Bill Gates and Michael Dell (Photo by Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc/Sygma via Getty Images)
Bill Gates and Paul Elliott were school mates in Seattle. Both had a love for the newly emerging personal computer (PC) industry and spent a lot of time learning to program them on the high-school PC. They started their venture writing software for PCs, when they learned that IBM was interested in a PC operating system. They acquired an operating system and licensed it to IBM on a non-exclusive basis. This was the catalyst for Microsoft’s take-off.
Steve Jobs was tinkering with started building PCs in high school. That’s when he got assistance from one of the co-founders of Hewlett-Packard. He attended college for a short time and then dropped out to start Apple with Steve Wozniak. That was the start of one of the world’s most valuable companies.
Michael Dell started selling newspaper subscriptions in high school and used this money to buy a PC to learn how it was built. He started selling PCs from his dorm room at the University of Texas and then dropped out to launch Dell.
Dick Schulze started fixing car radios in high school. After graduating high school, he worked for Sony as a sales rep before leaving to start his own stores to sell consumer electronics. That was the start of Best Buy.
Earl Bakken started studying electronics while in high school. He then studied electrical engineering at the University of Minnesota before developing the world’s first cardiac pacemaker. That was the launch of Medtronic.
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Mark Zuckerberg was a software prodigy while in high school. He wrote an app that Microsoft offered to buy. After he joined Harvard, Zuckerberg was asked to write the software for a linking site. Zuckerberg appropriated the idea and launched Facebook.
However, not all unicorn-entrepreneurs started on the unicorn-path in high school. In industries that need a lot of technical training, or in high-potential industries at the growth stage, or where the right trend has not yet emerged, unicorn entrepreneurs waited for the right training, experience, or emerging trend. Videotelephony was past the emerging stage when Eric Yuan founded Zoom Video. He took advantage of the missteps by the industry giants.
Sometimes they launched their venture based on their skills and interest – and then switched to the right trend. After graduating from college, Sam Walton started as a small-town small-store retailer. When the big-store trend emerged in urban areas with companies like Target and Kmart, Walton imitated and improved. He pivoted from small stores in small towns to big stores in small towns. That was the launch of Walmart.
One lesson from unicorn-entrepreneurs is that high school is a good time for entrepreneurs to learn the skills and strategies to launch growth ventures in emerging trends. Here’s why:
· Students may have the time and interest to learn the skills and strategies to start a growth venture and take off without VC. After high school, there is strong pressure to go to college or get a job
· Since very few entrepreneurs succeed with VC, students can benefit by learning how 94% of unicorn-entrepreneurs took off with finance-smart strategies and without VC
· Learning the skills and strategies in high school can allow students to be finance-smart and grow more with less in any business or career they choose
· Students can learn the importance of emerging trends and seek expertise in these trends to help them with their careers in entrepreneurship or outside. With the right skills, entrepreneurs have a life-long opportunity to jump on the right emerging trend especially since you never know when the right emerging trend (for them) will emerge
MY TAKE: Learning unicorn-entrepreneurship in high school gives graduates a lifelong career option. They can start their high-growth venture with the right skills in high school and build it after they graduate. Or they can use the skills to start one later in life when the right trend starts. It should be required education, like the STEM courses. After all, not all of us were meant to be employees. Some are leaders. Let’s train them.
