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As a writer and editor at Entrepreneur, I get to pick the brains of some of the most inspiring and innovative people in business. Their missions never fail to fire me up, and when I spoke with Steve Distante<\/a>, I was struck by his infectious passion for one goal: keeping kids\u2019 entrepreneurial dreams alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n This sustainable investment pioneer and author of the Pitchology<\/em><\/a> series has spent decades helping founders fine-tune their ideas and raise capital. And lately, his real work is happening with young people. Through his children\u2019s book Once Upon a Time in Entrepreneurland<\/em><\/a>, the annual entrepreneurship bootcamp<\/a> he holds for teens, and countless mentorship moments, Steve is proving something radical: entrepreneurship isn\u2019t a skill you learn in business school\u2014it\u2019s a spark you nurture before the world teaches you to be afraid. Here\u2019s what every founder should know about igniting that fire.<\/p>\n What made you decide to write books specifically for kids about entrepreneurship?<\/strong> Photo credit: Steve Distante<\/em><\/p>\n You mentioned that entrepreneurship goes away as we get older. Why do you think that happens?<\/strong> What was your first business, and what did it teach you?<\/strong> You ran entrepreneurship week for teens in Woodbury, Long Island. What happens there, and why is it so transformative?<\/strong> You\u2019ve talked about struggling with perfectionism. How did you overcome it?<\/strong> What\u2019s your advice for parents who want to nurture entrepreneurship in their kids?<\/strong> What\u2019s the biggest misconception about entrepreneurship that you want to bust?<\/strong> As a writer and editor at Entrepreneur, I get to pick the brains of some of the most inspiring and innovative people in business. Their missions never fail to fire me up, and when I spoke with Steve Distante<\/a>, I was struck by his infectious passion for one goal: keeping kids\u2019 entrepreneurial dreams alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n This sustainable investment pioneer and author of the Pitchology<\/em><\/a> series has spent decades helping founders fine-tune their ideas and raise capital. And lately, his real work is happening with young people. Through his children\u2019s book Once Upon a Time in Entrepreneurland<\/em><\/a>, the annual entrepreneurship bootcamp<\/a> he holds for teens, and countless mentorship moments, Steve is proving something radical: entrepreneurship isn\u2019t a skill you learn in business school\u2014it\u2019s a spark you nurture before the world teaches you to be afraid. Here\u2019s what every founder should know about igniting that fire.<\/p>\n What made you decide to write books specifically for kids about entrepreneurship?<\/strong>
I started off with Pitchology: The Art and Science of Raising Capital for Entrepreneurs<\/em><\/a>, which was a case study of different ways you could raise capital. But then my son Quinten, who got a degree in entrepreneurship from High Point University, told me something that changed everything. He said, \u201cDad, I really enjoy fable books like The Go-Giver<\/em>. The stories are so memorable.\u201d That stuck with me. So I wrote Once Upon a Time in Entrepreneurland<\/em> as a collection of entrepreneurially positive fables\u2014some true, some not so true. What\u2019s beautiful about fables is that people actually remember the stories. When I ask people about specific chapters from my first book, they give me vague answers. But ask them about a story, and they give me fantastic, detailed clarity.<\/p>\n
I have a coach named Dan Sullivan from Strategic Coach<\/a>, and he claims that entrepreneurship starts to disappear around age eight. For me, it showed up at six and never stopped. But I think there are two types of entrepreneurs: born entrepreneurs and made entrepreneurs. The question isn\u2019t whether entrepreneurship is natural or learned\u2014it\u2019s when we start to shut kids down. Instead of saying, \u201cThat\u2019s a ridiculous idea, you can\u2019t ever do that,\u201d we should be nurturing that ability to dream. It\u2019s really about not killing the passion.<\/p>\n
It was collecting horse manure on trails with a wheelbarrow and selling it to my neighbors for fertilizer. I also had newspaper routes\u2014though I wasn\u2019t old enough to have them legally, so I\u2019d hire people to do the route and collect the money myself. I did business after business, and what really resonated for me was the connection with people. As an introvert, business became my way to communicate with the world. By doing something good for someone else, they\u2019d actually talk to me about what they needed. That\u2019s been my whole life.<\/p>\n
We start with StrengthsFinder<\/a> to help kids discover their superpowers. It\u2019s wild\u2014most people look at their bottom three strengths when they get results. We flip that. One girl\u2019s number one strength was \u201cWOO,\u201d which is Winning Others Over. She had no idea. Within a year, she transformed herself into an influencer and started an entrepreneurship club at UConn. Then we bring in experts on AI, social media, intellectual property, and product design. We do a product challenge where they create prototypes with 3D printing. We celebrate with awards, and kids meet real entrepreneurs who answer their questions. Last year, one girl even roasted her dad\u2019s podiatry social media in front of everyone\u2014showing foot fungus\u2014and told him exactly what he needed to improve. She actually made him better at his own business. People walk away changed.<\/p>\n
I had a magazine called Financial Advisor<\/em> magazine that I turned into a four-color publication. I was so excited about it, but the minute my dad found a typo, I spiraled. That\u2019s when I realized I held myself to an impossible standard and dragged people down with me. I did an exercise called the Unique Ability exercise with Strategic Coach, asking people for feedback. Someone told me, \u201cIt\u2019s never good enough for Steve. It\u2019s always, \u2018Yeah, but\u2026\u2019 That was the wake-up call. Now we start every meeting with Positive Focus\u2014sharing wins instead of beating people up about what didn\u2019t get done. It raises the energy in the room completely.<\/p>\n
First, allow your kids to go outside your circle of comfort. When I sold Italian ices on the beach, I learned how to interact, make sales, and connect with people. Have your kids call restaurants to order dinner when they\u2019re six or seven. Make them read the list. Most of the time they do really well and learn how to talk to people. Connect business ideas with something they love\u2014maybe fundraising for a charity. My daughter did a lemonade stand near a beach, and when she made money for a cause she cared about, the excitement was real. And never tell them they can\u2019t do something. Those kids in the gifted class thrived while those in the remedial class struggled\u2014same IQ, different belief. You, as a parent, put your kids\u2019 capabilities in their minds.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s this shame if you\u2019re not a multi-millionaire by 25, then you\u2019re a loser. The truth is, there\u2019s no fun in being wealthy overnight. The real joy is in the journey\u2014making it in steps, benefiting other people along the way, and connecting your passion, purpose, and profit. Overnight success is boring. The slow build is where the real magic happens.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
I started off with Pitchology: The Art and Science of Raising Capital for Entrepreneurs<\/em><\/a>, which was a case study of different ways you could raise capital. But then my son Quinten, who got a degree in entrepreneurship from High Point University, told me something that changed everything. He said, \u201cDad, I really enjoy fable books like The Go-Giver<\/em>. The stories are so memorable.\u201d That stuck with me. So I wrote Once Upon a Time in Entrepreneurland<\/em> as a collection of entrepreneurially positive fables\u2014some true, some not so true. What\u2019s beautiful about fables is that people actually remember the stories. When I ask people about specific chapters from my first book, they give me vague answers. But ask them about a story, and they give me fantastic, detailed clarity.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n