end.
“My mum always thought I’d be successful, though, and encouraged me to keep going.”
Saif met his co-founder of AiHello Labs, Ganesh Krishan, online in 2022.
Together, in just two years since launching their company, they have built an empire that now brings in seven figures per year and employs 40 people.
But this is just the beginning – the pair hope to replace all other digital marketing agencies in the near future.
Ganesh said: “Saif and I met online.
“We were in two separate parts of the world and we had never worked together before.
“But it felt right, so we just made it happen.”
Saif believes that his success wouldn’t have been possible if he hadn’t been so passionate about virtual gaming as a child.
He added: “Building games like Roblox taught me persistence.
“This gave me the drive to keep trying new tech and business projects, even when they failed.
“I chose the right market to hitch my wagon to.
“I’m hyper-focused on pleasing the user and making the experience at least a tiny bit better each day.
“On the outside, people think you need to be a whiz kid to pull something like this off.
“But the truth is that no one has any idea what they’re doing, especially when you’re a kid.
“The bottleneck is courage and work ethic, not talent.
“Let your kids spend time exploring their passions – you never know, it could result in them becoming millionaires.
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