Rise of the Millennial Entrepreneurs

There seems to be a lot of talk lately about how millennials are lazy, rude, and unmotivated. Maybe you saw the video that Alexis Bloomer posted that went viral in the past few weeks where she called all of Generation Y to wake up and pull up their pants. Literally.

Now I’m not here to tell you what millennials should or shouldn’t be doing, we all have parents. I want to take this chance to tell the world about the millennials out there that are disrupting industries, making the world a better place, and not wearing pants at their ankles. A good chunk of these millennials will be found at an event next week called the Next Gen Summit. The Next Gen Summit is a conference created by millennials for millennials intended to inspire others to think entrepreneurially.

I came across the Next Gen Summit from another entrepreneur I met, and right away I saw how amazing the community was with extremely bright people. There are Forbes 30U30 Alumni, Thiel Fellowship Members, Shark Tank Alumni, founders of million dollar companies, and teenage brainiacs wise beyond their years. 

This community is obviously no joke as most members are building innovative companies, running for seats in government, or attending prestigious schools like Princeton and Wharton. All while being millennials. If they aren’t building a company themselves, they are most likely looking to get involved in one or get some guidance from other members on how to start one. The energy within the community is amazing and hard to describe because it feels like everyone are best friends. When many members like myself have only been able to connect over Skype or a phone call. That’s the power of technology and how social networks are changing the game of networking.

What’s also impressive is that when they held their first summit last summer in Austin, Texas they had over 300 attendees from across the US attend. Let me share some stats from last year:

17K Viewers

Livestream around the world in 3 continents

$1M Raised

By companies during the “Shark Tank Style” pitch competition

11 Businesses Launched

After or during the weekend

3 Organizations Legally Formed

National Press from Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur, Forbes, and USA Today

I know when I came across these numbers I was blown away, especially considering both founders of the summit are only 19 and 20 years old.

To follow up on last year’s inaugural summit they wanted to pick a bigger venue and hub, and chose New York City. The summit takes place June 3-5 and they have put together an impressive list of speakers, and events for the weekend. Check out a few of the names that will be there:

Gerard Adams (co-founder of Elite Daily that was sold to Daily Mail for $50 Million)

Kim Kaupe (founder of ZinePak which appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank)

Patrick Ambron (founder of BrandYourself who turned down Robert Herjavec’s offer on Shark Tank of $2MM instead raising a round of VC capital at $5MM)

At the time of this publication, tickets are still available so if you want to make a trip to New York for this Forbes-rated conference I suggest you act quickly because this event is guaranteed to sell out. If you can’t make the conference in person, no sweat as you can purchase a Livestream pass on their website. Yeah, that’s right, you could watch the magic unfold from your own living room.

As a disclaimer, I want to let you know that I’m a part of the team at Next Gen as the Director of Partnerships and have been able to give anyone interested in the livestream pass a 50% discount by using the code “LIVE_JB81XH”.

This is going to be a life-changing weekend with some of the brightest millennials on the planet.

If you want to know what happens when the brightest millennials on the planet come together for a weekend in New York City looking to make the world a better place, I suggest you tune into the summit.