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The IT sector is ideally suited to young people thinking of setting up a company, says Patrick Collison, the 20 year-old Director of Engineering at Live Current Media –but a risk-averse investment community, red tape and a lack of focus on computers in schools is holding some young entrepeneurs back.

Speaking at the fifth Science Week lecture in The Science Gallery, Dublin, the former Young Scientist of the Year Winner explained that low start-up costs –often running to no more than some cheap office space and a bit of hardware– make IT a particularly feasible way for young people to get into business.

“Biotechnology and electronics start-ups are expensive to establish, but software is different. That’s why an increasing number of young people are starting start-ups and why that number will continue to grow,” says Collison, the Limerick-born coder who, along with his brother John (Current Age: 18), sold software company Auctomatic for several million dollars in 2007.

“IT is an ideal proposition for young people,” says Collison. Or at least it should be.

“There’s a problem with the investment community here. It’s risk-averse and we need to face that,” says Collison.

Auctomatic was the product of two brothers’ desire to build “a combination of Amazon, WIkipedia, and eBay.”

The coding was a success, but as the business grew, they found that raising funds was the hardest part.

“Up to this point everything had been funded by savings… which is to say, our parents [laughs],” says Collison.

The brothers’ journey has taken them to Enterprise Ireland dinners in Boston, early morning telephone calls with multi-millionaire U.S. investors, small offices in Limerick’s National technology Park, to San Francisco and Vancouver.

More on the Collison brothers’ journey (and some advice for budding young IT entrepeneurs) after the turn.

Oh, and it ended up making them very wealthy indeed: according to estimates, Auctomatic was sold for in excess of five million US dollars.

Collison still comes across as a little surprised by their success.

“It would be hard to imagine two more implausible candidates,” says Collison, shaking his head, before describing how he and his brother attended that Enterprise Ireland event ill-prepared and in ill-fitting suits.

“Something clearly worked though,” says Collison.

Something’s been working for Collison for quite some time now. In 2005, aged 15, Collison wrote the Croma programming language. Later that year, he won the Irish Young Scientist of the Year award and took second place in the European Union Contest for Young Scientists.

Collison began college at the prestigious MIT in 2006, but deferred his studies to co-found Auctomatic with his brother John in early 2007. About ten months later, Auctomatic was acquired by Live Current Media.  

His latest success? An application that allows iPhone users to browse Wikipedia offline.

So, what advice does Collison have for budding IT entrepeneurs?

“Whatever the idea is, get into a position where you can build it yourself. That means learn programming. It’s incredibly important that you have a deep understanding of the area you’re dealing with,” says Collison.

Collison called for computer programming –”the maths of the 21st century”– to be taught more extensively in Irish schools. 

Check back next week, when we’ll post the full lecture online. You’ll find out about the changes Collison wants to see in the mindset of the Irish investment community, hear about the red tape involved in making funding applications, and learn why he once had to pitch an idea to a major investor in his underpants.

In the meantime, whet your appetite with this Collison interview recorded not long after the sale of Auctomatic.

And tell us what you think: Should programming be a Leaving Certificate subject?