Today we are very excited to share an interview with author Brian Weisfeld!
Read on to learn more about the author, the book, and a giveaway!
Meet the Author: Brian Weisfeld
Brian Weisfeld is a youth entrepreneurship advocate who has spent his life building businesses on three continents: from a gummy bear business as a kid to billion-dollar businesses such as IMAX Corporation and Coupons.com as an adult. Brian created You’re the Boss to inspire kids to start their first businesses and to empower them to think like entrepreneurs. Brian is the co-author of the Startup Squad book series and founder of the Startup Squad Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to teaching entrepreneurship to girls from underserved communities. Brian lives in Silicon Valley with his wife and two daughters. You can visit Brian Weisfeld online at BrianWeisfeld.com.
Meet the Author: Bonnie Bader
Bonnie Bader has written more than fifty books for young readers, including contributions to the popular Who Was…? series, Little Golden Books, American Girl Doll books, and more. As associate publisher at Penguin Young Readers, Bonnie edited many bestselling series and created the Penguin Young Readers leveled-reading program. She now serves on the Board of Advisors for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. You can visit Bonnie Bader online at BonnieBaderBooks.com.
About the Book: The Startup Squad: You’re the Boss: A Kid’s Ultimate Guide to Starting Your Own Business
A kid’s guide to entrepreneurship and starting your own business, from the renowned entrepreneur and founder of the Startup Squad!
Are you bursting with great ideas for a new business but aren’t quite sure where to start? Do you know that you’d be great at selling something but first need to figure out what that “something” actually is? Are you gearing up to be an entrepreneur but think that kids can’t really build anything big? If any of these sound like you—you’ve come to the right book!
You’re never too young to start a business. Whether you want to launch a babysitting service, run a lemonade stand, sell crafts online—or don’t even know what business to start—You’re the Boss is here to help. In this book, you’ll learn how to figure out which business is right for you, find your ideal customers, manage the competition, calculate costs and profits, pitch your ideas, and so much more.
Ready to build up the confidence, creativity, and grit that come along with being an entrepreneur—and ready to make some money and build your business empire along the way? Let You’re the Boss show you how!
~Author Chat with Brian Weisfeld ~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
Ten years ago, I watched my then eight-year-old older daughter sell Girl Scout cookies and run a bake sale for charity and realized that she was learning life lessons about taking risks, dealing with rejection, talking to strangers, and much more. That was the start of my inspiration to create a movement to inspire kids (especially girls) to start their first childhood business and to empower them with an entrepreneurial mindset. The first step of that movement was to create The Startup Squad books, a middle grade fiction series about four girlpreneurs and which includes a nonfiction section of business tips for kids in each book.
From my first moment of inspiration, I knew that one day I also wanted to create a kids’ nonfiction guide to starting a business. I’m so excited to finally release YOU’RE THE BOSS: A KID’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO STARTING YOUR OWN BUSINESS to inspire kids to start a business and give them step by step guidance to help make their businesses a success.
YABC: What research did you do to write this book?
You could say that I did 40 years of research starting in sixth grade when I launched my first ever business (I sold gummy bears!). During the past ten years as a youth entrepreneurship advocate and co-author of The Startup Squad series, I created a number of entrepreneurship exercises, worksheets, templates, and plans for kids and educators. YOU’RE THE BOSS is the culmination of everything I’ve learned to date about entrepreneurship for kids. I was also fortunate to work with my amazing co-author Bonnie Bader who did a ton of additional research building on my core materials.
YABC: When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
We need to make a distinction here. I consider myself an author, not a writer. Funny story – when my younger daughter was in 3rd grade, she got into an argument with her teacher who was using the words author and writer interchangeably. My daughter explained that her dad was an author with his name on the cover of his books, but the books were written by his co-author and so he was not actually a writer. All my books begin with my vision and a collaboration with my publisher’s editorial team to create an outline. My co-authors are the writers who use the outlines to write our books. The question you asked is “when did I know I wanted to be a writer?” My answer is I knew I wanted to be an author ten years ago. While I’d like to have the talent to be able to actually write my books, I don’t aspire to being a writer because my current book creation process maximizes everyone’s talents and time.
YABC: What word do you have trouble overusing?
If you just give me a few minutes to think about this question, I’ll be able to think of a word to share just before the deadline. I just need a few more minutes. Wait! I just thought of the word I overuse too much! 😊
YABC: How do you plan to celebrate the launch of your book?
Anytime I have a spotlight on me or my books, I try to reflect some of that onto kidpreneurs to give them their moment in the spotlight and enable them to inspire others. My book launch celebration will be a combination of a book launch and kids’ business festival. I’ve invited twenty kidpreneurs from the Bay Area to set up their businesses at my launch and am inviting my friends, family, and the community to come out to celebrate the new book and support those amazing kids.
YABC: What hobbies do you enjoy?
I ride a standup elliptical bicycle called an Elliptigo. I ride it in my neighborhood a couple of days a week and once a quarter I ride with a larger group around the Bay Area. I admittedly look sort of strange riding it around Silicon Valley but then again Silicon Valley is filled with people doing strange things. I also love to watch football, especially the Michigan Wolverines, and am a throwback who reads two physical newspapers every day.
YABC: What is your favorite holiday or tradition and why?
I’m a big Halloween fan. I’ve always enjoyed thinking of and creating timely or interesting costumes. I’ve also got a sweet tooth so stocking up on candy is a nice perk. But my favorite part might be pranking the kids who ring my doorbell that night. I get great pleasure out of responding to a kid’s “trick or treat” request with a deadpan “trick” and seeing what the kids do in response.
YABC: What’s up next for you?
I do a lot of speaking and evangelizing about the value and importance of kids starting businesses. I’ll be speaking at a number of entrepreneurship conferences, schools and libraries, and corporate family and client events. In my speaking programs, I inspire kids to start their first businesses and explain why it’s so important to learn how to think like an entrepreneur. I believe that an entrepreneurial mindset (comfort with risk, no fear of failure, etc.) provides life skills that help kids reach their potential regardless of their future chosen path. I’m also working on two more books in The Startup Squad series that will be released by Penguin Young Readers (Philomel) in 2026 and 2027.
Title: The Startup Squad: You’re the Boss: A Kid’s Ultimate Guide to Starting Your Own Business
Author: Brian Weisfeld and Bonnie Bader
Release Date: September 17, 2024
Publisher: Philomel Books
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
Age Range: 8-12 years
~ Giveaway Details ~
One (1) winner will receive a copy of The Startup Squad: You’re the Boss: A Kid’s Ultimate Guide to Starting Your Own Business (Brian Weisfeld and Bonnie Bader) ~US Only!
*Click the Rafflecopter link below to enter the giveaway*
