"My kids are little, but I can imagine what I'd tell them about startups if they were in college, and that's what I'm going to tell you."
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I made my first money at 8. I bought a Honda 50 for $60 and sold it for $180 after painting it and fixing some little things. My father guided the whole process of course, but it was my money and my work that got the result. Now I am 45 and I have 4 boys. My oldest is 10 and has been working on his "startup" for two years. He is making his own version of Pokemon, and he has sold some of his characters on T-shirts. Total revenue so far - $120.00 (1)
It is not much. But it is something. At 10, my kid is outsourcing graphic work overseas, he has sent out 30 projects on Fiverr. He is using outside vendors to make shirts, and having to deal with customers asking about shirt orders (he took some money, but forgot to order the shirt. Then he has to deal with upset people). While the dollar amounts are trivial, my purpose it to get him exposed to how business and making money works. So far he has been doing it for 2 years and his quality of work and detail have grown so much that you would probably not believe it. My main job is to ask him if the work is as good as he can make it (most of the time he makes it better, some times he decides that he is done)
The interesting follow on effect for me is that his younger brothers are now wanting to do the same. The 7 year old has been bugging me to get his website done, and has done his first few drawings. His project is very similar to his older brother;s , but we have made sure that they are distinct. Last week the 4 year old decided that he needed a company too (so far it is only a declaration, he has not decided on a concept).
So I guess I am doing it different. I can't imagine waiting until college for them to start. They see what I do, and want to do similar things. So they are. To me it is amazing what they can accomplish, and how "making a company" for them is more interesting than watching TV. This weekend we have a giant vat of playdough waiting to be made. My oldest is going to model the racetrack for his Android game in real life, then translate it to digitial . All of this was his plan, I merely drove to the store to get the materials.
It is not a startup of course, more like a complicated hobby. The kids are having fun, and so am I ,
Maybe in another 10 years my son will be ready for a real startup. By then he will have 10 years into customer service, colabortaing with an international team, product development. Mostly I hope he enjoys himself and learns some things about business. It beats a lemonade stand.
------------ I made my first money at 8. I bought a Honda 50 for $60 and sold it for $180 after painting it and fixing some little things. My father guided the whole process of course, but it was my money and my work that got the result. Now I am 45 and I have 4 boys. My oldest is 10 and has been working on his "startup" for two years. He is making his own version of Pokemon, and he has sold some of his characters on T-shirts. Total revenue so far - $120.00 (1)
It is not much. But it is something. At 10, my kid is outsourcing graphic work overseas, he has sent out 30 projects on Fiverr. He is using outside vendors to make shirts, and having to deal with customers asking about shirt orders (he took some money, but forgot to order the shirt. Then he has to deal with upset people). While the dollar amounts are trivial, my purpose it to get him exposed to how business and making money works. So far he has been doing it for 2 years and his quality of work and detail have grown so much that you would probably not believe it. My main job is to ask him if the work is as good as he can make it (most of the time he makes it better, some times he decides that he is done)
The interesting follow on effect for me is that his younger brothers are now wanting to do the same. The 7 year old has been bugging me to get his website done, and has done his first few drawings. His project is very similar to his older brother;s , but we have made sure that they are distinct. Last week the 4 year old decided that he needed a company too (so far it is only a declaration, he has not decided on a concept).
So I guess I am doing it different. I can't imagine waiting until college for them to start. They see what I do, and want to do similar things. So they are. To me it is amazing what they can accomplish, and how "making a company" for them is more interesting than watching TV. This weekend we have a giant vat of playdough waiting to be made. My oldest is going to model the racetrack for his Android game in real life, then translate it to digitial . All of this was his plan, I merely drove to the store to get the materials.
It is not a startup of course, more like a complicated hobby. The kids are having fun, and so am I ,
Maybe in another 10 years my son will be ready for a real startup. By then he will have 10 years into customer service, colabortaing with an international team, product development. Mostly I hope he enjoys himself and learns some things about business. It beats a lemonade stand.
1 https://www.facebook.com/legimon?ref=hl