Entrepreneur Plus - Short White
For Subscribers

Teen Entrepreneurs Learn to Embrace Failure. Can Adults? Grownup founders can learn plenty from their teenage counterparts.

By Stephanie Schomer

This story appears in the June 2019 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »

Courtesy of WIT | Whatever It Takes

Koby Wheeler has launched and crashed three businesses. But he's not embarrassed by any of it. "It gives me more confidence," he says, "because I have those experiences. I know to ask better questions, I know to trust my gut, and I have a more long-term way of thinking."

It's a good perspective to have at any age -- and in Wheeler's case, he's starting young. He's a freshman at the University of Texas at Dallas. His first three businesses failed while he was in high school. And he attributes his thick skin to a program he completed prior to graduation: It's called Whatever It Takes (WIT), a San Diego–based program that helps high schoolers ideate and launch businesses for college credit, and it puts a heavy emphasis on learning to celebrate their failures.

Related: Meet the New Bosses: How These Entrepreneurs Under 20 Are Changing Industries

The rest of this article is locked.

Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

Subscribe Now

Already have an account? Sign In