CollegiateCaseStudy
THE NATION’S NEWSPAPER
Ready to start your business?
By
Jim Hopkins
................................................................................7-9
The goal: Wealth and fame
By Sharon Jayson...........................................................................10-12
Get a job? No, make a job
By
Laura Vanderkam
................................................................................4-5
Teens get rich with smartideas, hard work, good advice
By
Kerry Hannon
....................................................................................6
C
ase Study E
xper
t:
Michael SimmonsEntrepreneur, author & teacher
Critical inquiry
Discussion and future implications.........................................................................................14
www.usatodaycollege.com
© Copyright 2007 USATODAY, 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.
Gen Y & Ent
repreneurship:Fad or L
egac
y
Gen Y makes a mark
By Sharon JaysonUSATODAYThey'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 of optimism, 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 of cases, 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 the26-40 age group:
By Alejandro Gonzalez, USA TODAY
Goals of ‘Gen Next’ vs. ‘Gen X’
81%62%
18-25Get rich
51%29%
Become famous
30%36%
Help people
22%33%
Be community leaders
10%31%
Become more spiritual26-40
Source: Pew Research Centerfor the People & the Presssurvey, Sept.-Oct. 2006
AS SEEN IN USA TODAY’S LIFE SECTION, DECEMBER 7, 2006
Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.Page 2
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 of what 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 the2002 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 of Arel 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 of hours and proximity of work and home,the poll found.
Page 3
AS SEEN IN USA TODAY’S LIFE SECTION, DECEMBER 7, 2006
Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
"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 of courses 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 of Entrepreneurship 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 incomesupport 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 herself since 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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USA TODAY Collegiate Case Study: Gen Y & Entrepreneurship: Fad or Legacy?
This case study explores entrepreneurship’s upward trend and the role that youth play in it.
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