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Nick Mananikov has just graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School. Sitting in the restaurant, Manannikov, a stone throw from his new alma mater, is somewhat surprised by this fact.
“Somehow,” he graduated, Manannikov told me, but for most of the past year, the long-haired teen has been building a business running Solana RPC and validators. Many job calls and business were involved in school week. This is a code and a flight to many meetings, including two stints in Mtndao in Salt Lake City.
But Manannikov may not remember much because of his presence in the classroom, but he is leaving high school that it had not previously – the dedicated Solana verification device.
Manannikov’s Crypto Company Shark Labs helped BTHS’ Crypto Club launch the validator. The high school node oversees approximately 15,000 stakessols.
Manannikov came to the United States as a political refugee just before high school. His family was forced to flee Russia on a two-day notice after his father rejected a business request made by government-linked figures, Manannikov told me.
After moving to the US, Manannikov combined his interest in coding with his talent for making money. He and the couple’s friends ran the bot on a kick streaming platform, claiming the presents that were being used because the app was being used. He also entered the code first through NFT and later through Memecoin.
After stoking a large profit for the Solana NFT collection known as “Deez Nuts,” Manannikov decided to take away his income and launch an RPC business known as Shark Node. The startup was well-successful and Manannikov decided to pursue it full-time instead of the university. He shares office space on Broadway and the business is profitable, Manannikov told me.
In the fall, Shark Labs decided to start running Solana Validators. To get the new business line out of the ground, companies will need to participate in the Solana Foundation Dedegation Program, a grant-like program for small validators. They slightly missed a meeting with the Solana Foundation’s connection at Breakpoint, but Manannikov saw Dan Albert, the Solana Foundation’s executive director, attending Solana Boston.
