The Boy and a Business Club
Akiva Lipshitz is not your typical 13 year old.
The young man has already interned for 3 months at a technology startup, created a business club for his 8th grade class to meet during lunch and recently approached Cedar Market owner Jeff Hollander to talk about entrepreneurship.
Needless to say, the staff at our store was absolutely blown away.
“The reason I’m here is because I started an entrepreneur club (http://thinkrey.tumblr.com/) in my school at Yeshivat Noam,” Akiva explained on a recent Thursday evening at 646 Cedar Lane. “And I was wondering if you could come speak to my school,” Akiva asked Mr. Hollander.
“Why me?”
Akiva went onto explain that the club – which gathers on Thursdays in a school-approved classroom – is interested in hearing from people who manage businesses that kids can relate to.
“If you were a hedge fund manager trading stocks, the kids wouldn’t be able to understand that. Everyone knows what a supermarket is, and we want to know why you started Cedar Market.”
What goes into running a supermarket? Why did you open a supermarket? Can you tell me more about daily operations? Those were just some of the questions Akiva asked.
“This summer I met with venture capitalists,” Akiva explained. “I got an internship at a technology company called Elevatr, where I translated the company’s app into Hebrew for them.”
“And now, I’m talking to you,” Akiva said. “You never know where it could go just from having this conversation.”
This thought was also echoed by Elevatr founder David Spiro in a blog post (http://under30ceo.com/5-
Saying I was shocked by Akiva’s bravado would be an understatement. How many of us would have had the courage to reach out to a young CEO and ask for a chance to meet and work with them? It should be motivation for anyone hesitant to reach out to an investor, business partner, or media outlet. Take the chance and see what comes of it, a little bravado can take you a long way. Like Akiva told me when I asked him if he was afraid of being rejected, he said, “the worst they could say is ‘no’.”
And 35 kids in Akiva’s school did not say ‘no’ when asked if they wanted to join his new business club. And they’re all loving it. “One kid told me, ‘The same way you don’t love basketball, Akiva, I didn’t want to join your club. I joined and now I love your club.’”
Interestingly, no adults are in the club – it’s just kids talking business.
“I wanted to teach kids about things they don’t learn in school: emotional intelligence and business. I want to give them an opportunity to learn [this]. I don’t know much more than they do, except that I have three months of experience.”
Akiva continued to amaze.
“It is part of a bigger vision I have. There are a lot of kids in school, each with their own uniqueness. I want to connect all these kids on a social networking site, show them how each of them brings something new to the table.”
Kids are asked to bring a discussion topic to the club at the beginning of the year.
“We’ll see how their views change at the end of the year,” Akiva said.
A couple of the topics suggested were texting while driving and world peace (“maybe they’ll learn at the end of the year that it is very hard to attain,” Akiva ponders) – all the kids will learn something new.
Why did Akiva call Cedar Market?
“It was my Dad’s idea,” Akiva answered. “We were discussing local businesses that kids will understand.”
Akiva described how important his parents are in his quest to learn more about business.
“My parents are extremely supportive. We’re always talking about it,” he said. “We’re going to meet with the school. My dad has gotten me a lot of meetings and has helped me with a lot of ideas. My parents are with me. I’m very lucky that they’re supporting my ideas.”
Before long, the staff at Cedar Market, so intrigued by Akiva, was asking question after question to help better understand the boy behind the business club.
That’s when he reminded us just how special this seemingly ordinary boy is.
“I don’t have much time left. I have school tomorrow.”
Mr. Hollander promised he would come speak to the club on an upcoming Thursday.
Minutes later, Akiva – thinking of the next big thing in business -- sat in the passenger seat of his father’s Camry as it chugged down Cedar Lane.
The young man has already interned for 3 months at a technology startup, created a business club for his 8th grade class to meet during lunch and recently approached Cedar Market owner Jeff Hollander to talk about entrepreneurship.
Needless to say, the staff at our store was absolutely blown away.
“The reason I’m here is because I started an entrepreneur club (http://thinkrey.tumblr.com/) in my school at Yeshivat Noam,” Akiva explained on a recent Thursday evening at 646 Cedar Lane. “And I was wondering if you could come speak to my school,” Akiva asked Mr. Hollander.
“Why me?”
Akiva went onto explain that the club – which gathers on Thursdays in a school-approved classroom – is interested in hearing from people who manage businesses that kids can relate to.
“If you were a hedge fund manager trading stocks, the kids wouldn’t be able to understand that. Everyone knows what a supermarket is, and we want to know why you started Cedar Market.”
What goes into running a supermarket? Why did you open a supermarket? Can you tell me more about daily operations? Those were just some of the questions Akiva asked.
“This summer I met with venture capitalists,” Akiva explained. “I got an internship at a technology company called Elevatr, where I translated the company’s app into Hebrew for them.”
“And now, I’m talking to you,” Akiva said. “You never know where it could go just from having this conversation.”
This thought was also echoed by Elevatr founder David Spiro in a blog post (http://under30ceo.com/5-
Saying I was shocked by Akiva’s bravado would be an understatement. How many of us would have had the courage to reach out to a young CEO and ask for a chance to meet and work with them? It should be motivation for anyone hesitant to reach out to an investor, business partner, or media outlet. Take the chance and see what comes of it, a little bravado can take you a long way. Like Akiva told me when I asked him if he was afraid of being rejected, he said, “the worst they could say is ‘no’.”
And 35 kids in Akiva’s school did not say ‘no’ when asked if they wanted to join his new business club. And they’re all loving it. “One kid told me, ‘The same way you don’t love basketball, Akiva, I didn’t want to join your club. I joined and now I love your club.’”
Interestingly, no adults are in the club – it’s just kids talking business.
“I wanted to teach kids about things they don’t learn in school: emotional intelligence and business. I want to give them an opportunity to learn [this]. I don’t know much more than they do, except that I have three months of experience.”
Akiva continued to amaze.
“It is part of a bigger vision I have. There are a lot of kids in school, each with their own uniqueness. I want to connect all these kids on a social networking site, show them how each of them brings something new to the table.”
Kids are asked to bring a discussion topic to the club at the beginning of the year.
“We’ll see how their views change at the end of the year,” Akiva said.
A couple of the topics suggested were texting while driving and world peace (“maybe they’ll learn at the end of the year that it is very hard to attain,” Akiva ponders) – all the kids will learn something new.
Why did Akiva call Cedar Market?
“It was my Dad’s idea,” Akiva answered. “We were discussing local businesses that kids will understand.”
Akiva described how important his parents are in his quest to learn more about business.
“My parents are extremely supportive. We’re always talking about it,” he said. “We’re going to meet with the school. My dad has gotten me a lot of meetings and has helped me with a lot of ideas. My parents are with me. I’m very lucky that they’re supporting my ideas.”
Before long, the staff at Cedar Market, so intrigued by Akiva, was asking question after question to help better understand the boy behind the business club.
That’s when he reminded us just how special this seemingly ordinary boy is.
“I don’t have much time left. I have school tomorrow.”
Mr. Hollander promised he would come speak to the club on an upcoming Thursday.
Minutes later, Akiva – thinking of the next big thing in business -- sat in the passenger seat of his father’s Camry as it chugged down Cedar Lane.
