I often talk about how I enjoy helping young founders and entrepreneurs achieve greatness. Being involved with startups gives me the opportunity to share my experiences with people who are trying to create a company that can have a positive impact on the world. One industry that our team has been involved with is Education Technology. As a nation, we obsess about education. In 2015, the United States saw close to $2 billion flowing into nearly 200 US Edtech deals.
This morning I came across a very interesting article on education and finance for our children. The Wall Street Journal invited three people to join in an email discussion. They spoke about the fact that we should be educating our children about money at an early age. Some parents would rather speak to their children about practically anything other than money. The fact is… one day our children are going to grow up and they will be faced with various financial situations. We need to help them understand the differences between saving and spending. Being equipped with financial skills at a younger age can significantly enhance your quality of life. Two important things that everyone should do:
- make sure you are not intimating or scaring youngsters
- make the topics relevant so children can see why they should care about them.
One way to do this is to give your children an allowance to help them understand the value of money. However, I prefer to help them understand the VALUE of things instead of the COST of things. The simple lesson, “you get what you pay for” can be very helpful. Kids need to understand that a backpack that costs $50 and lasts the entire school year is actually a better value than a backpack that costs $30 and needs to be replaced every few months.
I have been blessed with five beautiful kids. Since I first became a father 13 years ago, I’ve learned that the way I act and how I express my emotions has a huge impact on my entire family and the people around me. Our kids learn more from HOW WE ACT than from what we tell them. I tell me kids -constantly-that they will be treated the same way they treat others. Hopefully, I also practice what I preach. It’s the Law of Attraction – whatever we put out comes back to us. This can also be applied to money. If you stress about your bills, complain about not having enough money, or act aggravated that you can’t buy something, your children will learn this behavior. They will learn to think of money, or the lack of money, as a negative. In my opinion, the best way to educate your children is to SHOW them how to act instead of TELLING them how to act. Show positivity and teach your kids thankfulness. I always try to act like the person I want my kids to be. I try to make my kids watch TV shows that will teach them something. All my kids love the TV show Shark Tank. I actually promote it and want them to watch it. They are learning about business, and the right (or wrong) way to treat people.
On a final note, our company is in the process of starting an incubator program. Our program is hosted at one of the biggest universities in NYC. Some of our portfolio companies are going to SXSW, in Austin, to speak on the interactive edtech panel. One of the partners at my fund is one of the global thought leaders in the Education Technology field. So, it is safe to say Rosecliff is heavily involved in the edtech industry. Our goal is to try to fund more of these companies that can have a dramatic impact on how people learn. Creating new technology for children can help them learn more about finance, politics, math, science, etc. Our children are the future of the world; we need to start helping them to be prepared for everything the world is going to throw at them.
Until next time-
Murf
RCVC 