8 ms·

11-Year-Olds Learn Life Lesson During Startup Weekend

28 points by GeoffreyHull 15y ago

nkassis 15y ago
Interesting story, I personally think that their age was the major reason for being left out. Both ideas weren't worse than some of the stuff I've seen out there being lunched and getting funded. At least they picked things that were directly related to their personal interest. I wish someone had pointed them to AppInventor for Android. I think App Inventor is directly targeted to young people like them. While I was in high school their was an organization that would help kids start a little business like this and get it off the ground. Most successful ideas like selling tshirt. It would be interesting to see it applied to ideas like these kids had.
- waynesutton 15y ago
  Yes, I their age played a big roll. Also you had to be there to experience it. I tried to tell the story as it happen. The kids were serious in pitching and people voted for them but I don't think everyone who voted for them took them serious and wanted to join their team.
  - thaumaturgy 15y ago
    So, in other words, they were being encouraged by adults who didn't want to form a business relationship with them? That's terrible! I see you run an accelerator for minorities. Why not run them through your program?
kabushikigaisha 15y ago
tl;dr Wayne Sutton confuses lack of interest in conducting srs bzns as racial prejudice/racism when it probably has more to do with age and quality of idea. Also what exactly do said children bring to the table? If the young man there had a prototype already in the works built by himself, that would be something. Honestly, I never understood the idea of pitching startups at events like these to garner funding or co-founders, with no actual code/product/etc no matter the age, skill, or race of the individual. Always seemed a little quixotic and irrationally exuberant. pg and co seem to not mind however, as they seem to have gotten pitches (and accepted them) for non-existent startups. Wasn't Reddit at 0 when it was pitched and accepted into original YC? Then again, there's a quote of pg somewhere saying nearly everyone has a product/some code at least now when pitching to YC.
- vineel 15y ago
  > Wayne Sutton confuses lack of interest in conducting srs bzns as racial prejudice/racism I don't think he's implying that at all. At the end, Sutton just notes that there were few minorities. He never explicitly makes the connection that the kids were actively discriminated against because of their race.
  - kabushikigaisha 15y ago
    There are few minorities at pretty much every startup event, if you discount east Asians that is.
    - makmanalp 15y ago
      That's not very surprising since they are "minorities", implying that there aren't as many of them.
      - dools 15y ago
        Minority in the sociological sense doesn't necessarily refer to numbers, but voting majority. ie. blacks in South Africa during apartheid outnumbered whites but were a sociological minority.
        ars 15y ago
        That's really stretching the meaning of the word.
  - waynesutton 15y ago
    Correct! That's not the point I was making.
    - kabushikigaisha 15y ago
      Apologies, I inferred that since this piece was written on blackweb20.com , you were saying the reason the two youngsters weren't getting attention was due to their racial background instead of age.
sleeper 15y ago
It seems to be all hype because they're 11 years old. The little girls website is proof of that.
- forensic 15y ago
  hype can pay they have domain expertise and unique perspectives, plus they are media darlings a savvy businessman should scoop these kids up
  - waynesutton 15y ago
    agreed
  - thaumaturgy 15y ago
    ...for maximum exploitation?
- kabushikigaisha 15y ago
  Exactly. Remember some kid back a few years ago that was always getting coverage on TC for being 15 and some sort of tech god or something? What exactly did he do to warrant all this attention other than connections and knowing people in insular, navel gazing little ol Silicon Valley? I recall he later went on to start a startup called Teens In Tech which apparently was just a Wordpress:MU install for other rad techy teens. Not sure how that panned out, but the last I heard of him was some fiasco involving MacBook for posts scandal or something when he became a writer for TC. Age IMO should not matter when it comes to the tech or startup world. A meritocracy has been the norm for awhile now, regardless of age. I think these two young kids ought to be applauded for their work so far (hell, I had no clue what a startup was when I was 11, much less had a captive audience to pitch one to) and be encouraged in their endeavors with guidance and mentoring. They seem really driven and have great potential to succeed in whatever they aim for in life. The barriers to entry on the high perilous seas of online and mobile startups are lower than ever and with the right encouragement, they can go far in realizing their dreams. Good luck to them.
- waynesutton 15y ago
  Disagree. After startup weekend. I started mentoring the Marci and helped setup her site and launchrock page.
iqster 15y ago
I attended startupweekend in nyc recently and enjoyed myself thoroughly! That event also included a kid pitching an idea (this kid was white). That idea was selected but I believe no one joined the team until day 2 (Saturday). I did find this surprising because the idea was decent. On the morning of day 2, the organizers made an announcement if people were still looking for a team, the kid's team was "open". A few people answered the call and that's great because the kid's team ended up winning one of the three special prizes - kudos to the kid and his team! Why the lack of support? I suspect it might be because other participants are looking to build a network rather than work on the next Facebook. Also the idea person becomes the effective leader of the team. I'm not sure how well a kid would manage a motley troop of developers+business people+designers. From my experience, most adults would have trouble with this task :-p
- Tichy 15y ago
  Maybe people were just not in the mood for working with a kid. Not saying it can't be fun or successful, but perhaps most attendees had something different in mind.
aneth 15y ago
Ugh. If an 11 year old black child pitches me an incredible startup idea, I would not join their team. Calling me racist for that is racist in itself. I don't think an 11 year old is competent to run a company or manage a product. This article is a rarity in being such a clear example of reverse racism. Get over yourselves. The fucking president of the United States is black. Do you think attendees of startup weekend are more racist than your average American who voted for Obama? If a competent black adult pitched a startup, they would have had no more of a problem assembling a team than a white or asian. This sort of self-important racism by people fixated on the past is exactly what holds black culture back.
- dgabriel 15y ago
  We do not live in a post-racial society. It would be nice if that were true. Here are some other things that "hold black culture back." Subprime mortgage rates are nearly double for black and hispanic households: http://www.epi.org/economic_snapshots/entry/webfeatures_snapshots_20080611/ http://www.epi.org/economic_snapshots/entry/webfeatures_snap... Black males are 10 times more likely to be incarcerated for drug offences than whites: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us0309web_1.pdf http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us0309web_1.p... Black sounding names are less likely to get a callback, despite identical resumes: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/29/national/main575685.shtml http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/29/national/main57568... This is not an issue that is solved by a single election, or by making it sound like a "moral" failure on the part of blacks or whites. It is complex, systemic, and we all have our internal biases that are difficult to recognize, let alone root out.
  - aneth 15y ago
    I'm not suggesting there is no racism, although I do think back has been broken and dwelling on cases where racism remains is counterproductive. The problem now is more within these communities than without. My main point is that presuming racism where there is none is as bad as racism itself - because it IS racism and it perpetuates racism. If you say I'm racist because I'm white and I don't think an 11 year old black child is fit to be my team leader, then you are the racist.
biot 15y ago
> What happened next was a hard wake up call for two young entrepreneurs who were > ready to start working on their startup and something I hope any entrepreneur, > parent or kid never experiences in their life. Oh come on. The death of one's children is something to hope nobody experiences. These kids got a little rejection therapy and didn't even have to buy the set. You hope nobody learns the value of persistence in the face of adversity? Do you expect them to be able to go through life always getting exactly what they want? A few years down the road, maybe you'll be chronicling a 15 year old Ben asking Susie to go on a date. Will Susie's rejection be a hard wake-up call that you hope nobody ever experiences in their life? Instead, pull them aside and offer a little bit of mentorship. Tell them that this is exactly the same thing that white men with MBAs go through when they come up with an idea (it's the next Facebook!) and no hacker joins them either. Show them this site, where we developers mock rich privileged kids who think their ideas are zomg awesome: http://whartoniteseekscodemonkey.tumblr.com/ http://whartoniteseekscodemonkey.tumblr.com/ Teach them that ideas are a dime a dozen and that if they can't code and they still want to prove themselves, then they're going to have to roll up their own sleeves and get to work showing people why they theirs should be taken seriously. Teach them that they're NOT entitled to automatic help because of their age and skin color, but that they need to earn it. But hoping that they never learn any hard life lessons? Ridiculous.
- seats 15y ago
  Hyperbole yes, but I think he was just trying to describe the sensation as a spectator. I can imagine it was truly cringe worthy to watch their little faces slowly realize what is happening. Of course you hope for all children to learn important (and therefore probably hard) life lessons, but your human instinct as a spectator, and more-so as a parent or teacher) is that you somehow wish that it would have gone down differently, that they wouldn't have dropped the ball, or forgotten their lines, or gotten picked last. I don't see any reason to chastise someone for expressing that wish. Also, give him credit for doing precisely what you say he should have. He gave encouragement, tried to help pick them back up and get them engaged on their real work instead of moping.
dgabriel 15y ago
I guess the issue is why do people attend start-up weekends? Is it to network for professional reasons? To actually begin working with a team that may produce a marketable product? Or is it for the fun of going flat out on an interesting idea? It's probably a combination of these things, but if the first or second reason applies most strongly, then it's not surprising that the attendees chose to join other teams. More because of age than anything else. Don't get me wrong, I think that there are certainly serious barriers within the start-up world for women and minorities. I'm not sure this is an example of that bias playing out, though.
radog 15y ago
This is a ridiculous post and I'm surprised it made it to the front page here. The two kids who pitched these ideas were akin to the traditional adult "business types" who pitch an idea with nothing else to really bring to the table. Honestly, who wants to work with an 11 year old on a startup like this, where the kid likely has very little to offer (they certainly can't work full-time startup hours, even if summer is coming) except perhaps the media buzz of a young entrepreneur. The vague tinge of racism being alleged here (and yes, the author is crafty enough here to set out the components of the charge without setting it out, because it would sound ridiculous were it directly stated) is distasteful.

28 points by GeoffreyHull 15y ago

Interesting story, I personally think that their age was the major reason for being left out. Both ideas weren't worse than some of the stuff I've seen out there being lunched and getting funded. At least they picked things that were directly related to their personal interest. I wish someone had pointed them to AppInventor for Android. I think App Inventor is directly targeted to young people like them. While I was in high school their was an organization that would help kids start a little business like this and get it off the ground. Most successful ideas like selling tshirt. It would be interesting to see it applied to ideas like these kids had.

waynesutton 15y ago
Yes, I their age played a big roll. Also you had to be there to experience it. I tried to tell the story as it happen. The kids were serious in pitching and people voted for them but I don't think everyone who voted for them took them serious and wanted to join their team.
- thaumaturgy 15y ago
  So, in other words, they were being encouraged by adults who didn't want to form a business relationship with them? That's terrible! I see you run an accelerator for minorities. Why not run them through your program?

kabushikigaisha 15y ago

tl;dr Wayne Sutton confuses lack of interest in conducting srs bzns as racial prejudice/racism when it probably has more to do with age and quality of idea. Also what exactly do said children bring to the table? If the young man there had a prototype already in the works built by himself, that would be something. Honestly, I never understood the idea of pitching startups at events like these to garner funding or co-founders, with no actual code/product/etc no matter the age, skill, or race of the individual. Always seemed a little quixotic and irrationally exuberant. pg and co seem to not mind however, as they seem to have gotten pitches (and accepted them) for non-existent startups. Wasn't Reddit at 0 when it was pitched and accepted into original YC? Then again, there's a quote of pg somewhere saying nearly everyone has a product/some code at least now when pitching to YC.

vineel 15y ago
> Wayne Sutton confuses lack of interest in conducting srs bzns as racial prejudice/racism I don't think he's implying that at all. At the end, Sutton just notes that there were few minorities. He never explicitly makes the connection that the kids were actively discriminated against because of their race.
- kabushikigaisha 15y ago
  There are few minorities at pretty much every startup event, if you discount east Asians that is.
  - makmanalp 15y ago
    That's not very surprising since they are "minorities", implying that there aren't as many of them.
    - dools 15y ago
      Minority in the sociological sense doesn't necessarily refer to numbers, but voting majority. ie. blacks in South Africa during apartheid outnumbered whites but were a sociological minority.
      - ars 15y ago
        That's really stretching the meaning of the word.
- waynesutton 15y ago
  Correct! That's not the point I was making.
  - kabushikigaisha 15y ago
    Apologies, I inferred that since this piece was written on blackweb20.com , you were saying the reason the two youngsters weren't getting attention was due to their racial background instead of age.

sleeper 15y ago

It seems to be all hype because they're 11 years old. The little girls website is proof of that.

forensic 15y ago
hype can pay they have domain expertise and unique perspectives, plus they are media darlings a savvy businessman should scoop these kids up
- waynesutton 15y ago
  agreed
- thaumaturgy 15y ago
  ...for maximum exploitation?
kabushikigaisha 15y ago
Exactly. Remember some kid back a few years ago that was always getting coverage on TC for being 15 and some sort of tech god or something? What exactly did he do to warrant all this attention other than connections and knowing people in insular, navel gazing little ol Silicon Valley? I recall he later went on to start a startup called Teens In Tech which apparently was just a Wordpress:MU install for other rad techy teens. Not sure how that panned out, but the last I heard of him was some fiasco involving MacBook for posts scandal or something when he became a writer for TC. Age IMO should not matter when it comes to the tech or startup world. A meritocracy has been the norm for awhile now, regardless of age. I think these two young kids ought to be applauded for their work so far (hell, I had no clue what a startup was when I was 11, much less had a captive audience to pitch one to) and be encouraged in their endeavors with guidance and mentoring. They seem really driven and have great potential to succeed in whatever they aim for in life. The barriers to entry on the high perilous seas of online and mobile startups are lower than ever and with the right encouragement, they can go far in realizing their dreams. Good luck to them.
waynesutton 15y ago
Disagree. After startup weekend. I started mentoring the Marci and helped setup her site and launchrock page.

iqster 15y ago

I attended startupweekend in nyc recently and enjoyed myself thoroughly! That event also included a kid pitching an idea (this kid was white). That idea was selected but I believe no one joined the team until day 2 (Saturday). I did find this surprising because the idea was decent. On the morning of day 2, the organizers made an announcement if people were still looking for a team, the kid's team was "open". A few people answered the call and that's great because the kid's team ended up winning one of the three special prizes - kudos to the kid and his team! Why the lack of support? I suspect it might be because other participants are looking to build a network rather than work on the next Facebook. Also the idea person becomes the effective leader of the team. I'm not sure how well a kid would manage a motley troop of developers+business people+designers. From my experience, most adults would have trouble with this task :-p

Tichy 15y ago
Maybe people were just not in the mood for working with a kid. Not saying it can't be fun or successful, but perhaps most attendees had something different in mind.

aneth 15y ago

Ugh. If an 11 year old black child pitches me an incredible startup idea, I would not join their team. Calling me racist for that is racist in itself. I don't think an 11 year old is competent to run a company or manage a product. This article is a rarity in being such a clear example of reverse racism. Get over yourselves. The fucking president of the United States is black. Do you think attendees of startup weekend are more racist than your average American who voted for Obama? If a competent black adult pitched a startup, they would have had no more of a problem assembling a team than a white or asian. This sort of self-important racism by people fixated on the past is exactly what holds black culture back.

dgabriel 15y ago
We do not live in a post-racial society. It would be nice if that were true. Here are some other things that "hold black culture back." Subprime mortgage rates are nearly double for black and hispanic households: http://www.epi.org/economic_snapshots/entry/webfeatures_snapshots_20080611/ http://www.epi.org/economic_snapshots/entry/webfeatures_snap... Black males are 10 times more likely to be incarcerated for drug offences than whites: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us0309web_1.pdf http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us0309web_1.p... Black sounding names are less likely to get a callback, despite identical resumes: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/29/national/main575685.shtml http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/29/national/main57568... This is not an issue that is solved by a single election, or by making it sound like a "moral" failure on the part of blacks or whites. It is complex, systemic, and we all have our internal biases that are difficult to recognize, let alone root out.
- aneth 15y ago
  I'm not suggesting there is no racism, although I do think back has been broken and dwelling on cases where racism remains is counterproductive. The problem now is more within these communities than without. My main point is that presuming racism where there is none is as bad as racism itself - because it IS racism and it perpetuates racism. If you say I'm racist because I'm white and I don't think an 11 year old black child is fit to be my team leader, then you are the racist.

biot 15y ago

> What happened next was a hard wake up call for two young entrepreneurs who were > ready to start working on their startup and something I hope any entrepreneur, > parent or kid never experiences in their life. Oh come on. The death of one's children is something to hope nobody experiences. These kids got a little rejection therapy and didn't even have to buy the set. You hope nobody learns the value of persistence in the face of adversity? Do you expect them to be able to go through life always getting exactly what they want? A few years down the road, maybe you'll be chronicling a 15 year old Ben asking Susie to go on a date. Will Susie's rejection be a hard wake-up call that you hope nobody ever experiences in their life? Instead, pull them aside and offer a little bit of mentorship. Tell them that this is exactly the same thing that white men with MBAs go through when they come up with an idea (it's the next Facebook!) and no hacker joins them either. Show them this site, where we developers mock rich privileged kids who think their ideas are zomg awesome: http://whartoniteseekscodemonkey.tumblr.com/ http://whartoniteseekscodemonkey.tumblr.com/ Teach them that ideas are a dime a dozen and that if they can't code and they still want to prove themselves, then they're going to have to roll up their own sleeves and get to work showing people why they theirs should be taken seriously. Teach them that they're NOT entitled to automatic help because of their age and skin color, but that they need to earn it. But hoping that they never learn any hard life lessons? Ridiculous.

seats 15y ago
Hyperbole yes, but I think he was just trying to describe the sensation as a spectator. I can imagine it was truly cringe worthy to watch their little faces slowly realize what is happening. Of course you hope for all children to learn important (and therefore probably hard) life lessons, but your human instinct as a spectator, and more-so as a parent or teacher) is that you somehow wish that it would have gone down differently, that they wouldn't have dropped the ball, or forgotten their lines, or gotten picked last. I don't see any reason to chastise someone for expressing that wish. Also, give him credit for doing precisely what you say he should have. He gave encouragement, tried to help pick them back up and get them engaged on their real work instead of moping.

dgabriel 15y ago

I guess the issue is why do people attend start-up weekends? Is it to network for professional reasons? To actually begin working with a team that may produce a marketable product? Or is it for the fun of going flat out on an interesting idea? It's probably a combination of these things, but if the first or second reason applies most strongly, then it's not surprising that the attendees chose to join other teams. More because of age than anything else. Don't get me wrong, I think that there are certainly serious barriers within the start-up world for women and minorities. I'm not sure this is an example of that bias playing out, though.

radog 15y ago

This is a ridiculous post and I'm surprised it made it to the front page here. The two kids who pitched these ideas were akin to the traditional adult "business types" who pitch an idea with nothing else to really bring to the table. Honestly, who wants to work with an 11 year old on a startup like this, where the kid likely has very little to offer (they certainly can't work full-time startup hours, even if summer is coming) except perhaps the media buzz of a young entrepreneur. The vague tinge of racism being alleged here (and yes, the author is crafty enough here to set out the components of the charge without setting it out, because it would sound ridiculous were it directly stated) is distasteful.