The 5 Reasons Generation Y is Perfectly Designed to Be Successful Entrepreneurs

After a week of kids’ wisdom teeth extraction and a case of the flu, I am finally back catching up on my reading and blogging again.  Amazing how missing a daily practice like blogging can make you feel out of sorts.

I just finished reading the post Is Gen Y Too Soft to Be Entrepreneurs? So, I have to weigh in on this topic.

I believe that Gen Y will be the first generation to truly get entrepreneurship “right.”  Why?  Here is my theory:

1) Generation Y has the drive. They was born and raised watching people like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs strike out on their own and make it big.  They watch their friends start businesses out of their garages and bedrooms, so they know what’s possible.  I would say that about 60% of the Gen Ys I have met over the last 2 years have the “e” factor (e for entrepreneurial swagger!)  When you are raised watching start-ups pop up all over the world and your friends are a part of it, the craving to be your own boss becomes a part of your blood.

2) Generation Ys are natural collaborators…from video games to crowdsourcing to online forums, they know how to rally a group of people to get a job done.  Where most entrepreneurs fall flat is that many are lone rangers.  Even when you are a solo biz owner, you need people, and Gen Y knows how to pull a crowd together in a snap using Facebook, Twitter et al.

3) For the most part, Gen Ys are very resourceful.  They know how to get their hands on the resources (i.e. Open Source Software) they need without spending a dime.  They don’t live in that odd place that thinks “If it’s free, it must not be worth anything.”  They are smart…they can look at a resource, evaluate it quickly and see if it’s going to do the job.  If not, they are smart enough to jerry-rig it so that it works.

4)  Many Gen Ys are competitive by nature and nurture.  I use the word nurture loosely.  Most Gen Ys have lived in the middle of an environment of highly competitive activities as early as age 3 or 4 (just ask any soccer mom, baseball or football dad or the parent of a young artist.)  It takes a competitive drive to succeed as an entrepreneur, because you really have to grind it out…and you can’t give up.  You may change courses (which is also a great Gen Y trait,) but the competitive spirit is what keeps a young entrepreneur moving in the direction of success.

5) Gen Ys are open to feedback…both criticism and praise.  If you are going to make it as an entrepreneur, you have to be open to feedback, both the good and the ugly.  Millennials are well known for asking for feedback.  They truly want to know how they’re doing, what they need to change and how they can be better at everything we do.

If you are a young entrepreneur, I would love to hear your story and what you believe it takes to be successful as a solo.  Leave a comment below, and let’s get the conversation going.