Vlad Tenev says his parents told him their family's finances were insecure and he would need a scholarship to go to college.

“Um, the other thing was my parents would just sit me down and say, "Look, the financial status of this family is very insecure. We're not making any money, so you're gonna have to basically get a scholarship if you wanna go to college, and y- to get a scholarship, you are gonna have to do very, very well in school.”