Jain 1 Umang Jain English 15 Morgan Hamill 9th October 2021 Podcast Script Final Draft [Introduction sound clips of news anchors talking about big name products/innovations/entrepreneurs such as iPhone and Steve Jobs, Tesla, and Elon musk etc.] These are the sounds that reverberate through our minds when we think of the word entrepreneurship. We think of geniuses who lead huge corporations and have plentiful resources as the ones who are innovating the future. Inequities in entrepreneurship are often discussed, but usually those discussions center around sexism, and economic disparities creating an uneven playing field however, there is always one group of innovative minds that seems to be left out: children. The biggest misconception is that entrepreneurship is meant for wealthy men who live this picturesque life with financial freedom and not for kids. Coming from a family of business owners, I tried my hand at starting a business for the first time at 16... and failed. [Transition Sound] My friends and I wanted to open a simple tutoring business. We spent hours crafting brochures, building a scheme to incentivize people, and producing course material – and it would have all paid off if even one person was interested. We quickly tossed in the towel, but that day we learned that the path to a successful business was not without both perseverance and failure. MyJain 2 experience is not unique – according to the U.S Bureau of labor statistics 20% of small businesses fail in their first year and on average, only about a third reach the 10-year mark. Why? Because the path is not easy - it is full of long days and sacrifices, and because most successful entrepreneurs are middle aged wealthy men who have 1) the resources, 2) the credibility, and 3) the connections to make an idea into a reality. However, contrary to widespread belief, they aren’t the only ones who can be entrepreneurs: kids can too. I am. [Transition Music] Despite my initial failure, I didn’t lose my "hacker” mindset and I would carry this little orange notebook with me scribbling down ideas for innovations that would solve problems around me. Soon enough, I became deeply engrossed in the opioid epidemic ravaging my community and began working with some of my friend's day and night to bring the idea to life. We had no clue what we were doing. We just went at it. We called our invention – OOPS. No, I didn’t mess up, that is really what we decided to call it. It stands for Opioid Overdose Prevention System. Fast forward 6 months, and we are patenting OOPS with pro-bono patent services from a law firm. I never imagined filing for my first patent at the age of 17. In that moment I felt like I could actually bring our invention to opioid addicts and save lives – and I fell in love with entrepreneurship all over again. This was all possible because an organization called the Conrad Foundation. Through Conrad Foundation I learned I didn’t need to grow up. The foundation taught me all about the design process, marketing, gaining funding, patenting and more.Jain 3 Entrepreneurship is building a dream that makes a difference in people's lives. Age does not and should not define entrepreneurship. In fact, society would benefit from more organizations like the Conrad Foundation and by encouraging student entrepreneurship through courses and resources at school as not only are kids able to apply their knowledge from a variety of classes to create something that helps our world, but also acquire leadership skills and experience that will only help them succeed in their ventures later. It would teach them problem-solving, risk assessment, creativity, opportunity recognition and customer discovery: topics that are important for any field. New research from Junior Achievement and Ernst & Young LLP (EY) shows that 41 percent of teens would consider entrepreneurship as a career option, but only 4 percent of them have already started a business. Imagine if only 4% of all people capable of attending medical school became doctors... we would have a problem. By having this misconception that kids cannot be successful entrepreneurs, we are only hampering the future of our society. Students may not have their big idea today, but they could down the line and At that point, they would have already overcome their fear of failure, and they will be armed with invaluable experience that will enable them to launch what could be the next big thing. Through my own experience with the Conrad Foundation, I have been able to meet countless other high school/ college students and learn about their journeys as they take on global issues with their innovations. Kids my age have sent meal bars to space, made nail polish to prevent date rape, and even made a device that detects your Blood Alcohol Content through your pupils to prevent drunk driving. I sat down with Vyomika Gandhi, a first-year student at Georgetown who is a co-founder of OOPS and Co-Lead of the Alumni Leadership Committee at the Conrad Foundation. and talked to her about what her specific experiences have looked like,Jain 4 what she thinks about age in entrepreneurship, and what advice she has for future young entrepreneurs. [ Interviewing Her: Summarizing what she has to say and including audio clips of her responses] [Closing] [Transition Music] Innovation is about change. It is about making something simpler, more helpful, efficient or just coming up with something brand new. In order for the world to be a better place we need people to be entrepreneurial, and to risk it all. Which is why we can’t continue to live with the idea that kids can’t be entrepreneurs. Moreover, we need to push for entrepreneurship from an early age. Kids like you and me can build our dreams, we can change the world. That is what I hope comes to mind when we think of entrepreneurship really is [Clips of kids changing the world] Take the leap of faith. Be your own boss as soon as possible. “If you don’t build your dream, someone else will hire you to build theirs.” - Bill