How Did Michael Dell Make Over $18,000 at 17?

At about 17, Michael Dell made a little over $18,000 in a year mailing Houston Post offers to new marriage-license applicants.

Marriage-license filings were public, and an applicant gave the county court the address where the license should be sent. He built a direct mail program for a 16-county area surrounding Harris County, where Houston, Texas is. High school friends went to the county courthouses and typed the names into small Apple II computers, and he sent a large mailing to the applicants. A building boom was also underway in Houston, with large apartment and condominium complexes going up. He visited buildings under construction, found who was in charge, and said he was from the Houston Post newspaper. New residents could get the paper free for two weeks, and the person in charge only had to fill out a short form.

He was a high school student. He treated the mailing as a good idea because it was working, and he kept going after plenty of other tries had failed. He bought a BMW because he wanted a BMW. He kept to himself, had a few friends, and was not the most social of kids, though he was social enough to make the sale. He did not know what other students thought of him and did not care.