Millennials as Entrepreneurs: Time to Grow Up

The business world is watching this emerging generation of entrepreneurs with trepidation, and a lot of us haven’t been sure who will be the winners, and who will be the losers. Can they survive, and do they have what it takes to run a startup and attract investors?

I fully recognize that these same qualms were raised about Gen-X back about 20 years ago, and about the Baby Boomers some 20 years before that. Yet now Gen-X’ers are seen as the major facilitators of change, and Boomers are the angels and business advisors for hot new startups.

Everyone is quick to point out the shortcomings and idiosyncrasies of millennials, but I prefer other research which reveals some positive attributes from a business perspective, including the following:

• Confidence. Raised by parents believing in the importance of self-esteem, they characteristically consider themselves ready to overcome challenges and leap tall buildings.
  


• Goal and achievement oriented. Many millennials approach the business world with personal goals on paper. They expect to create something that is technically challenging, creative, fun, and financially rewarding.
  


• Multi-cultural. They expect to succeed in a workplace that is fair to all, where diversity is the norm—and they’ll use their collective power if they feel someone is treated unfairly. Diversity is a key to innovation, and big new business opportunities.
  


• Civic minded. They were taught to think in terms of the greater good. They have a high rate of volunteerism. They expect companies to contribute to their communities—and to operate in ways that create a sustainable environment.

On the other side of the coin, there are some worrisome millennial attributes relative to the role of entrepreneur:

• Need to be scheduled. Tightly scheduled as children and used to having every hour of their day filled with structured activity. They struggle with handling free time and time management in general. A startup is the most unstructured entity I know.
  


• Not ready for the “wild west.” They grew up in a time of increasing safety and protection (car baby seats, no failing grades, no walking to school). They were rarely left unsupervised. They may have good academic credentials, but no “street smarts.”
  


• Consensus driven. According to Winograd and Hais, millennials have been reared in a way that makes it impossible for them to conduct business negotiations in an entrepreneurial manner. Rather than seeking to come out on top in zero-sum games, millennials strive for consensus.

My own perspective is that the current recession is good for millennials, because it’s forcing them to face reality, sometimes for the first time in their life. University professors are telling me that for the first time in many years, even college grads with advanced degrees and excellent grades don’t have ten jobs opportunities waiting for them. Many are still looking for the first one.

Also the parents, who are now having a tough time making ends meet themselves, are not so quick to tell their kids to come back home for a continuing free ride. Millennials are being told to get out there and find a job, even if it is just waiting on tables.

These are good things, because “real change only happens when the pain level gets high enough.” Previous generations had their Vietnam conflict, 1980 recession, and the dot.com bubble burst, which helped them change and grow up, so now the millennials have theirs. It may not be fair, but welcome to the real world! You can choose to be a victim or a survivor.

Marty Zwilling