



Last week I received an email from a college student who I’ll call Chuck. It was commentary on MindSumo, which allows students to work on real company problems for experience and cash prizes. Chuck’s only commentary: “Sounds like a way for start-ups to rip off ppl's ideas...”

When I read this I immediately got defensive. Crowdsourcing and open collaboration has improved thousands of organizations’ logos (99Designs), better predicted hospitalization cases (Kaggle), and even created methods to stabilize the pH level of our oceans (Xprize). It’s obvious that this model works.

To add to matters, I looked up Chuck on LinkedIn. He graduated a year ago from a top university and is currently unemployed. This made me ponder his skepticism more. Why would someone without a job turn down the option for cash and experience?

Young professionals have started to overestimate their intelligence because we’ve started to think that as individuals, we are our own startup. It’s a frame of mind that leads to healthy, entrepreneurial thinking, but in this new order, everyone thinks they’re the equivalent of a Whatsapp, Snapchat, Oculus, etc. Extremely bright, young talent goes from confident to entitlement. When opportunities aren’t “good enough” it’s better to not do anything at all, right?

Here’s the clue that you’ve fallen into this trap of overestimating your value - When asked about your job, do you reference your startup ideas, the bad economy, or your temporary role? If so, you probably think you’re too good for what the market is offering someone like you. Your two options are 1) Try and make your own luck and defy the market or 2) Do a gut-check, and recognize that you’ll be able to maximize success by getting your hands dirty. I suggest option 2; develop some momentum by being part of a larger entity! Once inertia builds, your accomplishments will convince co-workers, former classmates, and the rest of the world how valuable you truly are.

(Photo Credit: Vanessa)