Most 12-year-olds don’t have goals that extend much beyond lunch. But Ben Casnocha was already setting goals for an entrepreneurial career in his preteens and now, at 18, is awaiting publication of his first book, My Start-Up Life: What a (Very) Young CEO Learned on His Journey Through Silicon Valley (Jossey-Bass, May 2007, $24.95).
Casnocha credits Apple Computer’s “Think Different” campaign for giving him the impetus to become a boy entrepreneur. In 2001, he started San Francisco-based Comcate, Inc. , now a leading provider of Web-based software for small and mid-sized local governments around the country.
“We work with about 60 agencies and manage their customer service and request-tracking processes,” Casnocha says. “My role as founder is to be an active board member and consult with the management team on strategy.”
No longer involved in day-to-day operations, Casnocha hasn’t lost his passion for business – he’s broadening his view.
Goal 1: Curtail ‘Laughable Optimism’
“I have no idea what I’ll be doing in 10 years and thus have no roadmap for getting there,” Casnocha says. “I like wandering. The right things seem to find me.”
That may sound like slacker-talk, but it masks an ability to set and reach short-term goals. If Casnocha decides to close three deals in a month, he does. If he wants to finish a business-related task in two days, he does.
“Most entrepreneurs are ‘laughably optimistic’ and have a vision that’s extremely difficult by most standards.
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