cover story
Youth in action
Young entrepreneurs get
their businesses off the ground
BY DONNA FENN
H ave you noticed that an increas- ing numbers of entrepreneurs look as if they’d be more comfort- able on a college campus than in a
boardroom? If not, it’s time you took notice of
a new generation of business owners under 30
years old who are blazing fresh trails through
the entrepreneurial landscape. You might assume that current economic woes have a lot
do with that, but the fact is that Generation
Y—those born between 1977 and 1994—was
leveraging its startup mojo long before the
economy started tanking.
Why? Consider that Gen Y grew up with
high-pro;le entrepreneurial role models
such as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Richard
Branson, who showed them that starting a
successful company could bring rock-star
status in the press. ;eir peers, such as Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and YouTube
founders Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and
Jawed Karim, proved that, far from being a
barrier to success, youth could provide a distinct marketplace advantage. Who knew better how to reach the large and increasingly
a;uent youth market?
Also, Gen Y grew up as digital natives.
With no memory of life without computers
and the Internet, they’re comfortable with
the tech tools that make starting a company
faster and cheaper than it’s ever been. Add to
that a rise in entrepreneurship programs in
schools (see page 25), plus disillusionment
with big corporations, fueled by corporate
scandals, layo;s and the recession.
What you’ve got are perfect-storm conditions for a youth entrepreneurship movement. Here are a handful of Costco members
who are among the participants. C
