From The Trenches: How this Startup Dad is Teaching his Kids About Entrepreneurship this Summer 

Summer 2020 is going to be different for most of us and, most importantly, our kids. Most IRL (in real life) activities are canceled or have gone virtual. Your kids won’t be hitting up the public pool, going to the library, or packing their bags for summer camp. Instead, they will be camping in your backyard, shooting hoops in the driveaway, and, hopefully, not spending every waking moment on their tablets. When we heard from Dadventures co-founder, Stephen Dypiangco, that he was planning a summer full of entrepreneur and startup life lessons, we knew we had to share his ideas with you as inspiration for your own family. 

LA Startups (LAS): How did you come up with this idea to engage your kids in “startup life” and tell us a little about your family?

SD: I have three kids: 9-year-old, Miriam, 8-year-old Jane, and 3-year-old Ignatius. Ann is my wife of nearly 12 years. The idea came to teach my kids about entrepreneurship when my family was discussing summer plans. Jane asked if she could work for Dadventures. That sparked the idea of a summer internship or as I am calling it a“Kid-internship”. I told her that she could have a job. But then my wife Ann chimed in saying, “Wait, you can’t just give her a job. She has to have an interview.” So from there, I put some structure around the idea! 

LAS: Tell us about the “Kid-internship” structure? What kind of activities are they helping with?

SD: The first thing I did was teach the kids about interviews and resumes. Then, I had them each sit-down for a one-on-one conversation with me. I’ve gathered feedback on their interests and the types of activities they enjoy doing. For example, Miriam is burned out on Zoom calls, but she’s really into the idea of making money. On the other hand, Jane really enjoys playing games. I’m using that data to help me shape the lessons I’ll teach them and the types of work I’ll have them do with me and on their own to keep them engaged. 

LAS: How is this impacting your family? Especially as we all still work from home during the pandemic.

SD: As a parent working remotely and taking care of kids is hard work! I always feel like work and childcare responsibilities are in conflict. I see this kid-internship program as a way to bring work time and childcare together, so my kids stay busy, learn some useful business skills, and hopefully gain greater empathy for the stuff I do. In addition, it allows my wife and I space to split up the childcare and keep up our routine. 

LAS: Are other businesses getting involved?

SD: Tackling how parents can keep their kids busy this summer (outside of just a ton of screen time) is a problem that we at Dadventures care a lot about figuring out. Many parents I’ve spoken to are scared about a lack of summer plans. As part of my work at Dadventures, I’ve started talking to other CEOs and managers to see if their own kids or employees with kids would be interested in doing kid-internships as well. There is a big opportunity to help parents and employers make being home together as fun, easy, and productive as possible.

Dadventures is currently gauging interest in its kid-internship program and plans to roll-out resources if the interest level is high enough. If you’re interested in learning more from Dadventures you can subscribe for free now. Their website is full of fun ideas for your kids, sorted by age and activity type.