By John Lyman, Entrepreneurship Manager, Google, Lemonade Day
At Google, we work with entrepreneurs and startups around the world that are doing incredible work. Over time we’ve found that those who have a strong vision of what they want to do are more likely to achieve success. Many of the best entrepreneurs, young or old, start with a firm idea of a problem they want to solve or business they want to launch.
Jack Andraka is a 16-year old who created a test for pancreatic cancer that was faster, cheaper and more effective than any of the others currently on the market. Jack started with a deep personal connection with the problem he was working on: a close family friend died of pancreatic cancer. Then he developed a vision. If he could create a more effective test for this type of cancer more people would accurately know their condition. If the test were faster it would detect cancer earlier. If it were cheaper it would get to more people. Taken together, this better test would save lives.
Having a vision is only part of the process, of course. After developing his idea, Jack spent countless hours on Google researching pancreatic cancer and refining his approach. He talked to dozens of medical experts and was rejected hundreds of times before finding space in a lab where he could develop his test. There are lessons in those experiences as well, one being that if you’ve picked an important problem, solving it is probably not going to come easily and you’ll end up working harder than you ever imagined.
And starting with a vision is not to say that it will never change — plenty of entrepreneurs have ideas that morph over time or even “pivot” into a new effort altogether. Without beginning with a focused idea informed by personal passion, however, it’s hard to even get off the ground.
The Google for Entrepreneurs team is excited to partner with Lemonade Day because it helps kids develop a vision of their own around something so many of them love to do: run a lemonade stand. But instead of just putting one up on a corner one afternoon, Lemonade Day asks kids to think about what they want their stand to look like, how much they’ll charge for the lemonade they’ll sell and how they’ll attract customers. Working through that process leads to more successful lemonade stands, but even more importantly it teaches kids how to develop an entrepreneurial vision and turn it into action. Google for Entrepreneurs supports entrepreneurs and startups around the world through programs, partnerships and products, and is a proud partner of Lemonade Day. Learn more at www.google.com/entrepreneurs.
Lemonade Day is a 14-step process that walks youth from a dream to a business plan, while teaching them the principles to start a successful company of any size. Learn more at www.LemonadeDay.org.
