What “gifts” can parents give their kids to help them start a business?

The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

1. Time

Kids are going to have tons and tons of questions if they’re trying to start a business, and the process can be really daunting without a great support system. A parent’s time/support is invaluable and will be super helpful throughout the start-up phase. Setting up the company and thinking through all the planning could be a great bonding project, even if the parent doesn’t have all the answers.

- Jessica Brondo, The Edge in College Prep

2. The Gift of Education

Before anyone can start a business, they must learn business infrastructure, what makes a business successful, and what causes failure. There are three fundamental “gifts” that parents can give their kids for this: education to learn skills and critical thinking, real-world experience to apply, and, of course, the desire to make the world a better place.

- Marcos Cordero, GradSave, LLC

3. A Growth Mindset

A growth mindset believes “abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.” Stanford researcher Carol Dweck’s book “Mindset” is a must read for parents.

- Kevon Saber, Fig

4. Mentorship

A parent who has run a business can offer a child immense support through the form of mentorship. Alternatively, a parent who isn’t a business owner can refer a child to possible mentors or make introductions. Nothing beats mentorship on the road to success.

- Lisa Nicole Bell, Inspired Life Media Group

5. Choice

The best gift you can give a child is the freedom of choice. Allow them to study what they want, learn what they want and pursue what they want. When they do that they will effortlessly pursue the things that are most aligned with their values, so when the time comes to start a business, they will happily put in whatever time it takes to make it successful because they will enjoy doing it.

- Louis Lautman, Supreme Outsourcing

6. Subscription to Mixergy

If a parent does not have entrepreneurship experience but do have kids interested in a subject, then buy them a subscription to Mixergy. The in depth interviews on the site are very helpful and inspiring. Any kid who studies that site will learn about additional resources to help them grow a business.

- Lawrence Watkins, Great Black Speakers

7. Firm Financial Foundation

In order to start a business, a child needs to have a strong personal sense of financial responsibility. A parent can ‘gift’ this to their children by beginning to teach them the value of a dollar and a strong work ethic from a young age. The earlier a parent can offer these gifts to their kids, the better suited they’ll be to start a business with a sound financial foundation in the future.

- Darrah Brustein, Finance Whiz Kids | Equitable Payments

8. Experience

Unless a kid sees the daily grind that goes into building a business, she’s not going to really know what it takes. If you can’t let your kids follow you around at your business, find an entrepreneur who can. I spent hours involved in my parents’ business growing up, gaining valuable experience on how to get started, so when I launched my first company in college, I had a major head start.

- Thursday Bram, Hyper Modern Consulting

9. A Trip to Startup Weekend

Startup Weekend offers a 54-hour weekend event that lets you experience what it is like to start and build a startup company in a weekend. It’s experiential education for entrepreneurs at its finest. You’ll participate on a team validating an idea, creating a prototype and building a pitch deck. All ages are welcome and it has spawned tens of thousands of entrepreneurs (including me!)

- Eric Koester, Zaarly

10. Support!

The gift of support! While a fat check never hurts, an understanding and supportive parent can be even more helpful. Word of mouth advertising is also a great help — so kids, better drill your parents to learn your elevator pitch perfectly!

- Nanxi Liu, Enplug

11. Give Permission to Fail

Parents can’t gift success to their children, but what serves children over the course of their lives is permission to try — and to fail. Fear of failure is a part of the human condition, but when parents can give their children the permission to fail, you instill an important entrepreneurial mindset that failure is not an enemy or monster, but a vital teacher and lifelong guide.

- Dave Ursillo, The Literati Writers

12. AWS Account

An Amazon Web Services Account or gift certificate gives anyone the technological tools they need to get a professional online business off the ground. Hardware that used to cost thousands of dollars to own can now be rented via AWS for pennies per hour.

- Robert J. Moore, RJMetrics

13. Setting A Good Example

A good education is always important along with setting a good example. Children learn by example, so it is important that you set the stage for them. Also, teach your child that failure is a part of the process. It is important to fail before succeeding; it shows just how one will handle those tough times and how they will turn them around. Life is about failures and successes.

- Adam DeGraide, Astonish

What’s one awesome resource for aspiring young teen/tween entrepreneurs to learn tech skills like code?

The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

1. Treehouse

I love Treehouse (http://teamtreehouse.com/). The service is heavily video oriented, which makes the whole learning process much more enjoyable. They also use gamification elements (unlocking badges etc.) throughout, which can become very addictive. In addition to Treehouse, I’d also recommend young entrepreneurs to check out Udemy — a class act in providing online courses for a gamut of topics.

- Juha Liikala, WebVehicle Oy

2. Codecademy and Stack Overflow

Codecadamy is the greatest tool out there for learning how to code. It’s free to use and teaches just about every programming language out there. My second favorite resource for people who already have the basics down is Stack Overflow. Confused or forgot one little detail? Search for it on Stack Overflow, my bet is someone else came across the same roadblock and documented it here.

- Justin Beck, PerBlue

3. RailsBridge

RailsBridge holds free workshops around the country to help underrepresented people learn to code in a collaborative environment.

- Kevon Saber, Fig

4. Why Not Try a Full-Time Program?

For slightly older teens I would encourage enrolling in a full-time program like DevBootCamp in San Francisco, Flatiron School in NYC or HackAdemy in Copenhagen — which will teach you from scratch up to junior developer level in Ruby on Rails with some supporting skills and real world experience. Oh, and chances are, you have your first full-time dev job at the end!

- Christopher Pruijsen, FounderBus

5. Scratch from MIT

Scratch is a great visual tool that teaches object oriented programming without worrying about actually writing code. Great for learning concepts and not getting bogged down in syntax.

- Wade Foster, Zapier

6. Startup Weekend

There are lots of online courses to teach you how to code, but let’s face it: learning anything online yourself is incredibly difficult. My advice is to go to Startup Weekend and join a team with some developers who’ll let you learn and try out a few things. I’ve been to 25-plus Startup Weekends and have learned more there than any course, class or lesson.

- Eric Koester, Zaarly

7. Quora and Github

Although there are tons of services that allow us to go through the steps of learning how to code, we often find that we have questions that those sites don’t give us the answers to. I’ve found that Quora and Github are two ways to talk to other programmers and look at example code to help teach tech skills even more.

- Stacey Ferreira, MySocialCloud

8. CoderDojo

CoderDojo is a huge group of coding clubs for young entrepreneurs (and really any young people) across the world, from NYC to Ireland. Their classes are free and purposefully built to teach young kids how to learn web development.

- Derek Flanzraich, Greatist

9. Stanford’s Coursera Online Classes

Stanford has begun offering free online classes through Coursera. These classes are more structured than other online learning tools, which will help a teen stay committed.

- Aaron Schwartz, Modify Watches

It’s been a great year at Raising CEO Kids and we have loved providing great ideas and resources for you to help in raising entrepreneur kids! As rated by our readers, here are the Top 12 of 2012!

1. Traveling with Kids? Top Questions to Ask the CEO
2. 13 Great Leadership Books For Your Teen to Read
3. 3 Ways to Teach Your Children about Money
4. How to Teach Delayed Gratification to Kids and Why It’s Important For a Young Entrepreneur
5. What To Do When Family Members Are Mean
6. The Key Startup Advice That Helped Shape myYearbook (now MeetMe)
7. From Bedroom to Boardroom: Ways To Create Your Teen Business Office
8. What I Wish I Knew Before Graduating High School: 11 Entrepreneurs Speak Out
9. 5 Steps to Creating Your Own Job
10. 7 Ways to Grow and Manage Your Business from a Mobile Device
11. 13 Colleges Perfect for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
12. Making Money Digital… Is it Positive or Negative for Children?

Hanukkah has past, today is Christmas Eve, and Kwanzaa starts in just a couple of days.

With all the celebrations, have you found that your children have caught an acute case of the “Gimme’s”?

There is still time to create a more GIVING lifestyle within your family…would you like to know more?

It’s starts with you envisioning what you want that lifestyle to look like! How do you want the Gift of Giving to feel for you? For your children? How do you want your home and life to be transformed? How will you know that you have received this GIFT? How will you know when others have received it as well?

For great family financial cents ideas as well as tips on raising CEO kids, follow me on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/SarahLCook

For those of us who celebrate Christmas, it’s ALMOST HERE! How are you doing with “holi-debt”? Where is your anxiety level from all the ’tis the season expectations?

On a recent “Family Financial Cents” segment of Sacramento and Company,  I share all about “Trimming” the Holidays” and why it’s important for kids.

When you pick up a copy of our book, “The Parents’ Guide to Raising CEO Kids” you’ll get some extra gifts!! Click HERE!

PS – Message me ( Sarah@SarahLCook.com) after your book purchase and I will have another gift for you as well! ‘Tis the Season for Giving and I can’t wait to send you your gifts!

PSS – We’d love to see what’s on your family’s Holiday List! Don’t you LOVE how my Little Man turned his Holiday List into a paper airplane while waiting for the rest of the family to finish their List?

A recent study by Deloitte’s Shift Index shows that over 80 percent of the world doesn’t like the work they do.

This is a tragedy.

I’ve spent the last eight or so years on a quest to find out what sets those 20 percent, the seemingly lucky few, from the rest of the world who lead these lives of quiet desperation.

After interacting with over 11,000 people in 158 countries, I realized there are three practices that every person doing passionate world-changing work has in common. Without them we’re left in the 80 percent. But with them, anything’s possible.

Last month I gave a TEDx talk at the de Young Museum in San Francisco on How to Find & Do Work You Love. I covered the full origin of this three-step Passionate Work Framework, and how to fully integrate it into your world. You can watch the full talk below, or read on for a summary of the 3 steps that can change everything:

(Don’t see a video? Click here.)

1. Knowing Yourself and Self-Experimentation

You must know who you are, what you’re good at, what values you hold highest, what you enjoy doing and what you absolutely hate. This comes from massive introspection (journaling, reading, self-guided education, asking the right questions) and constant experimentation. This is not something you learn in a book. You extract it from your life experiences. The more experiences the better. When it doubt, keep learning and experimenting.

2. Doing the Impossible

Most people don’t believe it’s possible to have a passionate career. In fact, society trains us that a lot of unbelievably fulfilling things can’t be done. So we have to brainwash ourselves otherwise. Because when we do things we didn’t think we could do, it puts our thinking on a whole new level. The best place I’ve found to start is with your physical body — with exercise and nutrition.

One, because it’s totally in your control. No matter what happens in a day, you can always decide to get out on that run or choose that salad over the fries — no one can take that from you.

And two, because overcoming our own perceived physical impossibilities gives us confidence that is directly transferable to the rest of our life — be it business, relationships or whatever. If you got yourself to lose 50 pounds in six months, then who’s to say you couldn’t double your business’s sales next year?

Showing yourself you can do things you used to write off as impossible, has a confidence-compounding effect on our life like no other.

We can be more of who we are when we put ourselves first. We must train ourselves that most limits are mental. We do that by turning them into milestones. Whether it’s finishing that first mile, writing that first chapter or making that first call – we must stack up proof that we can do what we used to tell ourselves we couldn’t. Then limits disappear.

3. Surrounding Yourself With Passionate People

The fastest way to do the impossible is to start hanging around people already doing it. Simple as that. The people around you change everything. There is no bigger life hack. That is why creating genuine connections is such a huge part of our message.

I swear if there were only one single piece of advice I could give to someone looking to find and do work they love, it would be to find new friends. The fastest way to change your results is to change your environment. That’s it. The people next to you have a much bigger impact than most realize. If you’re not inspired by them, then do something about it.

So what do these 3 pieces have in common?

They are all 100 percent within our control.

We can’t control a recession, getting fired or a getting hit by a bus. But every one of these things are on us. No one can tell us we can’t learn about ourselves. No one can keep us from pushing our own physical and mental limits. And no one can tell us we can’t hang around inspiring people (or move away from those who bring us down).

What will you decide?

Scott Dinsmore is the founder of Live Your Legend, a coaching and digital product company helping people build a career around work they love. He’s also a Managing Partner at Cumbre Capital, a value investment partnership modeled after the Buffett Partnerships of the 50′s and 60′s. Scott loves a good adventure.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

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When spouses are pitted against each other, it makes for a hostile environment, especially when the arising problem involves money.

Dollar Wars can be one of the biggest struggles in a marriage and can also be a contributing factor for divorce. Sarah Cook, the author of “The Parents’ Guide to Raising CEO Kids,” talks to host, Mellisa Paul & Sac&Co viewers about ways to work out financial responsibilities with your spouse.

To find out more about Dollar Wars and the book, “Grow Your Marriage by Leaps & Boundaries“, visit www.DrJerryLCook.com/

Sarah: Remmi, please tell us how you got started and where other kids starting a business and their parents can find out more info about you.

Remmi Smith: I’ve always loved food, and I started in the kitchen when I was 4 years old, and I made full meals when I was 7 years old. In early 2009, my mom and I started looking into the childhood obesity epidemic. There was so much information out about the problem and a lot of good resources for children and their parents. What we didn’t find is cooking shows just for kids. We decided to create a cooking show to get kids excited about cooking and improving their nutrition. My first show “Cook Time with Remmi” first aired on my website at www.cooktimewithremmi.com in April 2009.

Sarah: What were the biggest obstacles and problems you had in getting started as a kid in business?


Remmi Smith: With the success we have, I believe we had and have a good concept. Money has definitely been an obstacle. Having a big idea and being a kid is hard for people to take you seriously. The website was the biggest cost we had in starting the business. We did have filming costs, but they were very low as we were willing to partner with our videographer and we gave him a percent of the business. That partnership is what allowed us to make the show which is what has given us the exposure we needed.

Sarah: How old were you when you started and how old are you now?  How does age affect kids starting a business or how does your age affect your business success?


Remmi Smith: I was 10 years old when my first show aired on my website and I am now 12 years old. Since my audience is kids, my age helps me be successful. For example, I am now a spokesperson for Sodexo Education and I am the national “Student Ambassador for Health and Wellness” for all of North America which gives me the opportunity to influence 3 million kids. I do not think I would have the opportunity if I was a grown up. On the other side, people first think of me as a kid and they question my ability to be successful and focused for the long term.

Sarah: What about college?  Are you planning on going? Do you think that college is necessary for kids in business?

Remmi Smith: As of right now I want to have a culinary degree, own my own restaurant, and become a writer and food critic. I know I will need to go to school to get my culinary degree and that is important to me. I do know that not everything you learn is in a school and there are many different ways to be educated.

Sarah: What have been the best surprises that you found in starting a business?


Remmi Smith: Some of what I had to do was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I guess the surprise here is I really don’t mind the hard stuff as my dream really does keep me going.

Sarah: Do you do EVERYTHING by yourself or do you have people on your team that work with you?  If so – how did you find people to help you along the way?


Remmi Smith: My partner is my mother and she works full time on my business. Really important too is we have taken all opportunities where other people wanted to be involved or help us. This has given me a network of people and organizations that helps my business today and will continue to help me in the future. Finding partners that can benefit from what you have to offer has been a very big success factor. Being willing to offer time and effort in a way that will help my partners has been something I have done a lot. When my involvement has been successful for my partners, they then find ways to promote me in their business and with their customers. This has given me a lot of exposure from many different directions. I also use social media as a way to get exposure.

Sarah: How do you balance it all?  Do you find that you still have time to be a kid or is it all about business?


Remmi Smith: My family support has really helped me balance work and being a kid. For example when I am filming, my sisters pick up my chores. They are not always happy about it, but they are willing to do it for me because they know I need their support. There have been times I feel a bit overwhelmed, but that really is an exception. I really have a good balance for both work and kid time.

Sarah: What is the best business advice or tips you would like to share with kids who want to be CEO kids?

Remmi Smith: Figure out what your dream is and go after it and find partners that can benefit from what you have to offer!

To connect more with Remmi, you can find her on Facebook and Twitter:

Facebook: Cook Time with Remmi

Twitter: is CookTimeRemmi.

This month’s Family Financial Cents segment is on what I call, “Biz Tripping”! It’s a unique twist on the classic family vacation!

Take a look at the article I wrote about our last trip to Disneyland!

And for even more help with planing your Biz Trip Vacation take a look at these resources!

Family Vacation Ideas? 10 Industry Conferences Your Kids Should Attend

What conferences are out there for teens/tweens to attend live or virtually to support them in biz?

1. Check Out Teens in Tech Labs

Teens in Tech Labs is a fantastic organization founded by young entrepreneur Daniel Brusilovsky. The conferences Teens in Tech organizes are perfectly geared toward the mission of helping teen and tween founders to get the resources and tools necessary to succeed in business. Teens in Tech also has great online resources year-round, so you can stay connected before and after conferences. Doreen Bloch, Poshly Inc.

Find out more Family Vacation ideas HERE!

Why Punishing Your Kids Can Backfire

How a parent corrects a child’s behavior is always a hotly contested topic. From punishment to timeout, to taking privileges and things away, to using timeout as a calming place, every family does it differently.

There is no “one way” to correct behavior. Parents need the freedom to learn about themselves and their children through the correction choices they make. My question to you is, do you have all the facts? Have you considered the emotional ramifications of your correction methods? Have you factored in how your methods may impact your parent/child relationship, now and in the future?

Want to learn more? CLICK HERE!

Shark Tank is Looking for Young Entrepreneurs!

Do you know the popular show Shark Tank on Friday nights? It’s a show based on 5 investors being pitched by an entrepreneur their idea in exchange for funding and a piece of the action (% play of the company) with the opportunity to work with one of the five successful investors personally.

Now Shark Tank is looking for YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS!

Click HERE to find out more!

Are You Meeting New People?

Are you the kind of person who thrives on meeting new people, or one whose palms break into a sweat at the very thought? Whether we like it, love it, or hate it, it’s something we all need to do—and the more comfortable we become with it, the better.

Being skilled at getting to know new people isn’t about winning a popularity contest, being good-looking or smart, or even about being remarkably interesting.

Read the rest of the article HERE!

5 Strategies for Finding Your Ideal Mentor

Everybody could benefit from the helpful guidance of a mentor. Whether you are searching for an industry pro to bounce ideas off of, or simply looking for someone open to sharing general business advice, it’s a never a bad idea to widen the scope of your current network by directly seeking out those you admire professionally.

The question is, how to make their acquaintance in the first place? Try one or more of following:

Click HERE to learn the 5 Strategies!

Commit to YOUR Financial Literacy

In all of my years I’ve never taken an Art History course. I have nothing against the subject, per se; I’ve simply focused my learning in other areas. I know I couldn’t possibly appreciate the majesty of the Mona Lisa as deeply as an art history expert. That said, I can honestly say it hasn’t adversely impacted my life.

I wouldn’t advise having the same attitude toward money and finance, though. The fact is, money plays a huge role in all of our lives whether we like it or not. We have to make it, save it, spend it, monitor it, count it, and manage it. We have to save for our homes, our retirement and our education. If we’re wise managers of our money, good things can result. If we’re not, it can be the source of financial ruin, untold stress, and disaster in our relationships. That’s why EVERY school ought to consider a course in personal finance as a graduation requirement!!!

Read the rest of the article HERE!