Millennials Are All A Bunch of Wantrepreneurs
(and companies should tap into that)
Talk to 67% of 18 to 34 year olds and we’ll tell you: “I want to be the next Mark Zuckerberg.” As the first generation to grow up with the Internet, millennials have always had the audacity to dream on a global scale. We want to start companies, solve big problems, and wear flip flops to work. The Millennial Generation —according to Forbes — is the “True Entrepreneur Generation.”
But here’s our dirty little secret: the number of companies founded by 20 to 34 year olds has actually gone down since 1996. In the days before you could even Google: “how the hell do I form an LLC,” 35% of new entrepreneurs were under 34 years old. They started 192,500 companies in 1996. In 2012, only 23% of new entrepreneurs were under 34. They started 94,300 companies.
Millennials — it turns out — are all talk and no action. We glorify Zuck, Musk, and Dorsey. We balk at corporate hierarchies and the expectation that we show up to work on time. We spend all day reading FastCo and Entrepreneur. But we don’t pull the trigger. We don’t start companies. We’re not entrepreneurs. We’re wantrepreneurs.
Why Are Millennials So Damn Lame?
Oh stop it. We’re not so damn lame. Author of Creator’s Code Amy Wilkinson points out: we grew up with the Internet but we also grew up during the Great Recession. The older half of the Millennial Generation entered a depressed workforce, couldn’t find gainful employment, and thus still hasn’t begun accumulating wealth. They can’t start companies because they aren’t in a financial position to take the risk.
The younger half of the Millennial Generation (and the older half too but to a lesser extent) has been saddled with an incredible amount of student debt. In 2007, the average graduate owed $18,233. In 2014, the average graduate owed $27,689. When you’re 22 years old and $28,000 in debt, working for close to nothing while you build a startup isn’t really an option.
What Does This Mean For Companies?
It means you lucked out. You don’t need to fight off competition from hungry startups, and your younger employees are filled with the ideas, energy, and passion that entrepreneurs enjoy.
Of course, when they interact with your Baby Boomer managers, a classic Clash of the Generations ensues. Boomers don’t understand why the 20-somethings think their passion “entitles” them to a seat at the decision makers’ table. Us 20-somethings grab a seat because — as entrepreneurs — we create our own opportunities.
To thrive, businesses need to empower their millennials so that when we create our own opportunities, we do so in ways that also benefit the companies we work for.
Businesses need to treat each millennial employee like the founder of a startup that sells him or herself. Like a venture capitalist, your chief job as a manager is to understand each founder’s goals and use your resources to help her move forward.
In his well-read piece: “(Almost) Everything We Think About Managing Millennials Is Wrong,” Don Tapscott gives tips for doing so.
Tapscott writes:
Instead of training, create “work learning environments for life-long learning.” And instead of managing, collaborate by “distributing authority, power, and accountability.”
His tip works well for managing millennials because every founder’s (read: “millennial’s”) main goal is to improve her product (read: “herself.”) By creating a “life-long learning” environment through collaboration, managers demonstrate that staying with the company is an opportunity in and of itself.
Tapscott also says:
Instead of annual reviews, “improve performance real-time”.
When iterating on their products (read: “themselves”), entrepreneurs (read: “millennials”) always move quickly. Millennials want real-time feedback so that we can rapidly adjust.
But begin by doing what you do to manage anyone well: communicate your business needs clearly so that they understand your vision. Then give your millennials room to move. And when they move in ways that support that vision, follow up with public recognition so that they can build their personal brands.
Some of the millennials on your team won’t create opportunities at all and some will create opportunities that don’t benefit your business. But a handful will create opportunities that generate an incredible amount of value for both your company and themselves.
You’ll want to invest in those millennials over and over again. And they’ll let you because you’ll have tapped into their wantrepreneurialness.
About me:
I’m a two-time millennial entrepreneur. Sold the first. Second one is Champio, software that drives millennial employee engagement by giving millennials the tools they need to be innovative and the data they need to use that innovation to move their careers forward. Sign up to participate in our free public beta.
Now a shoutout to Justin Lafazan for teaching me the word “wantrepreneur.” And for organizing a conference for all of the millennial wantrepreneurs out there.
