What once was an entrepreneurial prodigy has now become a tech industry luminary. Jonathan Manzi made his first million at 16. He's since made millions more, heading several companies that keep breaking boundaries.

This is not your average 90's kid, no sir. We're talking about a key player in the Fourth Industrial Revolution here. He's completely changed the game and it seems he's programming an entirely new one. So what's his story? What's he up to and what does he plan to achieve?

The Myth, the Manzi, the Legend

It all started at Stanford University when Manzi was in his freshman year. During this time, he launched an online advertising company ironically called Vintage Network. Having to balance between school and business and with mounting pressure on both sides, he quit school.

An inspiration to dropouts, he seems to have silently graduated from Stanford at some point, earning a qualification in Management Science and Engineering. That's how humble he is, even his net worth isn't known.

The Beginning of his Entrepreneurial Journey

Manzi's time in Stanford was eye-opening. It was then that he truly learned to be resourceful and identify opportunities around him. He definitely brought management down to a science and engineered his success. His efforts never went unrecognized. The student government took it upon itself to appoint him as the entrepreneurship chair. As he acquired a taste for executive leadership, he'd go on to spread his wings and explore new avenues of the enterprise.

Another one of his offspring, Ink Labs, was a new take on the typical print shop. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln welcomed Ink Labs with open arms, and it wasn't the only university to do so.

Leveraging his position in academia for entrepreneurship is what helped him develop a knack for integrating different systems. His desire and love for bridging gaps would prove to be key in sustaining what appears to be his passion project, Beyond Protocol.

Beyond the Frontier

Manzi calls Beyond Protocol the world's first unhackable blockchain, a platform allowing devices and systems to reach, confirm, and update information. Facilitating this over many structures and in various areas guarantees security. It's no wonder Beyond Protocol's CEO is considered an authority on frontier technology.

The company is addressing weaknesses in the Internet of Things. Blockchain touches on every aspect of our lives, from health to finance and even education. Manzi and his team are doing some important work.

Beyond Protocol is helping make strides in mental health research as the company has partnered with Vanderbilt University to use biometric wearable technology to help study brain activity in real-time.

How does it work? Athletes and performers at work are hooked up to a system that observes the chemical and physiological activity in their brains. The data mined from this research could provide insight and a roadmap to future mental health treatments.

In Slovenia, they helped set up an eBike solar-powered station that relies on blockchain technology. Just like that, they added the EU to their portfolio. They made their mark in sports when penning a deal with Beckett Media, allowing collectors of memorabilia to digitally upload their certificates to the blockchain. One of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, Huobi, didn't want to get left behind. They enlisted the help of Beyond to beef up their Artificial Intelligence investments.

Jonathan Mellert Manzi: Not a Poser, Not a Ponzi

Manzi believes in technology being a positive force for mankind. It's this idealism that informs the way he does business. He envisions a future where devices can interact with each other without any security concerns. To him, hacking and security breaches are a hindrance to innovation.

Manzi isn't one to keep all his ideas and opinions to himself. The boss man runs a blog where he writes about technology, business, and pretty much anything he's interested in and passionate about.

Scroll through his social media and you'll find philosophical nuggets devoid of tech talk and business babble. He thinks about love, purpose, and selflessly working for humanity's betterment. A pragmatic person guided by scientific thinking, he's labeled himself an agnostic. Once a skeptic-turned-Christian, he awaits the day a lab test sheds light on the nature of God. He's taken quite an interest in the intangible, whether it's quantum physics or spirituality and it's all thanks to an irreconcilable experience that he had.

What's Next for Manzi?

Blogging and deep social media posts aside, it turns out Manzi's writing a book too. Surprisingly, it's not about ledger technology, IoT, or economics. He is in fact working on what promises to be a page-turner and a half; a book on intention.

We know he didn't study psychology or philosophy, but it's obvious he's intent on being successful and has always been driven. While many teenagers dream of becoming millionaires, very few make their intentions a reality. If that doesn't qualify him to write the book, we don't know what does.

It was nothing short of confusing, being a student and a successful businessman. After all, education is the key to success. It took a great deal of decisiveness to put on the CEO hat and put off wearing the graduation gown. He had to identify what he wants, and he had to make sure he does what it takes to get it. He burned the midnight oil. He deprived his body and brain of sleep. These are the sacrifices he made to manifest his intention. This could be the inspiration behind the book which promises to be a magnum-opus-in-the-making.

This isn't a one-hit-wonder we're dealing with. Jonathan Manzi has continued to demonstrate that he's in the tech world for the long haul. He has and will continue to be a key figure in the sector. And when it comes to business in general, he didn't just make history at 16 years of age. He showed the world that young innovators have what it takes to occupy positions of corporate power. This accomplished young man has just broken into his thirties, and the old guard is probably scared to death of him.