He Was Homeless at 16. Now He Owns a Tech Company

At 16, Jordan Reyes was sleeping behind a gas station with only a thin backpack and a hand-me-down laptop he'd retrieved from a dumpster.

A decade later, he's the CEO and founder of a successful tech startup, with more than 30 employees and mentoring young entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities.

This isn't a rags-to-riches tale. It's a story of persistence, determination, and the notion that the perfect spark—no matter how tiny—is all it takes to ignite a fire that transforms lives.

The Breakdown Before the Breakthrough

Jordan was raised in a chaotic household in Phoenix, Arizona. His father departed early, and his mother had a drug problem. At 16, their apartment was lost, and so was stability. One evening after a fight escalated into violence, Jordan made a choice: leave, or be broken beyond fix.

"I recall sitting on the sidewalk outside a Circle K with a bag of clothes and no plan. I was in fear," he says.

He crashed on friends' couches when he could, slept on parkocker parks if he couldn't. School grew optional—survival superseded. But throughout it all, one thing never changed: his infatuation with technology.

The Dumpster Laptop That Changed Everything

One evening, while excavating a recycling bin behind a strip mall, Jordan discovered an old Dell computer. The screen was broken, the keyboard jammed, but it worked. That was enough.

"It was trash, honestly. But to me, it was a lifeline," he remembers.

With free Wi-Fi at fast food chains and public libraries, Jordan learned how to code through YouTube videos and online communities. He absorbed information—HTML, JavaScript, Python. He freelanced anonymously on Fiverr and Upwork, creating websites for small companies and saving every penny he could.

"Nobody knew who I was or what I was doing," he says with a grin.

The First Break

At age 19, still technically homeless, Jordan received his first legitimate contract—a $5,000 project to develop a custom e-commerce site for a fashion clothing boutique.

"I recall receiving the wire transfer and staring at the figures," he says. "I cried. Not because of the cash, but because it showed me that I was more than the world perceived me to be.

That job led to referrals, and within a year, Jordan had enough income to rent a studio apartment, buy a real computer, and go full-time as a developer.

Building Something Bigger

By 23, Jordan wasn’t just freelancing—he was building a company.

He started CodeRise, a software development company that assists nonprofits and startups in creating scalable technology solutions. But more significantly, he made a promise: at least 30% of his employees must be individuals from underprivileged or non-traditional backgrounds.

"I wanted to create the kind of space that would have given me a chance when no one else would," he says.

Now, CodeRise has five international clients and an expanding mentorship wing that provides free bootcamps to teenagers in shelters and juvenile programs.

Giving Back, Looking Forward

Jordan doesn't boast about his success. He continues to live frugally, owns a second-hand Toyota, and spends much of his weekends coaching coding classes at neighborhood youth centers.

Success isn't the mansion or the million-dollar exit," he says. "It's having the ability to reach back and haul someone else along."

His aspiration? To establish a scholarship fund and tech academy specifically for homeless youth.

"I want them to know they're not broken," he says. "They're just waiting for their spark."

What Jordan's Story Teaches Us

In a privilege-crazed, pedigree-obsessed, résumé-smooth world, Jordan Reyes is the testament that hard work, ingenuity, and one break—just one—can transform it all.

His story is not only motivational; it's a call to action. A reminder that there is talent all around, but opportunity is not.

And sometimes, the next tech founder isn't in an Ivy League dormitory. He's parked outside a gas station, waiting for Wi-Fi, and rewriting his destiny one line of code at a time.