

How to Raise an Entrepreneur - rickdale
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304066504576341222166546598.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

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synnik
Let's be clear - the article is about raising a kid with the skills and
capabilities of an entrepreneur. But be wary of targeting your child's future
career path. That is a very dangerous game to play, as your kids need to be
free to make their own path in the world, not follow your script.

I do not think being an entrepreneur is right for everyone. If everyone was
cut out to do it, YC wouldn't need to question their applicants so carefully.

And as a parent, I don't want my child jumping down a path that doesn't match
who they are, and therefore won't make them happy.

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meterplech
Did you read the article? While the headline is about raising an entrepreneur
the advice is to raise adventurous and curious children and to provide
stability and dependability. Hardly threatening ideals.

Sure- forcing your child down one path isn't right, but this advice is almost
specifically not doing that. There's no 5 step plan involving a specific major
or school or anything.

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peteretep
When I lived in Bangkok, I met a couple of interesting people passing through
via ASW. And a couple of them, when I told them I was running my own show
because I COULD NOT STAND working for other people, and because I'd feel like
an abject failure taking a 9-5 for the rest of my life, said that they'd found
this was a common theme -

People who start out by themselves are often driven by an inability to be
satisfied with a 9-5 other than some deeper nobler entreprenurial drive that
people seem to fetishize...

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jerf
Sorry... ASW? (Google isn't helping me either.)

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peteretep
<https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/ASmallWorld>

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xal
This article is devoid of any real content. Essentially they are saying that
you need to be reasonably good parents.

Anyways, it happens that there is a brilliant talk by Cameron Herold at TEDx
on the topic.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCar_sFfEf4>

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mattdeboard
Great article. I'm raising my grade school daughter on my own and I struggle
to raise her to be adventurous and curious, and it seems to be working okay.
She's been bugging me to "program a robotic dog" -- Mindstorm time?

Anyway, I'm disappointed one of the most interesting anecdotes was saved for
the end. I'd like to hear more about how his mother grew her deceased
husband's wholesale business and then sold it to a larger firm.

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todayiamme
I really think that you should buy your daughter Lego Mindstorms. It changed
me and taught me how to actually think. For a child seeing what's in your head
flipping over on the ground is pure magic.

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mattdeboard
I will once I get some free $$$. Internships don't pay mindstorm money.

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todayiamme
Can you please drop me a line? Maybe we can figure something out?

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ahrens
I agree on most of the tips, but believe they have missed a few. Find people
(friends) that complement your own skills and personality. Teach your childre
to try and fail quick, so they understand that faillure is a good thing.

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tjmc
Interesting to contrast this advice with the approach of Amy "Tiger Mom" Chua
([http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870411150457605...](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111504576059713528698754.html))
who advocates strict routine and control and discourages imaginative thinking,
participation in team sport and is horrified at anything less than an 'A'.

If she's truly representative of the way Chinese mothers raise their kids, I
don't think America has anything to fear on the innovation front.

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zwieback
In the Chua discussion I heard many times that she's not representative of
Chinese moms but of Chinese-American moms. Can't really verify that but it
seems plausible.

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run4yourlives
I find the cartoon of the child behind the CEO desk at the top of a large
building to be rather ironic given the article's contents.

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drud
Interesting article and a well developed topic. As a latest survey says that
Entrepreneurs Are Made, Not Born.

