usa today collegiate case study: gen y & entrepreneurship: fad or legacy?

Collegiate

Case

Study

THE NATION’S NEWSPAPER

Ready to start your business?By Jim Hopkins

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The goal: Wealth and fameBy Sharon Jayson

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Get a job? No, make a jobBy Laura Vanderkam

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Teens get rich with smartideas, hard work, good adviceBy Kerry Hannon

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CCaassee SSttuuddyy EExxppeerrtt:: Michael SimmonsEntrepreneur, author & teacher

Critical inquiryDiscussion and future implications

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www.usatodaycollege.com

© Copyright 2007 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

Some are calling today the golden age of entrepreneurship. Leading this chargeare young people who are starting their own businesses and receiving increasedsupport to do so. For example, in December 2006, the Kauffman Foundation putan additional $25.5 million toward cross-campus entrepreneurship education.Furthermore, 2,100 colleges and universities now teach entrepreneurship,BusinessWeek reports, up from fewer than 400 in the early '90s. Furthermore,the Small Business Administration found that the number of self-employed peo-ple under 21 rose from 142,000 in 2000 to 188,000 in 2005. This case studyexplores entrepreneurship’s upward trend and the role that youth play in it.

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Gen Y makes a markBy Sharon JaysonUSA TODAY

They've got the smarts and theconfidence to get a job, but increasingnumbers of the millennial generation —those in their mid-20s and younger — aredeciding corporate America just doesn'tfit their needs.

So armed with a hefty dose ofoptimism, moxie and self-esteem, theyare becoming entrepreneurs.

"People are realizing they don't have togo to work in suits and ties and don'thave to talk about budgets every day,"says Ben Kaufman, 20, founder of acompany that makes iPod accessories."They can have a job they like. They cancreate a job for themselves."

Kaufman, of Melville, N.Y., named hiscompany Mophie for his goldenretrievers, Molly and Sophie. It earned abest-of-show award at the 2006Macworld Expo in San Francisco.

He started out with financial help fromhis parents, but he now has more than$1.5 million in venture capital. His line ofcases, armbands and belt clips isproduced in China, which he visitsseveral times a year, between classes atChamplain College in Burlington, Vt.,where he's a sophomore majoring inbusiness.

It's no surprise that Kaufman focusedfirst on the iPod. His generationdemands customized music, and nowthey are trying to do the same with theirlives.

"They want to create a custom life andcreate the kind of career that fits aroundthe kind of life they want," says BruceTulgan, the founder of RainmakerThinking,a management training firm in New Haven,Conn., and an author specializing ingenerational diversity in the workplace.

Experts say these children of the baby-boom generation, also known as Gen Yor echo boomers, are taking to heart adesire for the kind of work-life balance

Their imprint is entrepreneurship

USA TODAY Snapshots®

The goals of the 18-25 age group compared with the 26-40 age group:

By Alejandro Gonzalez, USA TODAY

Goals of ‘Gen Next’ vs. ‘Gen X’

81%62%

18-25

Get rich

51%29%

Become famous

30%36%

Help people

22%33%

Be community leaders

10%31%

Become more spiritual

26-40

Source: Pew Research Center for the People & the Press survey, Sept.-Oct. 2006

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Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

their parents didn't have. They see beingtheir own boss as a way to resolve theconflict. So now they're pressing aheadwith new products or services or findinga new twist on old-style careers. They'reat the leading edge of a trend towardentrepreneurship that has bubbled fordecades and now, thanks in large part totechnology, is starting to surge.

"It is a fun-loving generation," saysEllen Kossek, a Michigan State Universityprofessor in East Lansing who has spent18 years researching workplaceflexibility.

"They view work as part of life, butthey don't live to work the way we weresocialized as boomers. There is a realmismatch between what the younggeneration wants and what employersare offering."

Kossek says work-life issues are amongthe top three concerns among younggraduates. But these youngentrepreneurs aren't always thinkinglong-term about running their own shop.

"Employers aren't offering what theywant, so the young say they'll be theirown boss and start their own business."

But "what they find out is that it's not away to get a work-life balance. When youhave your own business, you're workinglong hours, because if you don't work,money doesn't come in."

Maybe because this is an optimisticbunch or perhaps because they haven'tplanned their lives further than theweekend, they don't seem too worriedabout work. But because they are youngand so new to the workforce, much ofwhat is known about them is anecdotalwith little existing data about their workhabits.

Those who have studied generations inthe workplace, such as author DavidStillman of Minneapolis, do have someinsights. Stillman, who co-wrote the

2002 book When Generations Collide,says these young workers have verydifferent ideas from those of earliergenerations.

"This generation has the group-thinkmentality," he says. "When you are raisedto collaborate at home, then you aretaught how to do that in middle schooland practice it in college, you show up atwork saying 'Where's my team?' They'rejust comfortable working with peers."

Many go into business with friends.

Maren Seibold, 25, is an environmentalconsultant for a Seattle area company;she teamed up last year with her 26-year-old tattoo artist husband, MarkBentley, and a friend who does bodypiercing, Anthony Mason, 24, to launchMantis Machines, which sells aredesigned version of the instrumentthat professional tattooists use.

Seibold, who has a degree in chemicalengineering, tinkered with the tool tomaximize its versatility and use a greatervariety of needles. Mason's father owns atool company and provided thematerials. A $10,000 loan helped themget started. "It was something we allwanted to do," Seibold says.

Bureau of Labor Statistics data for2005 show that some 370,000 youngpeople ages 16-24 were self-employed,the occupational category that includesentrepreneurs. In 1975, when babyboomers were young, some 351,000were in that category. While that growthover 30 years isn't striking, indicatorssuggest more change ahead. The Bureauof Labor Statistics projects the self-employed category will grow 5% from2004 to 2014, compared with 2% growthfor the decade that began in 1994.

Such growth is largely a result of theInternet, where snazzy websites don'tbetray a home-based operation.Entrepreneurs can be more professionalwith less need for capital or office space.

Global communication is easy andimmediate. Businesses can outsourceproducts and services and get a toll-freetelephone number for nationwide access.Taking a risk isn't quite the financial leapof faith it once was.

"There's such a frontier for possiblebusiness ideas," says Scott Neuberger, 25,CEO of Boston-based Collegeboxes. "Thebarrier to entry is very low and doesn'trequire a lot of money in a lot of cases. Ithink there's more of an entrepreneurialspirit in our generation than perhaps inother generations. Being an entrepreneurhas become cool and sexy."

In 2004, Neuberger boughtCollegeboxes, competitor of a businesshe started at Washington University in St.Louis to help students relocate. It nowoperates in 18 states, offering door-to-door pickup and delivery, shipping andstorage services, and appliance rentals.

College students also are the focus ofArel Moodie's business, The Placefinder,which helps students find off-campushousing, roommates and sublets at hisalma mater, Binghamton University, inupstate New York. Moodie, of JohnsonCity, N.Y., plans to expand further into thestate and to New Jersey.

Getting started required taking a risk."We were scared out of our minds,"Moodie, 23, says. "We realized we'reyoung, and we may not know everythingwe need to know, but what do we haveto lose? If the business doesn't work,we'll totally get jobs like everybody else."

The self-employed are considerablymore satisfied with their jobs than areother workers, according to a PewResearch Center poll of 2,003 Americansages 18 and over released in August.They're more satisfied with their salaries,the job security, chances for promotion,level of on-the-job stress, flexibility ofhours and proximity of work and home,the poll found.

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"You've got a generation that hasclearly seen the corporate culture not beloyal to their employees," says DavidFinney, president of Champlain College,which this fall launched a new programto lure enterprising undergraduatesalready in business for themselves. "Thisgeneration understands that the burdenof taking care of themselves rests withthem and not some company."

Although being an entrepreneurdoesn't require a college degree,increasing numbers of campuses areoffering courses to inspire those withbusiness acumen. The Kansas City, Mo.-based Ewing Marion KauffmanFoundation, which promotesentrepreneurship, keeps a tally ofcourses related to entrepreneurship attwo-year and four-year colleges anduniversities. Newly compiled data showthat 80% of the 2,662 campuses in thereport offer at least one such course.

Last month, Grand Canyon University,a private, Christian university inPhoenix, announced a new College ofEntrepreneurship that, starting in

January, will provide students with seedmoney from a venture capital fundvested with $4.5 million to help launchprojects.

Ian Schumann, 21, started hisultralight backpacking gear companythis fall during his senior year at theUniversity of Texas-Austin. He personallybankrolled his invention — a trekkingpole — that he assembles and sellsunder the name Adapt All-Terrain Gear.

"All the money I've put into it hascome out of my personal savings. It wassomething I was excited about trying tomake work," he says. "If it doesn't work,I've wasted $1,500."

Senior Jason Nikel, 23, of Shelburne,Vt., is in Champlain College'sentrepreneurial program. Nikel, amultimedia and graphic design major,created a clothing line of hats, T-shirtsand hooded sweatshirts called ThirdShift Clothing.

"It's not exactly at the point where Ican graduate and have the income

support me, so I'll keep it as a sideproject as I have for the past two years,"he says. "I'll take it as far as it can go."

Sheena Lindahl, 24, and husbandMichael Simmons, 25, have turned therise of entrepreneurialism into their ownbusiness. While attending New YorkUniversity in 2003, the duo startedExtreme Entrepreneurship Education tohelp their peers pursue their dreamcareers. Lindahl has supported herselfsince age 17. Simmons started awebsite-development company at 16,has won awards for entrepreneurshipand wrote an inspirational book aboutbusiness success. This fall, theybranched out with a tour of collegecampuses to inspire futureentrepreneurs.

"I think it has a lot to do with the highexpectations we were brought up with.'You can do it. You can have what youwant,''' Lindahl says. "We're criticizedfor wanting it all: high pay, purposefulwork, flexible hours. It's hard for peoplein our generation just to do work."

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By Laura Vanderkam

Michael Simmons, 25, always liked theidea of working for himself. At age 16, hestarted a Web development companythat blossomed as dot-coms proliferated.But then the bubble burst, and many ofhis clients imploded. Faced with newchallenges, Simmons decided he had alot to learn about running a business.

Still a teen, he won a scholarship to anonline class offered by the NationalFoundation for TeachingEntrepreneurship (NFTE). He learnedhow to use spreadsheets, makePowerPoint presentations, speak publiclyabout his business and find mentors tohelp his business grow.

"It helped me get an understanding ofwhat the real world was like," he says.And it helped him launch ExtremeEntrepreneurship Education, a businessthat conducts workshops on the nitty-gritty of self-employment for high schooland college students.

As Simmons and his protégés havelearned, not all successful entrepreneursare born that way. Like anything,entrepreneurship can be learned.Unfortunately, it's rarely taught. The NoChild Left Behind Act (NCLB), whichturned 5 last month, pledged to makesure kids learned the reading and mathskills the modern economy requires. Butthose aren't the only skills modernstudents need.

More and more Americans arebecoming self-employed, both for thelifestyle and out of necessity. Yet fewerschools teach entrepreneurship skills

than teach kids to be excellent readersand mathematicians. But this is startingto change — and that bodes as well forthe economy as do the increases inreading and math skills NCLB is startingto inspire.

From its Manhattan headquarters,NFTE has been quietly spreading the self-employment revolution in schools since1987. Founder Steve Mariotti ran his ownimport-export company until he was

mugged by some young thugs in theearly 1980s. Shaken, he decided tobecome a teacher to confront his fears.He soon realized most of his Bronx andBrooklyn charges had great potential.

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"The biggest problem in education incertain communities is that kids arebored," he says. (A 2006 GatesFoundation survey found that more thansix out of 10 high school dropouts wereearning a C average or better when theyquit.) Mariotti's students showedsharpened interest when he discussedrunning a business. So over the years, hedeveloped a curriculum that challengedstudents to try entrepreneurshipthemselves.

NFTE has since trained 4,100 teachers,and its programs have been adopted in600 mostly low-income schools. Theorganization also runs online coursessuch as the one Simmons took.

More than 150,000 students havewritten business plans, learned how toopen bank accounts and tracked incomeper unit of product or service sold.Research from Harvard and Brandeisuniversities finds that NFTE students arenot only likely to considerentrepreneurship as a path out ofpoverty, but they also grow academically.Writing business plans is a sneaky way tomake kids think about grammar.

Calculating profits has kids learningmath. Harvard research found that NFTEkids show a 32% increase in interest inattending college vs. a decrease over thesame time frame among comparable

Get a job? No, make a jobHow can we prepare our children for today's economy? Teach themworkplace skills. Teach them entrepreneurship.

USA TODAY


AS SEEN ON USA TODAY’S FORUM PAGE, FEBRUARY 6, 2007

low-income student groups. "This is thebiggest breakthrough in at-risk youtheducation in the last 100 years," Mariottisays.

But it's not just at-risk kids who needto learn about entrepreneurship.

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The vast majority of U.S. businesseshave fewer than four employees. Youngpeople are even more interested instarting these micro-businesses than areadults; a 2006 Junior Achievementsurvey found that 71% of middle and highschool students would like to be self-employed at some point, up from 64% in2004.

Technology makes this increasinglypossible. For a few bucks a month,anyone can create a website thatadvertises a product or service to theplanet's 1 billion Internet users. That'sthe pull factor.

There's also a push. Few people cancount on lifetime employment in a bigcompany. So corporate types moonlightor move around within their companiesto stay marketable, notes Marci Alboher,author of the upcoming OnePerson/Multiple Careers: A New Model forWork/Life Success. "The idea thateveryone has their one little spot on theline is gone," she says. "We all have to beentrepreneurial," which she defines asconstantly learning new skills.

If the point of school is, in part, toprepare you for life after school, thenmore kids need to learn how to pick upnew skill sets, judge markets, find theircompetitive advantages and make theircash registers ring. NF TE schoolsrecognize this, and so do many colleges;2,100 colleges and universities teachentrepreneurship, BusinessWeek reports,up from fewer than 400 in the early '90s.

This growing population of trainedfree agents will benefit the wholeeconomy. A study by technologyconsultant Allan Engelhardt found that

when you triple the number ofemployees in an organization, you halveeach one's productivity. The corollary isthat in general, more small businessesmean greater productivity. Greaterproductivity per worker translates intohigher living standards, just as betterreading and math skills usually do.

Entrepreneurship education programsrecognize that, just as you can learn toread, you can learn to run a business.Michael Simmons has taken that lessonto heart. He and his ExtremeEntrepreneurship Education partner (andwife) Sheena Lindahl were just named toBusiness Week's Best Entrepreneursunder 25 List.

They're building a business while doingwhat they love. That's certainly amessage worth teaching.

Laura Vanderkam, author ofGrindhopping: Build a Rewarding Careerwithout Paying Your Dues, is a member ofUSA TODAY's board of contributors.

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By Kerry HannonSpecial for USA TODAY

Unbridled enthusiasm. Unchainedconfidence. Unlimited opportunities. Ah… youth.

In Young Wealth: Trade Secrets FromTeens Who Are Changing AmericanBusiness, Jon Swartz, a USA TODAYreporter, profiles 15 youngentrepreneurs. Most started in their earlyteens. All succeeded.

Take 18-year-old Ben Casnocha. Hisnickname is "Big Ben" — he's 6-foot-4.And he's rich.

Casnocha schmoozes with executivesand venture capitalists in Silicon Valley inthe morning and goes to high school inthe afternoon.

Casnocha's company, Comcate,markets software he designed for localgovernments. It started as a project forBen's sixth-grade tech class at a privateschool in San Francisco. Comcate nowhas annual revenue of around $750,000and 50 customers in small and midsizecities in several states.

Swartz ends each profile with asnapshot, including age, business, city,their biggest influence and acommentary on how they do it.

How many teens start or runbusinesses is not certain, but they seemto be a growing niche. In 2005, 188,000self-employed people in the USA wereunder 21, compared with about 142,000in 2000, according to Brian Headd, aneconomist in the Small BusinessAdministration's Office of Advocacy.

Tech advances (like the Internet) makeit easier to start and run businesses withlittle start-up capital. And nearly 1,800colleges and universities offer courses inentrepreneurship, Swartz writes. "Theliberating tonic of self-employment notonly gives teens control of their jobs; italso sharpens the competitive spirit inthe United States. Perhaps tech teens area key cog in the American economicmachine, a hidden salvation in an ever-changing global economy."

These profiles are inspiring on manylevels, for teens and parents alike. Swartzwarns, however, that youngentrepreneurs face a "phalanx ofpersonal and professional obstacles."

Early success is intoxicating. It can leadsome to reject feedback and make itharder to learn in a corporateenvironment, he writes.

Swartz's best portraits emerge fromthe cyberworld, an arena he covers forthis newspaper, but he tosses into themix a rising country singer, a model anda sports journalist, too. They have incommon, however, savvy use of theInternet.

Kids such as e-commerce mogul SeanBelnick, 19, founder of BizChair.com, nowtake in six-figure salaries while attendinghigh school and college, Swartz writes.

Or consider Graham Bensinger, 19, asports journalist from Ladue, Mo. He hasa weekly national radio show,contributes to ESPN, writes a column forESPN.com and has a William MorrisAgency rep to sort out his deals. Hisadvice:

*"Hard work is the key to success. Ifyou work hard, opportunities willpresent themselves."

*"Everyone has dreams. The differencebetween those who are successful andthose who aren't is whether you havethe guts to follow them. Only use thedoubters as motivation."

Then, too, there's Robin Liss, 22,founder and CEO of several websites,including CamcorderInfo.com, a site thatdraws four hundred thousand uniquevisitors per month to her reviews.Known as a "gadget guru" on CNN, shesays: "I would never call myself an expertat anything. I'm always learning, alwaysgrowing and trying to find new andbetter ways of doing things. In my pursuitto learn, I'm always looking for newteachers."

Bingo. Mentoring. It's a trade secretthat's worked for generations.

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Entrepreneur Ben Casnocha describesthree ways to be lucky:

u "Expose yourself to as muchrandomness as possible. Read books noone else is reading. Talk to people no oneelse is talking to. That's luck. That'srandomness."

u "Every time luck doesn't go my way,I believe a piece of good luck is rightaround the corner."

u "Trick yourself. Self-deception isessential to maintain high self-esteem.It's okay to take more credit than youdeserve, in your own mind, for successes.It's okay to think you can outwork andout-passion anyone who competes withyou. Stay humble on the outside, butconsider yourself unstoppable on theinside."

Teens get rich with smart ideas, hard work, good advice

What attributes suggest someone's agood candidate to start their ownbusiness?

A college degree doesn't hurt — thoughdropping out didn't stop Bill Gates fromlaunching the world's biggest softwaremaker. Being rich would solve theproblem of start-up financing — yet SamWalton got his start in business on notmuch more than a wing and a prayer.

There are no definitive answers, butthe entrepreneurs, private investors andacademics USA TODAY's JJiimm HHooppkkiinnsstalked with suggested these experiences,traits and skills.

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You didn't rely on allowances and otherhandouts from your parents for spendingmoney when you were young. You set upa weekend lawn-mowing business -- andhired friends to work for you. Or youfranchised your lawn-mowing serviceidea to other kids in the neighborhood."It's very common for adultentrepreneurs to be those who startedlemonade stands or went house-to-house trying to make money when theywere children," says Leann Mischel, amanagement professor and entrepreneurat Susquehanna University's SigmundWeis School of Business.

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In the nurture vs. nature debate,there's new research showing that thedrive to start companies may be genetic.Researchers compared self-employmentamong 609 pairs of identical twins and657 pairs of fraternal twins in the UnitedKingdom. They found that nearly half --48% -- of an individual's tendency to beself-employed is genetic. For example,genes leading someone to beextroverted are key to salesmanship -- avital trait among entrepreneurs, says

Scott Shane, an entrepreneurshipprofessor at Case Western ReserveUniversity and one of the study's authors.There's also evidence people withdyslexia are more likely to becomeentrepreneurs. London's Cass BusinessSchool says entrepreneurs in a study of215 managers were five times as likely ascorporate managers to have dyslexia.Why? Dyslexia forces people to hunt forcreative ways to steer through life.Famous entrepreneurs with dyslexiainclude discount stockbroker CharlesSchwab and Virgin's Richard Branson.

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Prepare for crazy-long hours, includingweekends, during a company's start-upphase — a work load that's also taxing foran entrepreneur's family. And vacations?What are those? About two-thirds ofsmall-business owners said they plannedto take a vacation of a week or more thissummer, but more than half planned tocheck in with their companies at leastonce daily, American Express found in asurvey. "Starting a business can require80-to-100-hour weeks," Mark Ciavarella,an assistant management professor atBucknell University, said in an e-mail."Many spouses/partners don'tunderstand this and won't tolerate it." Asstart-up adviser Ralph Sherman ofCreateabank near Detroit said, you knowyou're an entrepreneur when "yourfamily has been looking for your pictureon a milk carton."

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Two of the USA's most famousentrepreneurs -- Bill Gates at Microsoftand Warren Buffett at BerkshireHathaway — are also the two richestAmericans. But they were driven tocreate great companies, not just hugefortunes. Indeed, Gates and Buffett arecombining their riches to create a $60billion philanthropic powerhouse in the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation."Entrepreneurs are much moreinterested in 'wealth' rather than'riches,'" says Scott Laughlin, director ofthe University of Maryland's techentrepreneurship program. Riches arepiles of money, he says; wealth isbroader, encompassing less-tangiblerewards such as respect andindependence. So, would-beentrepreneurs need to examine howthey expect to be rewarded. "If thecompensation is just cash," Laughlinsays, "then the practice ofentrepreneurship will not be veryrewarding."

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You don't just think you've built abetter mousetrap — you feel it in yourgut, and know the world will be muchbetter if only you can get your idea tomarket. "When something is importantto you, then you know it with your heartas well as your brain," says Bob Barbato, amanagement and entrepreneurshipprofessor at Rochester Institute ofTechnology. "You infect others with yourpassion, and they believe in you."

The flip side of passion is impatiencewith other people's ideas, says AmyMillman, president of SpringboardEnterprises, which helps start-ups led bywomen find investors. The would-beentrepreneur's attitude, Millman says: "Iknow what I want to do, and I know howto do it." Conventional wisdom 20 yearsago said a black woman from ruralMississippi would have a tough timelaunching a career as a TV host on eventhe lowest-rated show. But one suchwoman went to launch her owncompany, Harpo Productions. And now,Oprah Winfrey is one of TV's biggeststars, ruling over an estimated $1.4billion fortune.

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Ready to start your business?



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As passionate as entrepreneurs mustbe to drive start-ups forward, they alsoknow when to cut losses. "Know whento give up on an idea," says Lou Marino,an associate professor ofentrepreneurship at the University ofAlabama at Tuscaloosa. "Not every ideaan entrepreneur has is going to be ahome run." Giving up doesn't necessarilymean the business idea was bad. Instead,it might be the right idea at the wrongtime — as was the case with thousandsof dot-coms launched in the late 1990sbefore household high-speed Internetaccess became widespread, makingviable all the offerings those dot-comshoped to sell.

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You know start-up success isn'tguaranteed. Still, you don't flinch at thethought of betting your severance pay orretirement savings on self-employment.Would-be entrepreneurs are calculatedrisk-takers — like world-classmountaineers, says Vineet Buch, a principalat venture-capital firm BlueRun Ventures inSilicon Valley's Menlo Park. "They hammerin protection on the way to the top, butdon't let the thought of falling slow theirsteps as the slope gets steeper andnarrower," he says. "True entrepreneursstrive to control risk while still thriving onit." Martha Stewart risked leaving thesafety net of publishing giant Time in 1996to launch her Martha Stewart LivingOmnimedia. She successfully took that

company public, becoming one of theworld's most famous entrepreneurs.

SSttrroonngg eetthhiiccssStart-ups depend heavily on good first

impressions when entrepreneurs hireemployees, court investors and line upcustomers. In a hyper-competitiveeconomy, any whiff of dishonesty candeep-six a new enterprise. Penn StateUniversity's Anthony Warren, whoadvises venture capitalists, says honestyand trustworthiness are high on the listof attributes he looks for when heconsiders recommending a venture topotential investors. "Who wants to be inbusiness with someone you cannot fullytrust, especially in the start-up phasewhere the stress levels are high?" saysWarren, director of the school's FarrellCenter for Corporate Innovation andEntrepreneurship. The founders ofGoogle, Sergey Brin and Larry Page,famously created a "don't be evil" mantrawhen they took their online search giantpublic.

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Feeling comfortable with technology iscrucial, because computers, software andother gadgets are key to launching abusiness in the fastest-growing economy,the service sector. Start-up costs therehave plummeted as prices fell forpowerful computers and software. Thoselower prices came as the Internet letentrepreneurs tap global markets forengineering, accounting and otherservices. Setting up a small office with a

laptop, fax machine, cellphone and othergizmos costs as little as $5,000. Add aprofessional-looking website for $500 orso, and you can compete with bigger,more established companies. But youcan't take advantage of those lower costsif you aren't comfortable using popularword-processing, database, spreadsheetand presentation programs.

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Sometimes the best business ideas failto take hold — not because there isn'tdemand, but because the start-up wasundercapitalized, or the entrepreneurlacked management know-how orsimply gave up too soon. "If you reallybelieve in it, you keep fighting for it," saysEarl "Butch" Graves, president and CEO ofBlack Enterprise, the magazine foundedby his father, Earl Sr. One-third of newsmall employers fail within two years;and 56% are toast after four years, saysthe Small Business Administration. About672,000 small employers launched lastyear — but 545,000 others closed, theSBA says. A nobody entrepreneur whostarted a variety store in Arkansas in1945 eventually lost the business whenhis landlord wouldn't renew his lease.But he didn't give up. "I've never beenone to dwell on reverses," Sam Waltonrecalled in his autobiography, "and Ididn't do so then." The company hefought to start, Wal-Mart, is now theUSA's biggest private employer, withmore than 1.3 million workers



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While just 19, the media-mogul-to-beco-anchored TV news in Nashville. Hercareer took off when she launched TheOprah Winfrey Show in 1985 in Chicago.Her empire now includes production ofmovies and TV specials and magazinepublishing, all part of Harpo Inc. (That'sOprah spelled backward.)

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Variety store owner Sam Waltonopened his first Wal-Mart discount storein Rogers, Ark., in 1962, using 95% of hisown money. Just five years later, Wal-Mart's five stores brought in sales of$12.6 million. Walton died in 1992.

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Virgin Group began in 1970 as a mail-order record company when Bransonwas just 20. He has built it into a holdingcompany with interests in more than200 businesses ranging from a musiclabel to an airline to hotels and movietheaters. Branson courted success earlywith his brash style, quick decision-making and risk-taking. One of his firsthit groups: The Sex Pistols, a group otherlabels wouldn't sign.

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The domestic diva developed hercooking, gardening and home-keepingskills while growing up in a family of sixin Nutley, N.J. After a short career as aWall Street stockbroker, Stewartlaunched a catering company in 1976that became the springboard for herfirst book: Entertaining. Martha StewartOmnimedia, her company, producesmagazines, TV and radio shows, andmarkets home furnishings.

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Buffett was 25 in 1956 when hefounded an investment fund with $100of his money. It later bought a smalltextile company called BerkshireHathaway. Buffett pulled Berkshire out ofthe textile business and remade it as oneof the world's top investmentcompanies, the owner or investor insuccessful companies such as Geicoinsurance, Dairy Queen and Coca-Cola.The "Oracle of Omaha" is the world'ssecond-richest person after Bill Gates.

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Google co-founders Larry Page, 33,and Sergey Brin, 32, met at Stanford,where they started a project thatanalyzed the "back links" pointing to

websites. After brainstorming ideas intheir dorm, writing up a business planand maxing out their credit cards buyingcomputer memory, they persuadedinvestors to sink $1 million into theiridea. The massive search site launchedin 1998.

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At 13, he programmed computers.Before he left Harvard in his junior year,he developed the programminglanguage BASIC for the f irstmicrocomputer. He and childhoodfriend Paul Allen next started thesoftware company that grew todominate the computer business. Longbefore it turned 30 last year, Microsoftmade Gates the world's richest person.

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After a brief stint as a cable industrylobbyist, Robert Johnson used a$500,000 investment from cable titanJohn Malone in 1979 to create an outletaimed at African-Americans. BlackEntertainment Television made its debutin 1980. In 1983, it began a 24-hourschedule, with 7.6 million cablesubscribers. BET was the first black-owned firm on the NYSE.

Source: USA TODAY research by Kelly Barry

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AS SEEN IN USA TODAY’S LIFE SECTION JANUARY 10, 2007


The goal: Wealth and fame

By Sharon JaysonUSA TODAY

Ask young people about theirgeneration's top life goals and the answeris clear and resounding: They want to berich and famous.

"When you open a celebrity magazine,it's all about the money and being richand famous," says 22-year-old CameronJohnson of Blacksburg, Va. "The T Vshows we watch — anything from TheApprentice where the intro to the showis the 'money song' — to Us Weeklymagazine where you see all thecelebrities and their $6million homes.We see reality TV shows with Jessica andNick living the life. We see Britney andParis. The people we relate to outside ourfriends are those people."

Eighty-one percent of 18- to 25-year-olds surveyed in a Pew Research Centerpoll released today said getting rich istheir generation's most important orsecond-most-important life goal; 51%said the same about being famous.

"We're seeing the common personbecome famous for being themselves,"says David Morrison of the Philadelphia-based research firm TwentysomethingInc. MTV and reality TV are in large partfueling these youthful desires, he says.

"Look at Big Brother and other shows.People being themselves can beincredibly famous and get sponsorshipdeals, and they can become celebrities,"he says. "It's a completely newdevelopment in entertainment, and it'shaving a crossover effect on attitudes andbehavior."

The results of the Pew telephonesurvey of 579 young people describe the"millennial" generation (also known asGen Y), who were born since the early1980s and were raised in the glow andglare of their parents' omnipresentcameras. While experts say it's naturalfor humans to seek attention, theseyoung people revel in it. They'reaccustomed to being noticed, havingbeen showered with awards andaccolades.

Add in the anything-is-possible attitudetypical of youth overall, and experts saythat even among millennials of lessereconomic means, there is an optimismthat fame and fortune can happen toanyone.

"Society raised us where money isglamorous, and everybody wants to beglamorous," says Jason Head, an aspiringactor who turned 26 just beforeThanksgiving. He earned an associate'sdegree in applied arts. To pay the bills,he's a bar manager and bartender in theDallas suburb of Plano.

Still, this generation acknowledges therealities of a world in which bills must bepaid, Pew found. Money is by far theirmost important problem; 30% citefinancial concerns. College and educationwas the second-biggest concern at 18%,and careers and jobs were third at 16%.

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Monetary realities are far bleaker forthis generation than what their parentsexperienced. Costs for basics such ashousing, insurance or education haveescalated, even as income growth for themiddle class has slowed. There's alsomore disparity between rich and poor.

So, these young people may well bedreaming when they envision futures

filled with money and fame, suggestseconomist Robert Frank of CornellUniversity in Ithaca, N.Y.

Young people today may earn more indollars than their parents did, but theirmoney buys less, which may make themfeel poorer and means a lot lesseconomic security, Frank says.

"They're going to have a harder timebecause the amounts they'll have tocome up with to even do as well as theirparents are going to be harder toachieve," he says.

Robert Thompson, a professor ofmedia and popular culture at SyracuseUniversity, says one reason moneyappears so important is that modernAmerican life "has a lot to do withacquisition."

"The way to distinguish ourselves is byour stuff," he says. "In some cultures,

But 'the good life'could elude Gen Y Money on their minds

The percentage of U.S. collegefreshmen who believe it is“essential” or “very important” to:

Source: Higher Education Research Institute,University of California, Los Angeles, surveyof 263,710 first-time freshmen at 385 institu-tions collected in 2005 and 280,650 freshmenat 359 institutions in 1967.

By Julie Snider, USA TODAY

85.8%

Be very well off financially

1967 2005

Develop a meaningfulphilosophy of life

74.5%41.9%

45%



you're born into a caste. You know whoyou are, and it doesn't change. Here, youhave to carve out your identity, and oneof the most obvious ways to do that is toclimb the ladder. It's not about birth andclass, but it is about financial status."

Kristine Molina knows the pressure oftrying to keep up. Molina is a graduatestudent in psychology and women'sstudies on a fellowship at the Universityof Michigan in Ann Arbor. She was bornin Nicaragua and raised in Miami by hergrandparents, both janitors. She receivedfinancial aid at Smith College inNorthampton, Mass., from which shegraduated in 2005.

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"Being poor and being a person ofcolor and not wanting to f it thestereotype, my f irst year I boughtthings," she says. "I bought a lot ofclothes and stuff for my room, and Ibought my laptop. If my friends wantedto go out, I'd go out and spend on foodwhen I knew I didn't have the money."

She turns 24 this month. She sayshearing rags-to-riches stories andwatching television shows about the livesof the rich and famous inspires her towant success in her own arena: Shewants to become a college professor.

"I see some professors who have thesebig houses," she says. "It would be nice ifI could."

Fame doesn't necessarily mean beingon TV. "I personally hope to become aninfluential figure and to be a prominentresearcher in my field," she says. "It'sfamous, but it's much less than stardom. Iwant to affect society."

Virginia entrepreneur Johnson starteda dozen businesses before turning 21. Hesays celebrities, from athletes to actorsand music stars, get huge amounts ofmoney, so it's not surprising youngpeople want that, too.

"Money creates the freedom to live thelife we want," he says. In addition toonline business ventures such as sellingBeanie Babies and gift cards, he haswritten a book, out this week fromSimon & Schuster, You Call the Shots.

The Pew study found young people areabout twice as likely (14%) to admire anentertainer than a political leader (8%).

"Famous people are in their faces somuch more, and as a society, we haveescalated the value we put oncelebrities," Thompson says.

Jason Barg, 24, a 2004 graduate of PennState University who works for aPhiladelphia accounting f irm andfounded an online real-estate company,says notoriety is more about standingout from the crowd.

"A primary goal of people my age is notnecessarily to become famous but tobecome distinctive," he says.

Now, young people can be celebritiesin their own worlds by posting videos onYouTube, posing like a model onMySpace or creating an online realityshow featuring themselves. Pew found54% of those 18 to 25 have used socialnetworking sites such as MySpace orFacebook; 44% have created a profilefeaturing photos, hobbies or interests.

"We've got a lot of people who, theentire time they were growing up, theonly time anything important washappening, there was a camera present,"Thompson says. "When they wereexiting the womb, they had a camerapresent. When they were blowing outthat first candle or getting on the schoolbus for the first time, it was all beingrecorded."

Consumer psychologist Kit Yarrow ofGolden Gate University in San Franciscoworries about the downside of youngpeople presenting themselves on theWeb vs. the intimacy that comes withreal communication.

"My fear is not so much for our societybut for a sense of emptiness anddepression these kids might have as theyage," she says. "They're putting theirresources and energy and validation andself-worth into what people who aren'tclose to them think of them, which isfame."

The Pew study attempted to find outmore about the attitudes of thisgeneration, which in many ways seemsuch a contrast to the flower-child valuesof many of their baby-boom parents.

MacNeil/Lehrer Productions commission-ed the poll as part of a project studyingGeneration Next. USA TODAY is a reportingpartner but did not help pay for the poll. Themargin of error for findings on 18- to 25-year-olds is plus or minus 5 percentagepoints.

Other research also suggests that theminds of millennials are preoccupiedwith money.

A Gallup Panel survey of 18- to 29-year-olds released last month found that55% agreed or strongly agreed with thestatement "You dream about gettingrich." A similar Gallup study in 2003 ofpeople under 30 found that more thanhalf (51%) thought it was very likely orsomewhat likely that they "will ever berich."

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In an annual survey of collegefreshmen by the Higher EducationResearch Institute at the University ofCalifornia-Los Angeles, 2005 data showthat money is much more on their mindsthan in the past. The percentage who sayit is "essential" or "very important" to be"very well off financially" grew from41.9% in 1967 to 74.5% in 2005;"developing a meaningful philosophy oflife" dropped in importance from 85.8%in 1967 to 45% in 2005.

The same was true for high schoolseniors in 1976 compared with those in

For more information, log on to www.usatodaycollege.com

2005. Monitoring the Future, a studyconducted annually by the University ofMichigan, found striking differences inresponses to the question "Howimportant to your life is having lots ofmoney?" In 1976, 15.4% of 3,009respondents thought it was "extremelyimportant," compared with 25% of 2,587young people in 2005. And in 2005, 5.6%

thought having lots of money was "notimportant," down from 11% in 1976.

Mark Ayoub, 20, a junior majoring inpolitics and religion at Hendrix Collegein Conway, Ark., says at one time, hewanted to be famous in national politicsbut changed his mind after seeing howpoliticians have so little personal time.

Rich, though, "appeals to me," saysAyoub, who grew up in Needham, Mass.,a suburb of Boston.

"I don't need to be filthy rich," he says,"but I want to live above the minimum— not just pay the bills but enjoycomfort in life and not just provide aminimal experience for my kids."


AS SEEN ON USA TODAY’S EDITORIAL PAGE, JANUARY 17, 2007

I am a 20-year-old who grew up in a middle-class family andam now attending a community college. I have always wantedto earn money through working at my passion. I have heard mypeers express dreams such as being an artist, an entrepreneuror an actress, all with hopes to achieve much popularity andthe resulting monetary wealth.

These youths are like Kristine Molina, who was featured inthe story: They grew up in lower-income neighborhoods andwant a "big house." These kids are caring and want to take careof their parents as well. They have had to work full-time and goto school, often supporting themselves with the help ofscholarships and financial aid. They have grown up in crime-ridden areas, and they are striving to get beyond theircircumstances.

As I've learned in my sociology class, in America, evenmembers of the middle class cannot stop working if they wantto keep their car or their house. Young people who managetheir own assets know this and want security.

I do not, however, think that being "very well off financially"and developing a "meaningful philosophy of life" are opposites,as the poll implies. I think that modern young adults arereaching for both.

Lindsey YoungSacramento

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Stereotypes are dangerous shorthand labels. I speak to manycollege audiences, and I find the common perception of youngAmericans being spoiled, entitled and lazy to be wildly off base.

Of course our Generation Y, or "millennial," children arepreoccupied with money: We've created a bipolar society ofhave-lots and have-nots. The costs of housing, education andinsurance have risen dramatically in the past 30 years.

Gen Y gets the message: They are on their own. No one isgoing to give them job security, health care or a pension. It'sonly logical that becoming rich is the way out of financialinsecurity. Being famous is a substitute for social identitypreviously provided by intact families, religion or even long-term employment.

Young Americans are not shallow. Our research uncovers thefact that the deepest longing of high school seniors is to have anenduring family. The evidence of the noble aspirations ofAmerica's children is everywhere. They volunteer more thanany previous generation, and they are driving an explosion ofcitizen, social and environmental enterprises focused onsolving the greatest problems of our age.

If Gen Y appears to be preoccupied with being rich andfamous, it's largely because we've created a boomer world ofmass consumption, dumbing down the American dream fromthe pursuit of happiness to the pursuit of stuff.

Perhaps what we see in our kids is just a reflection of ourown confusion. The world we created is a mess. It's my hopethat the future will be saved because we'll find the wisdom inour maturity to propel the idealism of a new generation.

William L. MarreFounder, American Dream ProjectEncinitas, Calif.

LLeetttteerrss

Young people strive for wealth, security — and meaning, too

AS SEEN ON USA TODAY’S EDITORIAL PAGE, JANUARY 17, 2007


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After reading USA TODAY's article, I couldn't help but feel badfor Gen Y. The title of the article says it all — except that wealthand fame are not really goals. They are the result (for some) ofworking hard, making sacrifices, being the best in their field orproviding something of great value to society — not appearingon a reality show and acting like a fool.

Maybe this is a reaction to the harsh reality of escalatedliving costs, disparity between rich and poor, and the fact that"the good life" is expensive.

Or is it? I guess it depends on how you define "the good life."A loving family, a satisfying job, a good meal, a community offriends — that doesn't seem too expensive.

Jeff Vande WegeConcord, Calif.

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I read The goal: Wealth and fame, about the Pew ResearchCenter's survey of young adults, with more confusion thandismay. Confusion, because USA TODAY recently ran the storyGeneration Y gets involved, which argued the opposite point.

So what is Gen Y all about: Wealth and fame? Or gettinginvolved?

The answer is that the question itself is flawed, setting up afalse dichotomy that misses the essential point of what Gen Y isall about.

Today's young people have come of age in an era when Bonoand Bill Gates spend more time in African villages than they doon stage or in the boardroom, when green technology andwind power are hot commodities on Wall Street, when doingwell is often the result of doing good and vice versa.

At World Learning, our intercultural education programssend more than 3,000 young students a year to communitiesaround the world. While there, they learn about critical socialand environmental issues and make a difference throughhands-on projects, while improving their own prospects forgainful and meaningful careers in an increasingly globalizedwork landscape.

With hope, their generation will break down the unhelpfuldichotomy between personal success and social impact thatprevious ones created.

John FoxWorld Learning/School for International TrainingBrattleboro, Vt.

LLeetttteerrss


1. How can you personally take advantage of your age andthe societal/technical trends to start your own business?

2. What are the best business opportunities for young people to pursue in today’s day and age?

3. Do you think the rise in entrepreneurship is a long-term trend or short-term fad? Why or why not?

1. For a student considering being an entrepreneur, is itbetter to start a business in college or wait until gettingpost-college corporate experience? List the benefits anddisadvantages of each path.

2. Are high schools and colleges giving students the skills they need to start a business? If you were to design an entre-preneurship curriculum, what are the key topics that you would cover?

3. Why are studies finding that more young people are interested in starting a business? What societal and technologicalfactors do you think are contributing to this trend?

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Michael Simmons, co-founder ofExtreme EntrepreneurshipEducation and bestselling authorof The Student SuccessManifesto, has been a keynotespeaker at events and confer-ences from Washington State toWashington D.C. As a 2004 grad-uate of the Stern School ofBusiness at New York University,an author, a teacher, a speaker,and an award-winning entrepre-

neur, he is able to deliver a unique perspective that con-nects with audiences.

Michael’s company, Extreme Entrepreneurship Education isa New York based, media and education company dedicat-ed to helping students plan, prioritize, and pursue theirown vision in life by utilizing the entrepreneurial mindset.Its books, online community, and speaking all focus on the

objective of providing students the tools and inspirationthey need to create a life of passion, purpose, and prosper-ity. More can be learned at http://www.extremee.org/

Michael co-founded his first business, PrincetonWebSolutions (PWS), when he was 16 years old. PWS waslater rated the #1 youth-run web development companyin the nation by Youngbiz Magazine. In addition, Michaelhas been the winner of three entrepreneur of the yearawards from the National Foundation for TeachingEntrepreneurship, Fleet, and the National Coalition forEmpowering Youth Entrepreneurship. Furthermore, aspresident of the Entrepreneurial Exchange Group (EEG) atNYU, the club received NYU’s most prestigious studentactivities recognition, the President's Service Award. Heand his company have been featured on the AOL HomePage, USA Today, ABC, NBC, and CBS.

In 2006, Michael was named by Business Week as one ofthe Top 25 Entrepreneurs Under 25.

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Michael Simmons

usa today collegiate case study: gen y & entrepreneurship: fad or legacy?

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