I recently found out about Gary Vaynerchuk, an intelligent businessman and truly inspirational internet celebrity. He periodically posts video blog entries on his website, which are mostly geared to entrepreneurship, technology, and making connections with people.

However, one post in particular caught my eye, which spoke truth about the technology scene exploding in today’s society. To break it down to you, he relates the tech world of 2008 to the hip hop world of 1985. Basically, every teenager and young adult is highly connected to the internet, social networks, and anything technology-related (i.e. texting, iphone, instant messaging, twittering, facebook, etc.) and the future pioneers will be that generation. Much like the old school rappers and hip hop artists back in the 80’s in the “ghettos” and urban areas. Gary made an interesting point that record labels are now trying to capitalize all the Lil Johns, and the Kanye Wests because the young generation of the mid to late 80’s started that trend. Back in the 80’s, that was not the case. It takes time and patience for society to catch up to us, and the ones that embraced the infancy of the trend and took advantage of it are the ones that become the most successful in the future.

This philosophy can also be extended to the design world. Some of the best work out there is created by very young creatives (just look at Deviantart for starters). Unfortunately many of them are unknown. But with a little patience, society will eventually recognize the potential and the power of awesomeness from the young crowd. No disrespect to the older generation, but the young kids of today will have a much bigger impact in the world in the near future and their likes/dislikes will be directly related to like individuals (hence, why young designers are starting to play a major role). Not corporate dogs or elitist suits with MBA’s that boast about their VAST years of experience and thinking they are better than the rest of us.

The reason why I bring all of this up is because I am part of said generation. As a young, freelance designer, it can be quite difficult for a 21 year old to be starting a business. Intimidating, and a lot of lessons to be learned, but in the long run, it will be one of the most valuable experiences that I would had undertaken. Not because you are running a business at such a young age, but because you are contributing to a phase that challenges old school rules and will eventually become the next big thing.