Serious business for girls Serious business for girls (February 06, 2004)

Seventh graders learn the ins and outs of business

By Julie O'Shea

One table was selling mounds of carefully stitched fleece hats, scarves, blankets and pillows.

Another was boasting sibling survivor kits -- all you need to outwit a pesky younger brother or annoying older sister in one small box.

And on the other side of the upstairs room at the Microsoft Convention Center on Jan. 29, a gaggle of bright-eyed corporate VPs were successfully hawking stylish totes made from deflated Capri Sun pouches.

The nearly 40 young businesswomen attending last week's trade show are members of Silicon Valley's latest batch of ambitious entrepreneurs.

All are no-nonsense corporate executives who'll tell you how their newly launched products are the best things to hit the marketplace in years. They are charming and unbelievably savvy. And they are only in the seventh grade.

Just imagine what they'll be like in 20 years.

These young prodigies are products of the entrepreneurs program at The Girls' Middle School in Mountain View. In the five-year-old program, seventh graders create their own business plans and marketing strategies. The budding companies must be able to manufacture their goods and pitch them to a competitive consumer market. Twenty percent of all of their sales proceeds will go to a charity of the girls' choosing, teachers said.

During last week's Entrepreneurial Night, some of the dozens of families, friends and teachers who came to browse the wares were real-life venture capitalists interested in investing.

"They thought it was very cute," said Laurel Detkin of the investors who'd commented on her company's (Help in a Box) survivor kits.

Asked if the big VCs made her nervous, Haley Kannall of Fleece Be Happy, shook her head. "I'm just afraid I'll mess up during the presentation," she said, showing the first hint of nervousness about the commentary each group was scheduled to deliver later that night in the big auditorium next door.

"They learn the value of work, the value of money," said program co-director Donna Fedor. "It teaches them a lot about how to manage a company. ... It's all hands on."

As it turns out, people just couldn't seem to keep their hands off of the candles and posters at Fan Fabulous.

"They are selling fast," reported a serious Paola Tovar, one of its seventh-grade founders. "They like our product."

A few tables over, Erica Barnes of Jade, another new startup offering themed craft kits and cards, explained: "The hard part is getting people to buy our product. We are competing with another company that makes jewelry already made."

Product marketing is something Susan Mason, a partner with ONSET Ventures in Menlo Park, said she took into great consideration when trying to decide which seventh-grade startup would take her investment dollars the furthest. Investors were asked to kick in between $100 and $200.

Mason, who admits purchasing several items from last week's trade show, said making a decision between the companies was difficult.

"Kids this young, the impact you can make on them, is phenomenal," said Mason, who has been an investor with the entrepreneurial program for four years. After listening to its business plan, Mason finally picked FABB4, a company dedicated to designing locker/wall organizers, door signs and eye pillows.

Later that night, the girls got a few words of wisdom from a self-described "Martha Stewart with a bad attitude" who was in their shoes not too long ago.

The "thing I would like to leave with you, is how wonderful it is to be female on this planet," said guest speaker Cameron Tuttle, the author of "The Bad Girl's Guide" series and a former entrepreneurs program coach.

"Being a girl is who you are. It's how you see the world," Tuttle said. "'Bad Girls' and entrepreneurs have a lot in common. They have to think outside the box. ... and they have to like adventure on a daily basis."

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

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