Last week BusinessWeek posted an article by Jeff Bussgang [2], a seasoned investor and entrepreneur, who shared his concern that we are suffering from a lost generation of entrepreneurs [3]. It seems he tried to make a list of significant entrepreneurs under 35 and wasn't able to get very far. Jeff argues that since the 2000s were lean years that did not produce many substantial start-ups, that generation of 20-somethings was not able to develop company-building skills. He says we have not had the opportunity to see success at a young age or learn the important lessons of start-up leadership, so our generation has also missed out on the early start-up experience that would have made great mentors and serial starters later in life. Further, we are lacking good entrepreneurial role models, and he worries the next generation of entrepreneurs too could be lost without footsteps to follow.
With all due respect, I think maybe Jeff worries too much. If he's looking for examples of young people with start-up leadership experience, skills and success, he may just be looking in the wrong place. This generation is less interested in making as much money as possible and more interested in starting organizations that are mission-focused, so we are looking at nonprofits and companies with double or triple bottom lines. While the 2000s may not have been a good time to start a business, that hasn't kept twenty-something entrepreneurs of every stripe from starting nonprofits and social ventures.
As much as I might have tried to discourage them [4], the upshot of all the Millennial nonprofit start-ups is that people of our generation (successful and not) are learning a lot in the process. I don’t think Jeff should be worried about a lost generation of entrepreneurs; rather, I think he should be glad to see that whatever the economic climate has been, this generation of entrepreneurs is using innovation to address social challenges, even when that means sacrificing opportunities for personal gain – the same types of opportunities that might have drawn them into the circles that would get Jeff’s attention.
In an effort to ease his worries, we at Social Citizens would like to offer few people he can add to his list of under 35 success stories with leadership experience and start-up skills that will have no problem serving as role models for their peers and the next generation of entrepreneurs, who may also focus a little less on profits and a little more on changing the world.
Blake Mycoskie [5], 33, founded TOMS Shoes with the idea that promising to give away one pair of shoes for every pair purchased. Prior to starting TOMS, Blake has founded four other businesses since college.
Emily Pilloton, 28, who wrote “Design Revolution: 100 Products that Empower People,” and founded Project H Design [6], a nonprofit team of designers, architects and builders that mobilize product design ingenuity to benefit humanity, habitats, health and happiness. See her on the Colbert Report [7] earlier this year.
Scott Harrison [8], 34, who left his job as a successful nightclub promoter to start charity:water, an incredibly successful nonprofit providing clean water for hundreds of thousands of people.
Jonny Dorsey, 24, who while in undergrad at Stanford decided to take a leave of absence to start FACE AIDS [9] and oversaw the expansion of the organization to 150 schools across the country. He's now cofounder of Global Health Corps [10], which strives to promote global health equity.
Ory Okolloh, 34, is a blogger [11], co-founder of Ushahidi [12], an innovative technology platform originally developed to map violence after the 2008 Kenyan election, and co-founder of Mzalendo [13], which tracks the performance of Kenyan policiticans.
Esra'a Al Shafei, 23, who promotes human rights for ethic and religious minorities through multiple online campaigns and is the founder and director of MideastYouth.com [14], an interfaith network developed to provide young people with freedom of expression.
Sam Adelsberg, 22, who is the co-founder of LendforPeace.org [15], which allows people to support the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through online microloans to vetted entrepreneurs in the West Bank.
Courtney Macavinta [16], 34, started Respect RX [17], a social venture that promotes self-respect, relationship respect and respect for all for teens and young adults, and has been featured consistently as an expert on issues facing teens and women.
Jacob Colker, 26, who after managing numerous political and advocacy campaigns founded The Extraordinaries [18], a social enterprise which gives people the opportunity to volunteer their spare moments for causes they care about using their mobile phones.
I've more than doubled Jeff's "depressingly short list" here, but do your part to help him feel better...add to the list!
Comments
You missed these guys: http://www.krochetkids.org/ourstory_history.php [20]
They are barely out of college and run a sustainable non-profit company that enables women to support themselves and their families in Uganda.
Thanks for including Emily! We think all our PopTech Social Innovation Fellows belong on this list :)
And, PopTech just opened the nominations for the class of 2010: http://poptech.org/nominate [21] (deadline is March 31, 2010) We would love to have readers nominate for next year's group and continue adding to this list--
I would strongly encourage the inclusion of elemental on this list. Co-founders Tom Abraham and John Barboni created a multidisciplinary architecture, identity & media firm that focuses on sustainable design. Also they host Sala – bi-monthly salons in NYC for interdisciplinary gatherings for social, cultural, & environmental sustainability (http://salanyc.org/ [22]). Such endeavors have really emulated what is at the forefront of architectural design and issues raised in this current environment.
I'd like to nominate Liz from Sseko Designs as a great, budding social entrepreneur and role-model for our generation: http://www.ssekodesigns.com/ [23]. She founded a not-just-for-profit company who sells stylsih and comfy sandals while helping women in Uganda fund their education. Go Liz! Twitter: @SsekoDesigns
I would like to nominate myself for the list. I was considered one of the top ten student entrepreneurs by the Entrepreneurs organization. My company is called wisecampus.com and we are a free educational resource for college students we are already in over 1000 schools. We offer everything from lecture notes to virtual flash cards. I am currently 22.
While Maggie Doyne may not follow the entreprenuearial model, her story is an example of sacrificing the monetary aim to be socially conscious. Thank you for writing this article; I find that so much commentary tends to be alarmist for absolutely no reason. Spot on!
http://maggiedoyne.squarespace.com/about-maggie-doyne/ [24]
Kudos to Kristin Ivie for her great post on the Business Week article. I've been a venture capitalist for almost twenty-five years now, and the notion of a "lost generation" of entrepreneurs strikes me as somewhat silly. While great entrepreneurs are rare, they don't stand still waiting to time the business cycle perfectly. All the data shows that as many great companies are created in down cycles as in good. What this post showed me (along with the very interesting comments) is how many inspiring new non-profits have been started by young entrepreneurs. Thankfully, they're doing things that really will change the globe, instead of starting yet another social networking or data dashboard company.
http://scoutbanana.org/ [25] Born out of a child's boyscout project, this campaign really picked up steam and has done some amazing things for Uganda.
This refocusing on what it means to be an entrepreneur is refreshing. Entrepreneurship skills are being honed and applied in far broader ways than many people realize. The new focus upon social entrepreneurship is opening many eyes and many opportunities.
Shallie Bey
Smarter Small Business Blog
The Roosevelt Institute Campus Network, started by college students in 2004 to engage in progressive public policy, thrives at 8,000 members on college campuses nationwide. It's led by an amazing team of 20-somethings in DC, in addition to student staff, all of whom share in the "entrepreneurial" spirit of leadership in a social change sort of way.
www.rooseveltcampusnetwork.org [26]
I'd also recommend Shawn Ahmed of the Uncultured Project (Uncultured.com) and Andrew Slack of the Harry Potter Alliance (TheHPAlliance.org).
350.org (a group near and dear to me) was founded by six young climate activists and young-at-heart environmental writer Bill McKibben. Kelly Blynn, May Boeve, Jamie Henn, Phil Aroneanu, Jon Warnow, Will Bates and Jeremy Osborn are all leaders in the international climate movement and are all in their mid-twenties.
This video shows what happened around the world last year for 350's International Day of Climate Action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noPcVKf24rk&feature=player_embedded [27]
Those same co-founders also made history back in 2007 with their Step It Up campaign (http://stepitup2007.org [28]) which gained support from all the leading Democratic candidates for President.
My company is called wisecampus.com and we are a free educational resource for college students we are already in over 1000 schools. We offer everything from lecture notes to virtual flash cards. Mortgage Refinance [29]
I'd also recommend Shawn Ahmed of the Uncultured Project (Uncultured.com) and Andrew Slack of the Harry Potter Alliance (TheHPAlliance.org).
NY DWI Attorney [30]
350.org (a group near and dear to me) was founded by six young climate activists and young-at-heart environmental writer Bill McKibben. Kelly Blynn, May Boeve, Jamie Henn, Phil Aroneanu, Jon Warnow, Will Bates and Jeremy Osborn are all leaders in the international climate movement and are all in their mid-twenties. virility ex [31]
His reply on the role of social media has also forced me to rethink about it.Thanks for this nice interview
furniture liquidators [32]
It is so good to see so many young people start non-profit startups.I wish them great luck and regarding the lessening number of startups and entrepreneurs,i really do not think there needs to be any such worry.Recession might be a barrier for quite sometime now but in a few months,everything is going back to normal for sure.
To better times and more entrepreneurship,
Jackie @ help for single mothers [33]