About a week ago, a proud father watched as his 7th grade daughter and her team got up in front of an audience of about 200 people, including a panel of well known Venture Capitalists, to pitch their company. That father was me.
This is literally my favorite entrepreneurial event of the year, and last year I had the honor of being one of the VC panelists. Entrepreneur Night for Girls Middle School is the culmination of months of hard work for these teams of 7th grade girls. They come up with ideas; they test them with focus groups and surveys to assess their markets. They optimize manufacturing processes, they build financial models, and many of them sell their goods online. There was standing room only at the Computer History Museum, reminding of Y Combinator Demo Day, and the pitches were as good as many that I see.
I was completely impressed. Poised. Articulate. Intelligent. Thoughtful. The girls were all of these things and more. The products are creative, original, and thoughtful, and their presentations are as good as many I see at demo days around the world. They do a wonderful job of presenting in their booths at the trade show. This is the real thing.
I came out of the evening feeling blessed to have this opportunity for my daughter, and very proud of all of the hard work she and her classmates put in. Nights like this make me feel especially optimistic about the future, and the wonderful young people who are making a positive difference in our world.
