The Importance of Teaching Entrepreneurship to Our Youth

Entrepreneurship is something that is necessary for society in many ways. Without entrepreneurship, there would not be new advances in technology, health, and other areas. There also would not be jobs if there were not entrepreneurs to start these companies. Friederike Welter states that entrepreneurs create “High–growth, technology–enabled, venture capital–backed businesses that do big initial public offerings, make billionaires of their founders, create thousands of jobs, and provide products and services that change the way we live are exciting and important. This is often characterized as the Silicon Valley model of entrepreneurship” (2016). This is what most people think of when they think of a typical entrepreneur. However, an entrepreneur can be anyone that comes up with a new idea is beneficial in some way. If entrepreneurship is so important, then why is it not a mandatory curriculum in schools or something that kids are taught by their parents? In The Element, Ken Robison states “many people do do well in their schools and love what they have to offer. But too many graduate or leave early, unsure of their real talents and not knowing what direction to take next” (225). This relates to entrepreneurship because if schools taught kids that it is okay to take a different path than what the typical school subjects teach you, than more kids would not feel unsure of what they want to do after school. Cameron Herold and Linda Zhang are two examples of people who believe that entrepreneurship needs to be taught to kids. Cameron Herold’s TED talk “Let’s raise our kids to be entrepreneurs” and Linda Zhang’s “Why schools should teach entrepreneurship” are similar because they both incorporate pathos and ethos to show why it is important for kids to be taught entrepreneurship, but differ because Herold’s presentation uses more logos to appeal to the audience by giving many concrete ways in which kids can be taught entrepreneurship than Zhang who only gives a few statistics to show logos.

Cameron Herold’s TED talk “Let’s raise our kids to be entrepreneurs” uses pathos, ethos, and logos to show the importance of why kids should be taught to be entrepreneurs from a young age. He starts and ends his presentation with different examples of pathos. As Herold starts his presentation, he mentions that he is probably the dumbest person in the room right now. This shows emotion because if he truly is the dumbest person in the room, that means that everyone in the room is capable of accomplishing the things that he has accomplished. He says this about himself because he did not have the best grades in school growing up and because he only got into one university out of high school. He uses this as an example of how well someone does in school does not determine if they will or will not be successful. He then ends his presentation with another example of pathos. He shows a video at the end which says that nothing is impossible and that one individual can make a difference in the world. This video uses pathos through its appeal of inspiration to inspire the audience that no matter who they are or what they have done, they can still be successful. He also incorporates the appeal of ethos into his presentation through many different examples. The first example Herold gives is that he “was the highest-rated lecturer at MIT’s Entrepreneurial Master’s Program” (Herold). This is an example of his credibility because it shows that he is an excellent public speaker. The next example of ethos that he gives is many different examples of how he has grown up being an entrepreneur. One example was when he was seven years old, he started selling coat hangers to different dry cleaners as a way to make money. This proves that he has always been an entrepreneur and that he has a lot of knowledge when it comes to entrepreneurship. The Journal of Labor Economics talks about how “Entrepreneurs are individuals who are multifaceted. Although not necessarily superb at anything, entrepreneurs have to be sufficiently skilled in a variety of areas” (Lazear, pg. 676). This shows that Herold is a prime example of an entrepreneur, because he showed through his companies when he was younger that he is very skilled at a multitude of different things. “At age 21, he had 14 employees. By 35 he’d helped build his first two 100 Million Dollar companies. By the age of 42, Cameron had engineered 1-800-GOT-JUNK?’s spectacular growth from $2 Million to $106 Million in revenue in just six years” (Cameron Herold). Herold has also proved through his growth of his companies that he knows what it takes to start and grow a company. The third appeal that Herold uses throughout his presentation of logos. He tells a story about how he allows his kids to spend fifty percent of the money they earn on toys, but they have to save the other 50 percent and take it to the bank. This is one example of how from an early age, kids can be taught to be entrepreneurs. He also uses logos by giving examples of entrepreneurial traits that parents should nurture in their kids and also gives a list of skills that parents should teach their kids.

Linda Zhang’s TED talk “Why schools should teach entrepreneurship” incorporates pathos, ethos, and logos into her presentation to talk about why it is necessary that kids are taught to have an entrepreneurial mindset. Zhang uses pathos by telling a story about her parents, how they were poor immigrants, yet they managed to start the second biggest textile supplying company for New Zealand. This helps convey the emotion of motivation because it shows that anyone can be an entrepreneur, no matter the situation they are brought up in. Jayawarna Dilani proclaims that “Within such a framework, entrepreneur motivations develop from experience in changing career, household and business contexts” (2013). This relates to Zhang because the experience that she received in her household growing up allowed her to want to be an entrepreneur. Zhang also uses the appeal of pathos when she talks about how high school should be inspiring students, and not to have students worrying about whether they will pass certain tests. Next, she uses the appeal of ethos by showing that she is a credible speaker. She first talks about how she started a club in high school that was where kids could meet up and talk about different changes that they wanted to make in the world. This shows that she has been interested in creating change since a young age. The next example is that she mentions that she co-led an organization called Generation Entrepreneur. “Generation Entrepreneur is a Non-for-profit instilling an entrepreneurial spirit within the future generation of young Australians. We deliver entrepreneurial programs in partnership with industry and schools across NSW, empowering students to become social entrepreneurs” (Generation Entrepreneur). She shows her credibility by lastly stating that she has helped over 1000 students and 100 schools. Lastly, she uses logos by giving a statistic saying that “a person born in the year 2000 will have an average of 15 jobs” (Zhang). This shows that the future of the job industry is not predictable and that schools may [image: ]not always prepare us for these changes. She lastly uses logos by giving an example of a student who has benefited from her organization. She talks about a girl named Anna who cared a lot about the environment and how Generation Entrepreneur allowed Anna to create a biodegradable straw that could help reduce plastic in our oceans. This shows that Zhang’s organization has helped benefit a lot of kids in high school.

Both Cameron Herold and Linda Zhang’s TED talks are similar because they both use pathos to show why it is important to teach kids to be entrepreneurs as well as ethos to allow the audience to know that they are both credible speakers. They both use the emotion of inspiration to try to get their audiences to feel that it is possible for anyone to achieve success in entrepreneurship. Another emotion that they show through their presentation is passion. Herold and Zhang are both very passionate about their topics because they grew up being taught what they are now teaching to the audience now. They both talked about how they came from entrepreneurial backgrounds and how that led both of them to think like an entrepreneur. They are passionate about entrepreneurship because they both believe that if kids are taught to be entrepreneurs at a young age, then they will do whatever it takes to succeed. Their presentations are also both similar in the way they use ethos to show their credibility through the presentations. Both of these presenters give examples of how since a young age, they had different ways in which they proved that they were entrepreneurs. Herold and Zhang also show ethos because they talk about how they have been successful in the business world as well. Herold has mentored many companies and also started two different $100 million companies. Zhang helps teach high school students to be entrepreneurs and gives examples of the success that the company has had.

Cameron Herold and Linda Zhang’s TED talks are different in how they use logic to appeal to the audience because Herold gives many different examples of how parents can teach their children to be entrepreneurs, while Zhang talks about how she can incorporate entrepreneurship into schools. Herold first gives an example of how he tells his kids to spend the money they earn which teaches them how to manage their money from a young age. He then shows a picture of entrepreneurial traits that every parent should nurture in their kids such as attainment and tenacity. Furthermore, he shows a list of skills that parents should teach their kids at a young age to teach them how to have an entrepreneurial mindset. Zhang, however, does not give any detailed lists of specific skills that kids should be taught at a young age. She believes that high school students can be taught to be entrepreneurs through Generation Entrepreneur and gives an example of a student who has benefited from this. Herold’s presentation is an attempt to have parents teach their kids certain entrepreneurial traits while Zhang’s presentation shows the benefits of teaching high schoolers to be entrepreneurs. Both of these presentations use different logical appeals to persuade the audience that it is possible for anyone to be an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurship is essential for society and should be something that kids are taught at a young age. Instead of telling kids that if they do not do well in school that they will not be successful, we should teach them that there are also important qualities to have that schools do not teach. Cameron Herold and Linda Zhang’s TED talks are both similar in the way they use pathos and ethos to show why it is important for kids to be taught to be entrepreneurs, but differ in the way they use logos because Herold gives a lot more concrete skills that kids can be taught rather than Zhang who does not give as many examples of these skills.

Works Cited

1. “About.” Cameron Herold, https://www.cameronherold.com/about/.
2. “About.” Generation Entrepreneur, https://generationentrepreneur.com.au/.
3. Herold, Cameron “Let’s raise kids to be entrepreneurs.” TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. TED. March 2010, https://www.ted.com/talks/cameron_herold_let_s_raise_kids_to_be_entrepreneurs/up-next
4. Jayawarna, Dilani, et al. “Entrepreneur Motivations and Life Course.” International Small Business Journal, vol. 31, no. 1, Feb. 2013, pp. 34–56, doi:10.1177/0266242611401444.
5. Lazear, Edward P. “Entrepreneurship.” Journal of Labor Economics, vol. 23, no. 4, 2005, pp. 649–680. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/491605.
6. Robinson, Ken, and Lou Aronica. The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything. Penguin Books, 2010.
7. Welter, Friederike, et al. “Everyday Entrepreneurship—A Call for Entrepreneurship Research to Embrace Entrepreneurial Diversity.” Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, vol. 41, no. 3, May 2017, pp. 311–321, doi:10.1111/etap.12258.
8. Zhang, Linda “Why schools should teach entrepreneurship.” TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. TED. December 2017, https://www.ted.com/talks/linda_zhang_why_schools_should_teach_entrepreneurship/up-next