After noticing the popularity of lemonade at food truck events,
14-year-old Jake Van Ry reinvested in his business to debut his
own recipe. PHOTO: JOAN CUSICK
them startup cash to invest in a prototype. Recent-
ly, he awarded one 16-year-old participant $150 to
purchase supplies to launch a custom skateboard
line based on comics the teen designed himself.
“He’s got a website with his logo and different
things he sells, [and] he’s developing relationships
with skate shops,” Calvert says. He sees the oppor-
tunity to experiment as essential, even if the com-
panies don’t eventually take off. “Being 16 is a good
time to try and fail. If you succeed, it’s wonderful.
If not, your wife and kids aren’t depending on you
for their next meal.”
Claire, who is just starting her freshman year
at Stanford University, agrees. She’s yet to decide a
major or a future career path. And while she hopes
to continue to offer Project Incubator workshops
when times allows, she doesn’t know if starting
more businesses is in her future. But in her eyes,
that early exposure to starting and running a com-
pany will prove invaluable, no matter what she
does as an adult.
“There are so many skills that I learned by just
having to be proactive and managing my time and
being responsible that I don’t think I ever would have
learned if I had just gone to school, done my home-
work and tried to get a good grade,” Claire says. “Life
skills can’t really be taught outside of life.” n
Torey Van Oot is a freelance writer and a former
political reporter for The Sacramento Bee. Her work
appears on Glamour.com, Refinery29, Teen Vogue
and elsewhere. On Twitter @ToreyVanOot.
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