Gen Y and The entrepreneurial spirit

Just found this great post so I thought I would share.

The entrepreneurial spirit starts early for many teenagers, but for most things like high school, college and social lives overpower the urge to start a business.

But not every teenager.

Occasionally there are a few really driven youngsters who actually create successful companies before they are old enough to vote, buy alcohol, or even drive. Here are 10 inspirational stories of some incredibly successful young entrepreneurs, who all started their empires in their teens.

1. Fred De Luca

In 1965 Fred De Luca borrowed just $1,000 to start the now-famous Subway sandwich restaurant. Fred was only 17 years old when he decided to be an entrepreneur, and he started the restaurant as a way to earn money for college. Since opening the first shop in Boston, the chain now has 32,401 locations and makes over $9 billion in sales yearly. Fred and his co-founder Peter Buck have also founded Franchise Brands, a resource to help franchisors and entrepreneurs grow their brands.

2. Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg created the software that would eventually become the popular social networking site Facebook while he was at Harvard. He launched the site from his dorm room, and since that day has become the youngest self-made businessman who is worth more than a billion dollars. Zuckerberg dropped out of college and became the CEO of the fastest-growing site on the Internet. Facebook has since recorded over 400 million users and is now one of the most successful Web sites ever built.

3. Matt Mullenweg

Matt Mullenweg is another software developer who found success at a very early age. When Matt was 19, he announced that he would be starting an open source initiative for better blogging software and started Wordpress. Since then the software programmer started Automattic, which has two flagship products Akismet, a trap for site comment spam, and Wordpress.com, the hosted version of the open source Wordpress software. Since founding Automattic, the company has raised over $30 million dollars and owns some of the most popular software on the Web.

Read more 10 Awesome Companies Built by Teens

Wisdom got youth

Have you got some words of wisdom to share with the youth of today?

Welcome to my  ”If I can do it project”

Sarah’s Story

Inspiring teen!

I love it when I find posts like this and this is from the wonderful Sue Scheff’s Blog.

Most 14 year-olds are playing sports, listening to their music, going to movies and simply hanging with their friends. A smaller number of 14 year-olds are thinking about what they want to be when they grow up, or what college they want to attend.

Then there is Jason O’Neill with 14 years of dreaming, creating and succeeding! Yes, at 14 years old Jason already has started his own business and created an organization that gives back! During this past holiday season, Jason O’Neill made it his mission to give 250 bears to children at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, CA.

Read 14 year old Making a HUGE Difference

Jason O’Neill

Our Young Girls need this

It is very rarely I recommend books but this book on happiness and self esteem for youth is definitely worth getting your hands on.

Now saying that mine only just arrived ( the joys of living in the U.K.) so I cannot review it yet, however what I can say is that the author Gabrielle Bernstein is an inspiration lady on a mission and I totally can support that.

Gabrielle’s first book ADD MORE ~ing TO YOUR LIFE – A HIP GUIDE TO HAPPINESS is released today

I had a chat with Gabrielle about her book and modern day girls.

Q. What are the unique challenges that face young girls today? What a challenges to generation y have over generations before?

G. The most unique challenge that young women face today is that they have to witness their parents struggle. With the stress of the economy plaging every American household young women today witness their parents stress firsthand. Therefore they feel less likely to fall back on their family for help. This can be a positive though, because it may be the catalyst for young women to take action in their own lives and not rely on their family for financial support.

Q. Why is it so important for youth nowadays to connect to their “ing”?

G. Because ~ing is the voice of their inner guide (the loving voice.) When you’re connected to your ~ing you have said no to fear and embraced your truth. It imperative to have a strong connection to your ~ing to combat the fear on the news, on the street, at the dinner table etc. it is

Q: What is ~ing

G: ~ing stands for inner guidance. ~ing is your intuitive sense and your untapped inspiration.

Q: Explain the ~ing Equation

G: Designed to bulldoze negative thought patterns and create personal change through positive affirmations, physical activity, and visualization meditations, the ~ing Equation guides the reader to happiness in 30 days. The ~ing Equation is a proven method of sharpening one’s intuitive senses and activating untapped inspirations.

Q: What is the journey of the book?

G: Chapter One through Six are all about clearing space to receive inner guidance. Chapters Seven through Twelve guide readers to turn their desires into form.

Q: Why do people need to learn tools for happiness?

G: Today people have more obstacles than ever. It’s imperative that they be armed with fun tools for bulldozing fear and negative thought patterns in order to live their lives to the fullest. Fear is the number one reason people are not happy. Fear blocks people from their ability to “play big” in all areas of life.

Q: What makes this book different from other self-help books?

G: My book is the launchpad for a new conversation. My generation has come to terms with the fact that cosmos and manolo’s don’t equal happy. Therefore I’ve created the HIP GUIDE to happiness. Changing your life doesn’t have to be hard, in fact it can be fun. Armed with the right tools any gen xer or y can make major life changes in a timeframe that is up to speed with “now” mentality.

Youth Inspiration

If you ever need any inspiration about or for young people then I suggest you take a wonder over to Kids Are Heroes. See how our young people are making a difference in the world.

Young people having an impact.

Local teenagers from a summer journalism programme at Community Links in Newham spent a week looking at what needs to be done to end child poverty in the UK. Find out their ideas and what the local…