一批新一代的创始人正在崛起 — — 他们甚至还没到投票的年龄。Alpha 世代出生于 2010 年至 2024 年之间，这意味着最年长的成员如今已满 16 岁。这正是 Stripe 的约翰·科利森共同创办他第一家公司的年龄，也是迈克·基特里奇为 Yankee Candle 奠定基础的时候。事实摆在眼前：Alpha 世代的创始人正以势不可挡的姿态到来。
There's a new generation of founders on the rise — and they're not old enough to vote. Generation Alpha was born between 2010 and 2024, making the oldest members 16 years old. That's the age Stripe's John Collison cofounded his first company, and when Mike Kittredge set the stage for Yankee Candle. Let's face it: Gen Alpha founders are coming in hot.
许多风险投资人已经收到他们的项目路演；其他人也将很快迎来这一波。“我注意到的 Alpha 世代是，他们似乎拥有惊人的冲劲，”Amplify 的普通合伙人莎拉·卡塔扎罗说。“他们在执行力比经验更重要的市场中往往具备优势。”商业内幕邀请了五位风险投资人分享他们对 Alpha 世代创业者的建议。他们谈到了 AI、社交媒体 — — 以及那个令人头疼的大学问题。
Many VCs have already been pitched by them; others will be soon. "What I've noticed about Gen Alpha is they seem to have a ton of hustle," said Sarah Catanzaro, a general partner at Amplify. "They tend to have an advantage in markets where execution may be more important than experience." Business Insider asked five venture capitalists to share their advice for Gen Alpha entrepreneurs. They spoke about AI, social media — and that pesky college question.
当 ChatGPT 在 2022 年首次亮相时，Alpha 世代的最年长成员才 12 岁。Alpha 世代自初中起就已接触 AI 工具，甚至可能更早。他们曾用 AI 写作文、考试作弊。他们也曾用它来开发新产品。卡塔扎罗认为，批判性思维可能因此受到影响。她已经在 Z 世代身上看到这种趋势：他们在互联网环境中长大，遇到问题更倾向于直接搜索答案，而不是亲自思考。
When ChatGPT premiered in 2022, the oldest of Gen Alpha were 12. Gen Alpha has had AI tools since middle school, if not earlier. They've used AI to write their essays and cheat on tests. They've also used it to build new products. Catanzaro thinks critical thinking could take a hit. She's seen it in Gen Z already: they grew up with the internet and could look up answers to their problems rather than thinking them through.
“我有点担心这种认知外包对 Alpha 世代的影响，”她说。“目前还无法确切知道 AI 是否会，以及如何改变我们的思维模式。”研究人员告诉商业内幕，在研究人类如何解数学题和写作文时，他们观察到了令人担忧的模式。另一方面，卡塔扎罗认为，Alpha 世代恰恰因为从小就接触 AI，可能能够更有效地驾驭它。Zeno 合伙人杰克·乔利斯也持此观点：进入门槛从未如此之低，而 Alpha 世代将知道如何攀登这些高峰。“你不需要筹集一万亿美元来打造自己的超级智能，”乔利斯说。
"I worry a little bit about that type of cognitive offloading for Gen Alpha," she said. It's too early to know exactly how, or even if, AI will change our thinking patterns. Researchers told Business Insider they observed alarming patterns while studying how humans solve math equations and write essays. On the other hand, Catanzaro said Gen Alpha might be able to wield AI more effectively, precisely because they grew up with it. Zeno partner Jake Jolis agrees: the barriers to entry have never been lower, and Gen Alpha will know how to climb them. "You don't have to raise a trillion dollars to build your own superintelligence," Jolis said.
您可以每月以20美元的价格租用它。在成为风险投资人之前，Jolis曾退学于斯坦福大学，创办了他的第一家公司。他知道年轻的创始人渴望退学或完全放弃大学教育。Jolis在斯坦福期间就已经开发了他的产品，随后辍学全职投入创业。他认为，如果Gen Alpha有明确的计划和一些客户，那么跳过高等教育是一个很好的理由。
"You can rent it for 20 bucks a month." Before his VC days, Jolis dropped out of Stanford to found his first company. He knows young founders are itching to drop out of college or forgo it altogether. Jolis had built his product while at Stanford and left to pursue it full-time. This, he said, was a good reason for Gen Alpha to skip higher education: if they have a clear plan and some customers.
在这些特殊情况之外，Jolis表示，大学毕业生在长远来看会更幸福。“我会鼓励人们把他们的生活看作一个整体，而不仅仅是这次特定的创业，”他说。目前，硅谷正掀起一股反大学的浪潮。Palantir为高中生提供奖学金；安德森·霍洛维茨（Andreessen Horowitz）支持了一种大学替代方案。Maximum Frequency Ventures的联合创始人Mo Shaikh在Alpha School（一个专注于人工智能的机构网络）听取了一些Gen Alpha创始人的路演。
Beyond those specific cases, Jolis said college grads will be happier in the long run. "I would encourage people to think of their life as a whole, more than just this particular startup," he said. There's an anti-college movement ripping through Silicon Valley these days. Palantir has a fellowship for high schoolers; Andreessen Horowitz backed a college alternative. Mo Shaikh, the cofounder of Maximum Frequency Ventures, heard pitches from some Gen Alpha founders at the Alpha School, an AI-focused network of institutions.
他印象深刻：“这些孩子中已经有人拥有六位数的生意了。”不过，Shaikh仍然认为大学学位具有价值，尤其是来自斯坦福这样的学校。他说，大学是为了“交叉授粉”——创始人能够接触到其他世界观，从而更好地理解他们的客户。16岁的创始人应该如何让他们的初创公司起步？Shaikh说，应该上网。像Instagram、TikTok和Snapchat这样的平台，正是创始人“寻找信号”的地方。
He came away impressed: "Some of these kids have six-figure businesses already." Still, Shaikh sees value in the college degree, especially from a place like Stanford. College is for "cross-pollination," he said: founders see other worldviews and can then understand them in their customers. How should a 16-year-old get their startup off the ground? Shaikh said get online. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat are where founders are "looking for signals," Shaikh said.
Shaikh指出，Gen Alpha这一代人就是在这些平台上长大的。他们是“脑腐”一代。Overwater Ventures的创始人Kristina Simmons一直在关注从网红转型为创始人的趋势。她对此很感兴趣：这些创始人可能对他人没有的受众有独特的洞察，Simmons说。但Simmons也提出了警告。“这不仅仅是拥有粉丝，”她说。“他们会来的。”
Gen Alpha has grown up with these platforms. It's the generation of brain rot. Kristina Simmons, the founder of Overwater Ventures, has watched the rise of the influencer-turned-founder. She's interested in it: these founders might have insight into their audience that others don't, Simmons said. Still, Simmons had a word of caution. "It's not just having followers," she said. "They'll come."
对于Lightspeed的合伙人Claire Zau来说，在社交媒体上成名可能会成为Gen Alpha创始人的一个“陷阱”。
For Claire Zau, a partner at Lightspeed, becoming famous on social media can be a "trap" for Gen Alpha founders.
她说，这些15岁的孩子在寻找社交媒体的关注度，有时会忽视建造的基本要素。Zau知道，Z世代Alpha一代成长于像MrBeast和Alix Earle这样的爆款成功之中。她表示，他们可以帮助年轻的创始人 — — 但方式可能不是你所想象的那样。"其中的教训不一定是'成名'这一部分，"Zau说。"而是对产品的执着追求具有极其重要的意义。"
These 15-year-olds look for social media clout, she said, and sometimes disregard the nuts and bolts of building. Zau knows that Gen Alpha grew up on smash successes like MrBeast and Alix Earle. They can help a young founder, she said — but not in the way you might expect. "The lesson there is not necessarily the 'get famous' part," Zau said. "It's that there's so much importance in obsessing over product."