Michael Arthur Sayman (born August 24, 1996), is a Peruvian–Bolivian–American mobile application entrepreneur, software engineer, political activist,[1] and author.
[7][8] Described by Semana as "the most influential Latino in Silicon Valley",[9] in 2019, Sayman was included on Forbes's 30 Under 30 list,[10] and has additionally been featured at TED.
[12] He later gained recognition from Mark Zuckerberg with his launch of 4 Snaps, a turn-based photo game, in his junior year of high school.
[7][16] His success with mobile application development grew in his teenage years, generating millions in revenue as a high school student.
[24] In an interview with People magazine regarding his teenage years, Sayman said there were moments in which he did not know how his family would be able to afford to buy food or pay the electricity bill.
[26] The school refused to give him his graduation certificate due to his inability to pay the outstanding balance he owed.
[32] Mentored by Mark Zuckerberg,[23] Sayman played a role within the company as the social network's "go-to teen" and as its "teen-in-residence" according to TED.
[47][48] In 2022, microblogging platform Twitter hired Sayman to work in a product group called "0–1", focused on new features geared toward younger users.
[49] Also during this year, Sayman launched a new startup, Friendly Apps, which raised over $3 million dollars from seed investors.