Youth Movement

Corriero gives a tour of the artwork hanging on her bedroom wall, explaining in detail what prompted her to create each piece. That one on the right, for example? As Corriero explains it: "One time, I was having this dream with an image of a child dancing through the skies and spreading stars across the universe. Then I woke up and thought of Charlie Coffey -- he's an executive vice president at the Royal Bank of Canada -- and I don't know if the dream was directly related to him, but I sent him an email. And he wrote back about how I inspire him. Like, I don't know, it's so weird. There's this cross mentorship, and it's very powerful."

Sometimes Furdyk and Corriero seem utterly lacking in self-awareness, sometimes they seem very self-aware, and sometimes they seem both ways at once. Corriero, in particular, has a penchant for lengthy analysis of her own personality (she is, to be fair, not the first 20-year-old in the history of the world with this tendency). "I'm very motivated to make a difference," she says. "I really want to do something good. I believe that I have so much potential, and I want to reach that potential.

"And it's not just about me: I think that everyone has so much potential and that if people are given the right type of environment and the right types of opportunities, they can grow and flourish. One of the challenges I have is that I'm very articulate, I'm very creative, I think about the big picture, and I have a lot of energy. I can see this as a great strength of mine, but it's also a weakness in the sense that it can be intimidating, or somebody might just think I'm crazy. Some people love it, but some people don't think it's possible. I think anything is possible."

Corriero's confidence is nothing new, according to her mother. "When Jennifer was in kindergarten, I went to visit her teacher," Mary-Jo remembers. "The teacher said, 'I find Jennifer to be very authoritative and sometimes a bit bossy.' I was shocked. I said, 'With you?' She said, 'Oh no, no, not with me. Just with her peers, with her friends.' So I said, 'That's just fine, I'm not worried about that. That's leadership.' "

Furdyk and Corriero both come from very supportive, down-to-earth families. The Corrieros are self-consciously Italian and self-consciously Catholic. Mary-Jo, who has not worked outside the home since hurting her back in a car accident several years ago, is warm and talkative, with a hearty laugh. She and Jennifer are extremely close, communicating daily by email. Jennifer's father, Nick, a real-estate agent and an obsessive online investor, is a fan of inspirational speakers such as Tony Robbins and Norman Vincent Peale. He proudly notes that Jennifer's outlook is naturally similar to theirs. The Corriero children -- Jennifer has a sister, Nicole, who is 16, and a brother, Joseph, who is 14 -- are avid athletes, especially when it comes to kickboxing. Their basement is filled with gym equipment and trophies.

The Furdyks are similarly close-knit. Michael's mother, Marcia, also does not work outside the home, while his father, Paul, joined Michael at BuyBuddy last March as VP of sales. Their home is decorated with aphoristic wooden plaques -- "Friendship is only a word until someone comes along and gives it meaning," reads one hanging in the kitchen -- as well as with Beanie Babies, which Sonya, Michael's 11-year-old sister, and Marcia like to collect. Michael's bedroom, where he has logged countless hours working on his startups, is so small that during the day he must fold the futon that he sleeps on in order to make his doorway passable.

The Furdyks' first inkling of how truly unusual Michael's life would become occurred last year when MyDesktop.com was sold -- and the media descended, calling from as far away as the Ukraine. "The phone was always ringing," Marcia recalls. "It was very hectic." Since then, Marcia has tried her best to keep things low-key. The family is renovating the upstairs bathroom and the kitchen -- a gift from Michael -- but otherwise, she says, "It's his money. It's whatever he wants to do." For her birthday this year, Marcia asked for a garden rake.

Both the Furdyks and the Corrieros are gracious in answering questions about their children, but they are also guarded, seemingly intent on not letting Michael and Jennifer overshadow their respective siblings. However, Marcia admits, "It's exciting when you hear other people talk about Michael when they don't know he's your child. It makes you feel special."

Actually, Michael's siblings have now become minicelebrities themselves. "At school, a lot of my friends or my classmates are like, 'I saw your brother on television!' " Sonya reports. "They're, like, frantic. They say, 'Can I have your autograph?' I say, 'Happy face or signature?' "

Daniel Furdyk, who is 14, is less enchanted with his brother's adoring public. "People say, 'Oh, your brother's rich.' Or some of the girls are like, 'Can I meet your brother?' I say, 'No, I don't want you to.' "