Teenagers rock: Why do investors believe in youth?

Who can become a millionaire nowadays? The correct answer is “Anyone”, believes Ruslan Tymofieiev (Ruslan Timofeev), the founder of venture investment fund Adventures Lab. He participated in Business Camp to teach Ukrainian youth pitching. Business is getting younger, and teenagers should be ready to make a mark.

Ruslan Tymofieiev took the opportunity to talk about his career path and to show the promise of building startups that would last. He started to earn money at the age of 17 y.o. and earned up to 400 US dollars a day growing business motivation communities on social networks. According to the speaker, teenagers` approaches can be even bigger these days.

Presenting the topic, Ruslan invoked the American experience and talked about two main archetypes of young businesspersons. The first one is a young boy or girl selling lemonade. This is a simple business model to learn how to present products, put prices, negotiate with clients, etc. Americans treat these children as real businessmen because they understand that the most successful of them can become those entrepreneurs that may change the country or even the whole world.

The other archetype is a scout. To enter the organization, teenagers have to attract donations by offering cookies. At this stage, they look for “investors” to pitch the idea of becoming a scout. This is important to improve communication skills and become an open-minded and open person.

Ruslan Tymofieiev gives an example of Brazilian kids that are keen on football and become great players. Similarly, American children that are “playing” business in childhood found companies when they grow up. Ukrainian parents mostly teach their children not to talk to strangers (and they have reasons to do so). Unfortunately, the price for it is paid in an inability to present their business ideas and attract investment. At the same time, many Ukrainians are smart and talented to come up with amazing ideas and technologies.

The speaker commended the transformation of the Ukrainian educational system. Growing the number of robotic and engineering schools, the country increases the chances to occupy a niche in the world full of cutting-edge technologies. GoGlobal’s Business Camp is one of the initiatives that contribute to a better future and teaches teenagers to transform their ideas into business startups.

Ruslan Tymofieiev gave a lecture on pitching and shared his tips on how to present ideas in an attractive way. Unfortunately, Ukrainian children lack business experience in their childhood and have to catch up on this knowledge ASAP.

According to the expert, the window of business opportunities for teenagers is open now: “Business is looking for personnel, business is looking for ideas. Investors are looking for potential unicorns to invest in. Any school kid can become a successful businessman with the right approach and motivation.” Teenagers know how to handle information, navigate information flows, and generate ideas.

Ruslan Tymofieiev believes, that in 10-20 years no one will be surprised by a person that becomes a millionaire during adolescence or even earlier. Those teens that seem to be weird to adults because of their unusual clothes, haircut, or music they listen to, may become founders of unicorns in several years. “Everyone has a chance to win, it is important to grab it”, the investor said.