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There's so many companies that are spending so much money on 17-year-olds... I can't compete with that. I'm not that guy anymore, they can't dress me up and roll me out there and make me look good. I am what I am!

You don't know this when you're young, but over time, you see that great companies are usually built at a special point in time.

The bad thing about young people starting a company is that sometimes they do it for the wrong reasons or because they have the wrong skill set, but the good thing is that they don't have any of the old paradigms baked into them, so they have a lot of the bright new ideas that are harder to come by as you get older.

I think the more important task for a young person than developing a personal brand is figuring out what she's great at, what she loves to do, and how she can use that to leave an imprint in the world. Those are tough questions, but essential ones. Answer those - and the personal brand follows.

Teens look at cause-related efforts with some scrutiny. They know they are often a target market, but it has to make sense to them.

Despite what some investors say, older age is an advantage in the startup world. You know more about industries and markets, and have ideas for products that the world actually needs and a better ability to motivate and manage than a kid out of school does.

When you're 17 and you have an idea, people don't really listen to you. I came out of an environment where my parents were always pushing me to do what I wanted and be creative, and I was not used to the industry's way of thinking.

It's important that the adults appreciate that young people are capable of doing really astounding work.

Young entrepreneurs should spend an awful lot of time thinking about what they want to go into.

We don't tell a 17-year-old kid that Nike sucks, because the fact of the matter is, Nike doesn't suck. They're actually very good at what they do.