
LivingSocial’s Founder: A Multimillion Dollar Hit Is Not Enough - SRSimko
http://mixergy.com/tim-oshaughnessy-livingsocial-interview/
======
josefresco
Is it just me, or have I read several (seems like more) stories from
successful business people who got their start by buying candy wholesale and
then selling it one piece at-a-time to their classmates? Is there a "quaint
child business story" generator that I'm aware of?

It seems if you're a parent and your young child is buying candy wholesale and
selling it, your and their future may be pretty bright.

~~~
sanjayparekh
I actually did this - not the wholesale thing but selling off extra candy I
had with my lunch. I then turned around and bought comic books with the money.

I also did door-to-door sales of custom imprinted holiday cards. I got into
that game be sending in a flyer from a comic book. So basically for me, my
method of getting into entrepreneurship revolved around comic books.

~~~
sanjayparekh
I know I'm replying to my own post but just remembered that after I started
working after college - I set up a "candy store" in my cubicle at work. I sold
candy that you couldn't get in the vending machine and all for cheaper -
everything on the honor system. That led me to becoming good friends with the
company lawyer who ended up being one of my co-founders of my startup (Digital
Envoy). So another bump for using candy as a gateway to entrepreneurship.

------
kreedskulls
What's so hard about a kid selling candy. I sold candy in my Middle School and
High School even though it wasn't allowed. I was the candy man and everyone
knew it. Most kids aren't trying to build a Candy Empire or even know what
they are doing takes guts. Some kids just wanted a better option like myself.
Eventually I stopped selling candy to go into programming artificial
intelligence for video games, which I eventually stopped doing because I was
not a great programmer and decided to run my own business which is doing
great.

Was me selling candy the only reason I decided to run my own business
eventually or was the fact that I had the mindset to sell the candy just who I
was destined to be?

I can't answer that but I will say that when you look back on it at a later
time you can say hey, I was business minded even as a child and didn't know
it. I think that is where these stories come from.

