Margot had spent most of her career in international development, with stints at the Treasury, White House, and FTC. She had never expected to write a book on raising an entrepreneur. It began when she started meeting scores of successful young entrepreneurs through her older son, Elliott, who, in 2008, founded Summit, high level gatherings of young leaders in a wide range of fields. She began asking them the same questions: What made you so confident and so willing to put everything on the line? What made you able to take on so much risk and work so hard for an idea? Why are you not afraid to fail?
Margot in book talk at Summit Palm Springs with Andela cofounder Christina Sass
She was amazed that they all replied with a version of the same thing: “I couldn’t have done it if someone hadn’t believed in me.” For most of them, that someone was their mom. They said, “My mom believed in me. She supported my passion. She told me I could succeed at anything I put my mind to. She’s the reason I turned out this way.” Some had other family members who had made a difference: their dad, their grandparent, a step-parent. For others, it was a teacher, or a coach, or a mentor. But someone along the way had told them they could succeed at anything they worked at hard enough.
Margot began to interview a diverse group of entrepreneurs and their families to see what she could learn. The 70 entrepreneurs, half men, half women, in their late 20’s, 30’s and 40’s, had a wide variety of interests and skills; they were creators and innovators from different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, geographic settings, religious traditions, and family structures. Some grew up well off, some struggled financially. Some came from big families, some from small families, some from blended families. They came from big cities and small towns, from across the U.S. and from other countries. Some had parents who are still married; some had parents who were divorced; some were raised by single moms; some had parents who died. She learned that, while in some ways each person’s upbringing had been different, in a handful of key areas they all had been raised the same. She shares her findings in her book.
Margot in book talk at LA’s Diesel book store with Jon Chu (Crazy Rich Asians director)
The first edition was published in 2016. She spent the next four years talking to parents around the country. She updated her book, expanded it, and added two photos of each of the 70 entrepreneurs in the book, one when they were young and one today. The second edition was published in May 2022; she also recorded an audio book for Audible. Since then, she has written many articles, appeared on several TV shows, done many podcasts (links are on her website). Six months ago, she also did an article for CNBC, which was their number one trending story for three days. They asked her to become a regular contributor; she now writes monthly articles for them; each has been their number one trending story for three days.
Almost all the successful entrepreneurs profiled in her book have one experience in common: They had someone’s (almost always their parents, especially their mom’s) support to pursue a passion, generally one they engaged in outside of school. Whether that passion was sports, computers, music, video games, or selling things, it made them great future entrepreneurs.
The stories in the book show that even if a child’s passion doesn’t turn into a profession, they learn the joy of diving deeply into a pursuit. The entrepreneurs in the book learned that good things happen when they did things they loved. They learned to work hard; they developed grit. They learned resilience—to try and try and try and try until they got it right. They learned not to give up. They learned not to be afraid to fail— that failure is how they learned and grew.
Margot in book talk in Silicon Valley with author Esther Wojcicki and serial entrepreneur Eric Ryan (Method Products)
They learned to be curious: Does this have to be this way? Could it be improved? How could I make it better? Whether the entrepreneurs started a company that disrupted existing industries, or started a nonprofit that helps people around the world, or whether they became an artist whose music or art or acting or directing affected millions, or whether they became an activist whose work changed policies, it all started because they had learned to compete, they learned to work hard, they learned not to fear failure -that they have what it takes to recover. And because they learned to think they could do something better than it was being done.
Margot is convinced that more young people would be happy and fulfilled if they were encouraged to find their passion and pursue it enthusiastically, as the entrepreneurs in her book did, instead of going the traditional route. She encourages parents to let go of their fears to raise creative, confident, resilient, fearless kids who achieve their dreams.
