I definitely have highs and lows. Often, I’m at the high of a new idea–one that I think can be REALLY promising. This feels good. Really, really good. Mmmm. It’s so happy and life is worth living. But then, swinging to the lows, which are filled with disheartening moments of despair where I think to myself: it’s not worth it, everyone’s doing something, there’s no way to compete, even babies have their own pet projects, *kills self in self-hating moment*
- Anonymous Blogger

I read that quote a few nights ago, and I practically laughed myself to sleep. I love that quote, because it's true (and false) in oh so many ways. Many of you have had the pride and joy of thinking that you know the next billion dollar idea. For scholars, a similar feeling is found when you come to a philosophical epiphany. The high is so great, that it's difficult to get your mind onto anything else.

But also, as many of you know, that feeling sometimes hits its rock bottom when you think that your business idea won't work and your peers find the concept stupid at best. This is where I come into disagreement with the writer of the above quote -- I don't understand why people won't even attempt to make their business idea work. If they're convinced that their idea is the "next Google", how could it hurt to at least disprove that it is?

There are three types of amateur entrepreneurs out there, and in my young life, I've been every single one of them. By coming to terms with my failures, I'm more prepared to classify which type of amateur entrepreneur I am, and thus preventing myself from failing in the same way again.

Type 1 Amateur Entrepreneur: All ideas, no implementation.

Let's admit it. All of us have at some point thought of the brilliant, billion dollar idea. We brainstormed it out, thought about how rich and successful we'd be from having thought of the idea, then dreamt about living lavishly in a penthouse overlooking Central Park with enough money to feed every starving child in Africa. I've done it, and I know you have too. The problem lays in the fact that most self-proclaimed entrepreneurs are great at dreaming and envisioning their business idea, yet they lack the capability (and even willpower) needed to see it through. In my honest opinion, these people cannot be considered legitimate entrepreneurs if all they know is dreaming and allocating the task of implementation to others.

As a 5th grader, I started my first "company" and convinced my entire class to join me in my quest to build the internet's latest and greatest entertainment portal. Of course, I didn't know how to build anything more complex than a basic HTML website. My classmates lost faith in me, and I went down as a failed, type 1 amateur entrepreneur.

Type 2 Amateur Entrepreneur: Lots of ideas and half assed implementations.

These entrepreneurs think of good ideas and have the willpower needed to start working. However, they take the "fail fast" mentality way too far -- they'll launch a prototype of their project, put in almost no effort in getting it noticed, then call it a failure. Or even worse, I know of some entrepreneurs who dedicate months of their time working on a startup idea, but never end up launching. If you're going to fail, at least make people think that you spent your time semi-wisely. Alternatively, type 2 amateur entrepreneurs have multiple ideas that they're simultaneously working on, and figure that they'll get rich from at least one of them. To you and me, this is obviously flawed logic. But at one point, I was a type 2 amateur entrepreneur.

A few years ago, Alex Notov and I co-founded Shockapps.com, a pathetic startup that made numerous, half-assed attempts to launch a successful facebook app. We got a lot of users and made some money, but with a concrete and focussed development strategy, we could have gone much further. We'd launch three apps in a single month, but all of them sucked, and only one of them got traction. When your mind is distracted by the thought of getting rich from multiple business ideas, it can be difficult to follow the rationality behind having focus.

Type 3 Amateur Entrepreneur: Lots of ideas, lots of implementations, and absolutely no focus.

Type 3 entrepreneurs are marginally better than type 1 and 2 combined, but they have absolutely no time for anything other than their work. They make a solid attempt to see their business idea through, but get distracted by the idea of another growth opportunity. I feel bad for these people more than anything -- they try harder than both type 1 and 2 entrepreneurs, yet they often see just as devastating results. (and mostly on their psychological well-being)

Let's say Johnny has an idea for a million-dollar idea. He starts working on it, gets traction, and a loyal client base that's paying for his service. He then finds another growth opportunity -- perhaps a multi BILLION dollar idea that he thinks he should be pursuing. He's locked into business #1, so he can't just drop it. So Johnny starts building up business #2, it gets traction and a loyal user base, and now he's stuck handling two completely different companies. Now how lame would that be?

Unfortunate for my mom and I, but of us have been sucked into the trap of being a type 3 entrepreneur. In fact, my ninth grade business partly failed because of this trap. I started a simple, easy, cheap web hosting company as a way to cover the costs of having a personal website. I then realized that leasing expensive, managed, server solutions to small companies would bring me much more profit. Both businesses were doing pretty well, but they were sucking up all of my free time. What ninth grader should have to deal with the pains of school, running two companies, and the onset of puberty? Gag me with a spoon.

Going back to the quote -- yes, everyone is "working" on a project, but 99% of self-proclaimed entrepreneurs fit into one of the three profiles above. If you've thought of the next billion dollar idea, please refrain yourself from being an amateur entrepreneur. If you find yourself as being an amateur entrepreneur, it's not too late to change. Pick one idea that you're passionate about, and whole-heartedley follow through with your implementation. Forget about the babies who have their own pet projects! If you don't put in the effort to build your company, you'll see nothing but a self-hating outcome. To the blogger who wrote the quote above: when you make the time and find the resources needed to make your idea a reality, you'll experience the bliss of knowing that you've contributed to something amazing.

Since childhood, I've associated computer science with geeky and socially inept little boys, and for rational reason: because all of the computer geeks I knew were in fact geeky and socially inept little boys! But as I mentioned in my previous post about computer camp, I've wanted to go into tech from an early age -- before the idea of entrepreneurship ever occurred to me. However, as I became less socially inept, I began associating myself with the non-geeks. The jocks! The cheerleaders!

People often ask me if I feel as if I'm being taken advantaged of, or if being a girl makes things more difficult. No and yes -- I don't feel as if guys are mean to girls in computer science. If anything, guys are more willing to help a cute girl debug her code for obvious reason. But is it more difficult? From a social standpoint, definitely. Most girls in tech are podcasters or videobloggers -- Veronica Belmont, Julia Allison, and Alana Taylor among them. They're all great people, amazing at what they do, but that leaves few girls who are hardcore geeks. There aren't many girls starting their own companies. It's almost expected that I go into community or marketing, but I've since decided to go against these societal expectations.

I'm now at a crossroads in my educational career because I need to decide my major. Do I major in computer science, economics, international relations, or what? As a friend of mine mentioned, what if I'm terrible at computer science or what if I'm terrible at economics? The educational path I choose will determine the people I associate with in my classes. The computer science program at Simon's Rock attracts the uber geeks, whereas the economics program attracts the more popular kids. Why does this matter so much? Because I see education as being more than what's learned in the classroom -- it's the independent projects that I would start with my classmates. It affects my social life, which matters more than you might think for girls. Regardless as to what major I choose, I'll plan on surrounding myself with both econ and comp sci people.

As time goes by, the negative image of computer science and geeks will fade away. With more "socially capable" individuals in computer science, people like myself will feel more inclined to choose a math or science related subject as a major. I met Leah Culver at a dinner in Amsterdam, and her story is inspiring. She went to school thinking that she'd go into art or graphic design, and left with a degree in computer science. She did what she felt passionate about, and others like myself will follow in a similar path. Just last week, I met a girl through my blog named Cassie Wallender, who also began college at age 16 and took up programming and business from an early age. In the coming few years, we'll hopefully see more and more girls flooding the halls of science departments!

Jessica Mah is a 17 year old entrepreneur, blogger, and sophomore at early college, Bard College at Simon's Rock.

She loves chatting with fellow students, readers, and entrepreneurs, so don't hesitate to email her or message her on AIM! Feel free to subscribe to her blog or stalk her twitter.

I love the idea of microfinancing. Kiva brings this to a reality by offering any average Joe to invest into a foreign mom/pop shop. Many of these people are in poverty and need just a little bit of financing to jump start their own entrepreneurial ventures. (no, not hot technology startups. Just simple clothing, food, labor related companies)

Kiva takes the role of mediating the transaction. I basically see this as the non-profit version of Prosper.

Here's what an example loan listing looks like:

Enige Sani is very active and enterprising woman. She is married to Mr. Sani. She lives in Benin City, where she sells drugs and drinks to people living in her community.

Enige Sani is requesting a loan of $400, and she plans to repay it in 8 months. She has three years of experience in the business; she has been a LAPO member for two years.

Sounds pretty funny... but it's pretty legit. I really hate how we can only loan $25 each. It does make sense to diversify the risk, but it's frustrating that I can't invest more than I want!

This is just one of many examples where entrepreneurs can bring about amazing change. :)

Jessica Mah is a 17 year old entrepreneur, blogger, and sophomore in college. She's currently the founder of a startup, managing editor at Startupism.com, SimonsRockers.com, and Jessicamah.com.