One of the most consistent “tells” of a SeedTree school is this: the student-run business doesn’t show up in year three after everything is perfectly planned. It launches in year one.

That’s not an accident. It’s the result of a simple (but powerful) design: students enroll in an entrepreneurship elective, build the entrepreneurial mindset in semester one, and then they pitch a real business concept around December. 

The result is one of the most engaging learning experiences a school can offer—because it’s real.

Here are a few student-run business models that Seed Tree schools are launching around the country (plus a few pointers if you’re thinking about what might fit your campus).

1) The Coffee Shop

This is the runaway favorite for a reason: it’s scalable, repeatable, and it becomes a culture-builder fast.

Most schools start with a minimum viable product: a rolling coffee cart. Students serve iced lattes, coffee, Italian sodas, and other exciting products. Over time, the best versions of this model evolve into a permanent location: a true café environment with expanded drink offerings, food, and the kind of place that becomes “the heartbeat” of campus.

2) The Wood-Fired Pizza Concept

If you want instant energy at events, this one brings it.

This model shines at football games, basketball games, and big school gatherings. Many schools launch with an Ooni oven (simple, affordable, and perfect for proving demand). As volume grows, the program upgrades to a larger oven and a more robust serving setup.

A picture of the Smashburger being offered at Little Rock Christian Academy as part of their Warrior Grill concept.

Quick note—don’t miss your chance to be part of one of the most energizing events of 2026: the Entrepreneurship Symposium for Christian Schools. Whether you’re building an entrepreneurship program or ready to launch one, this gathering will accelerate your impact.

I’ll be honest, I love a great brick-and-mortar entrepreneurship program.

Give me a student-run coffee shop, a school store, a pizza oven, a messy whiteboard, and a group of students trying to figure out pricing while someone forgets the napkins, and I’m a happy man.

But one of the most exciting things I’m seeing right now is this: entrepreneurship education is not limited to a physical campus.

We’re piloting a Christ-centered entrepreneurship program with NorthStar Academy, an online school, and it has been incredibly encouraging. Students are building real businesses, learning practical skills, and growing in the entrepreneurial mindset in ways that are deeply connected to their actual lives. 

In this model, students are not all building the same business. 

They are building around their own interests, their own skills, and the opportunities right in front of them. Some are creating product-based businesses. Others are offering services. All of them are learning how to solve problems, create value, and serve people well. 

One of my favorite examples is a student in Germany who started building custom computers. He saw that many people around him were paying too much for computers, realized he had the skill to build them himself, and turned that into a business opportunity. That's the entrepreneurial mindset: see a problem, build a solution, serve people.

Now, if you hear “online school” and think, “Okay, but isn’t that isolating?” that’s a fair question. But that’s not what we’re seeing.

There is real collaboration happening. Students are working in small groups, sharing ideas, giving feedback, and helping each other think better. They’re also getting one-on-one coaching, which has been a huge strength of the program. 

Entrepreneurship education cannot be stopped. It meets students where they are, and it helps them become the kind of people who are ready to create, lead, and serve.

Let’s go!

Stephen and Stephanie Shafer, Head of School at NorthStart Academy

Quick note—don’t miss your chance to be part of one of the most energizing events of 2026: the Entrepreneurship Symposium for Christian Schools. Whether you’re building an entrepreneurship program or ready to launch one, this gathering will accelerate your impact.

I keep seeing it in schools all over the country: we’re quietly reimagining the STEM lab and Makerspace—not as a “specials” room you visit once a week, but as a launchpad for entrepreneurship.

You know the tools I’m talking about. The 3D printers that were exciting for a month and then started gathering dust. The Glowforge that everyone loves but no one quite knows how to integrate consistently. The BeaverBots that were purchased with great intentions… and now live in the corner like a reminder of a program that never fully took off.

Here’s the opportunity: those tools aren’t the problem. They’re actually the invitation.

Most STEM labs were designed around engineering, robotics, and design thinking. And that’s exactly why they make such a natural home for entrepreneurship. The best entrepreneurship education doesn’t start with “build a business.” It starts with formation. It starts with learning how to see problems clearly, care deeply about the people experiencing them, and take action instead of waiting for perfection.

That’s why design thinking and the entrepreneurial mindset have such a strong synergy. Both are rooted in empathy. Both prioritize problem solving. Both teach students to define what’s broken or frustrating before they rush to create a solution. And both carry a bias for action—because eventually, you have to build something and put it in front of someone.

That’s where one word becomes a culture-shaper in our schools: prototype.

Prototype is more than a STEM term. It communicates, “This isn’t final—and that’s the point.” When we normalize prototyping across campus, students begin to internalize something that changes everything: learning is a process, not a performance.

That English essay draft? Prototype.
That first graph you create before you refine it? Prototype.
That first timeline you build before you decide what events truly matter? Prototype.

And the more we emphasize prototyping, the more students start to believe that education is about progress over perfection. They stop treating mistakes like threats and start treating them like feedback. They learn to fall in love with the problem, not just chase a clean-looking solution.

This is also why your esports room might be one of the most underutilized learning environments on campus.

Rather than just another round of Smash Brothers, imagine students collaborating to build a Minecraft city with a clear vision, shared standards, and real constraints. Imagine them designing user-friendly Mario levels with rapid testing, peer feedback, iteration, and improvement. That’s not “just gaming.” That’s product design. And that’s entrepreneurship.

Yes, student-run businesses are a powerful pathway. They’re often the best laboratory for learning. But entrepreneurship education done well goes deeper than the venture itself. It forms students into opportunity seekers. It trains them to notice needs, generate ideas, test quickly, learn openly, and keep moving forward.

If you’re wondering how to bring new life to your STEM lab, your Makerspace, or even that esports room down the hall, I’d love to help you connect the dots in a way that’s simple, practical, and sustainable.

Students in a Seed Tree STEM/Entrepreneurship lab building prototypes

Quick note—don’t miss your chance to be part of one of the most energizing events of 2026: the Entrepreneurship Symposium for Christian Schools. Whether you’re building an entrepreneurship program or ready to launch one, this gathering will accelerate your impact.

A few days ago, my friend Rod Gilbert, Head of School at Santa Fe Christian Schools, sent me a picture of his Founding Fifty tumbler.

And I got chills.

The Founding Fifty represents the first 50 YETI mugs ordered by students for the launch of their new student-run business, The Landing.

Before you balk at the price tag—$500 per mug—look at what comes with it:

Free drip coffee for life.
One of only fifty mugs…ever.

This is the beauty of entrepreneurship programs on K–12 campuses: they become living laboratories for ideas.

As students at Santa Fe were working through how they would pay back their startup loan, their Head of School floated a bold question:
“What if there was something special—at a high price point—that parents, donors, and board members would actually want to be part of?”

At Seed Tree Group, we help schools structure interest-free startup loans (typically $5,000–$15,000) that students pitch for and then repay through real revenue. That constraint forces creativity.

Now, no student is buying a $500 mug (okay…maybe one or two). But parents who want to support the entrepreneurial mindset AND own a small piece of the story absolutely will.

Here’s the result:

Thirty of the fifty mugs have already sold. That’s $15,000 raised and the business has been open less than a month.

In the curriculum and training we use with schools, we stress over and over the following principle: “Entrepreneurs are biased toward action.” When in doubt, they try, they test, they get feedback.

That’s the mentality these students are learning: ideas are only as valuable as the action behind them. What started as an idea became a box of fifty mugs and those mugs became early revenue.

And now they’re long-term symbols of ownership, belief, and bragging rights.

So here’s the real question:

What ideas could your entrepreneurship program unlock on your campus?

If you’re ready to build something real—with real stakes and real formation—let’s connect.

The Founding Fifty Mug from The Landing

Quick note—don’t miss your chance to be part of one of the most energizing events of 2026: the Entrepreneurship Symposium for Christian Schools. Whether you’re building an entrepreneurship program or ready to launch one, this gathering will accelerate your impact.

One of my favorite parts of visiting schools across the United States is this: the conversations always end with a great reading recommendation.

I had just finished 10 to 25 when a friend handed me an article from the Winter 2026 issue of Independent School by Rebecca Winthrop and Jenny Anderson.

And together, they landed on the same message:

In the world our students are walking into, achievement is a starting point, not a finish line.

Yeager calls it the Mentor Mindset: the posture that holds high standards and high support at the same time. Not the Protector Mindset (high support, low expectations) and not the Enforcer Mindset (high expectations, low support). Mentor Mindset is the sweet spot where students are challenged and coached.

Winthrop and Anderson describe a parallel shift: from the “Age of Achievement,” where the system trains students to optimize grades and approval, to an “Age of Agency,” where students must learn to set meaningful goals, navigate obstacles, use resources, and (most importantly) ask for help without shame.

That last piece matters more than we like to admit.

When school silently teaches that “smart” means “never needing help,” students don’t just fear failure, they fear exposure. They learn to protect their image instead of pursuing the work.

Agency changes that.

Agency says: I can own a goal. I can take a step. I can learn what I don’t know. I can get support and keep moving.

And that connects directly to Grit—because grit isn’t macho intensity or stubborn willpower. It’s sustained pursuit of a meaningful goal over time, through difficulty, with feedback, with adjustment.

Here’s the part schools can’t miss:

The Age of Agency doesn’t lower expectations. It redefines rigor.

Rigor isn’t only precision and performance. It’s also exploration, iteration, resilience, and recovery. It’s measuring progress—not just perfection. It’s building students who can think, adapt, and act when the script changes.

This is why I keep coming back to the entrepreneurial mindset.

When students practice growth mindset, they build agency. When they build agency, they become grittier. When they become grittier, they learn to redefine failure. And when they learn to redefine failure, they become opportunity seekers: the kind of young adults who don’t just survive change, they create good in the middle of it.

Language creates culture. And when the culture is right, the fruit is abundant.

If your school is ready to build agency on purpose—not by accident—reach out.

New business launch at Santa Fe Christian Schools!

Quick note—don’t miss your chance to be part of one of the most energizing events of 2026: the Entrepreneurship Symposium for Christian Schools. Whether you’re building an entrepreneurship program or ready to launch one, this gathering will accelerate your impact.

One of the biggest misconceptions schools have about entrepreneurship is that launching a student-run business has to be complicated, expensive, or disruptive. It doesn’t.

In fact, when done well, it follows a clear, repeatable pathway—and most schools already have everything they need to get started.

Here’s what it actually looks like.

Step One: Start with a Small, Committed Team
Identify a group of 8–12 juniors and seniors and place them into a year-long entrepreneurship course for the coming school year. This is not a club or an after-school activity. It’s a leadership-level course where students take real ownership, make real decisions, and build something that will outlast them.

Step Two: Equip the Teacher for the Launch
Send the teacher leading the course to Seed Tree Entrepreneurship Training this June. This is where the full plan comes together: curriculum, timelines, launch strategy, operational guardrails, and all the resources needed to guide students from idea to execution with confidence.

Step Three: Build the Mindset Before the Business
During the first semester, students focus on developing the entrepreneurial mindset through hands-on projects using the Seed Tree curriculum. They learn growth mindset, grit, redefining failure, and opportunity seeking; not in theory, but through action. By the end of the semester, students pitch a business grounded in a real problem they are solving for your school community.

Students at Brentwood Academy preparing for their business launch

Quick note—don’t miss your chance to be part of one of the most energizing events of 2026: the Entrepreneurship Symposium for Christian Schools. Whether you’re building an entrepreneurship program or ready to launch one, this gathering will accelerate your impact.

Across the country, Seed Tree schools are preparing students to launch their first viable, student-run businesses on campus.

In Texas, students are rallying around a dirty soda concept. In Arkansas, teams are building an online marketplace. In New Hampshire, students are serving up wood-fired pizzas. In Virginia, they’re launching a meal-prep business for busy families. In Kentucky, students are preparing a mobile market.

And the ever-popular coffee cart—or full-blown coffee shop—continues to take off, popping up in California, Kansas, Texas, and Virginia.

For schools following the Seed Tree approach to entrepreneurship, this is intentional. A student-run business launches in year one.

That early launch matters. It creates a living laboratory where students practice the real-world skills the program is designed to develop. Proactive problem-solving becomes real when an online marketplace breaks. Communication sharpens when students serve actual customers. Collaboration is no longer theoretical when a team is responsible for launching and running a business together.

Most of these ventures will launch between January and February. From there, students spend the remainder of the school year marketing, refining, and operationalizing their businesses. Seniors graduate. Juniors step into leadership roles. Underclassmen grow into responsibility. And the business continues—stronger than before.

Over time, the impact compounds. After three years, a fully developed entrepreneurship program is shaping culture, building confidence, and forming students across the school.

And it all starts the same way: with a single business launched by a small group of students.

Growth is contagious.

Impact lasts.

Let’s go.

The rolling coffee cart about to launch at Berean Academy in Kansas

Quick note—don’t miss your chance to be part of one of the most energizing events of 2026: the Entrepreneurship Symposium for Christian Schools. Whether you’re building an entrepreneurship program or ready to launch one, this gathering will accelerate your impact.

Last week, I sat at a small table in the back of a crowded restaurant in the Latin Quarter of Paris and had the best beef bourguignon of my life.

Sitting across from me was one of the most inspirational young entrepreneurs I know.

I first met Andrew when he was in 8th grade. His family owned a farm near Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, and as we were preparing to launch an entrepreneurship teaching kitchen connected to our greenhouse, I was meeting with local farmers. Andrew tagged along with his mom—and immediately began asking thoughtful questions about the kitchen space.

Then he started naming chefs. Gordon Ramsay. Sean Brock. Thomas Keller. Anthony Bourdain.

I was impressed.

I asked him to look at an empty warehouse space and imagine what it could become—a place where he could take his culinary passion seriously and push it as far as possible.

A few weeks later, Andrew enrolled at the school. Over the course of his high school career, he went on to build one of the most compelling student ventures I’ve ever seen in a K–12 setting.

With a team of his peers, he launched The Supper Club—a fine-dining experience housed in the teaching kitchen and greenhouse. They offered an eight-course tasting menu featuring oysters, scallops, caviar, morels, and more. Dinner after dinner sold out. What began as a school project became a real venture, run with professionalism, creativity, and care.

Throughout our entrepreneurship program, one mindset is woven into everything we do: grit.
Grit can be taught. It’s passion and perseverance toward long-term goals (as Angela Duckworth defines it), and it requires more than dreaming—it requires doing.

Andrew’s long-term goal was clear. He wanted to attend one of the best culinary schools in the world: École Ducasse in Paris.

So I made him a promise.
If he got accepted, I would find a way to visit him in Paris.

When Andrew called to tell me he’d been accepted, I think I was even more excited than he was. It was the fulfillment of a goal built over years of focused effort, resilience, and belief.

My daughter overheard that promise—and promptly announced she was coming with me.

And so there we were: the three of us, gathered around a small table in a bustling Parisian restaurant, eating escargots, sea bass, and a truly transformative beef bourguignon, while talking about Andrew’s next set of long-term goals.

Entrepreneurship is contagious.

When schools create environments where students are allowed to explore real interests, build real ventures, and pursue meaningful goals, something powerful happens. Students come alive. Passion spreads. Purpose takes root.

In other words, the future of education is bright indeed.

Culinary Entrepreneurship at Chez Fernand

Quick note—don’t miss your chance to be part of one of the most energizing events of 2026: the Entrepreneurship Symposium for Christian Schools. Whether you’re building an entrepreneurship program or ready to launch one, this gathering will accelerate your impact.

When Teresa Chambers, Head of School at First Baptist Academy in Houston, first attended the Entrepreneurship Symposium with two members of her team three years ago, I had no idea how fully Christ-centered entrepreneurship would eventually take root at her school.

In fact, the conversation went something like this:

“Stephen, is it worth coming to this event if we’re a PK–8 school? Or is it really just for high school?”

“I definitely think you should come,” I replied. “Although you’ll probably be the only PK–8 school in attendance.”

What I encouraged Teresa to explore was the robust 7th and 8th grade programming we had already built at Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy—programming that included a student-run business called The Mini Cup. Middle school students weren’t just learning about entrepreneurship; they were living it.

Fast forward three years.

Teresa didn’t just bring entrepreneurship to her 7th and 8th graders—she expanded it across the entire PK–8 campus through intentional professional development and full program implementation. Today, 3rd and 4th graders are intentionally developing grit in the classroom, while 1st and 2nd graders are actively cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset.

And this isn’t an isolated story. Entrepreneurship is flourishing in middle schools across the country.

At Brentwood Academy in Nashville, 7th graders are preparing to launch their own student-run venture, while 8th graders already oversee the school’s vending machines.

At the Warren County Educational Service Center, entrepreneurial mindset and design thinking are embedded into a brand-new Career Exploration Center. Their 7th and 8th graders will soon launch a “problem-solving factory” venture designed to tackle real challenges.

At Sacred Heart Model School in Louisville, students are getting ready to build and operate their own Bear Necessities cart, selling products they helped design, create, and refine.

This momentum makes sense.

Middle school is a uniquely powerful season. Students bring creativity, energy, curiosity, and a growing desire for ownership. They’re ready to take risks, test ideas, and learn through doing. When we meet them with the right mindset, language, and real-world opportunities, something clicks.

Middle school isn’t too early for entrepreneurship; in fact, it might just be the sweet spot.

If you’re leading a PK–8 or middle school and wondering what it could look like to intentionally develop an entrepreneurial mindset—through student-run ventures, classroom culture, and teacher development—I’d love to help you think it through. Let’s explore what’s possible for your students and your school.

Meeting with an Enterprising 8th Grade Entrepreneur in Houston.

Quick note—don’t miss your chance to be part of one of the most energizing events of 2026: the Entrepreneurship Symposium for Christian Schools. Whether you’re building an entrepreneurship program or ready to launch one, this gathering will accelerate your impact.

All of a sudden, I started seeing David Yeager’s name everywhere. Yeager, the author of 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People, has made a splash on the Christian school conference scene, with many equating his work to that of Carol Dweck—which makes sense, as they collaborate closely.

Just two days after my friend Tawanna Rusk led a breakout session on Yeager’s book at the CESA Symposium, I visited a school in Texas where the Director of College Advising and Academics, Jennifer Heard, gifted me a copy.

After reading it, I was immediately struck by Yeager’s central premise: much of teacher training has focused on developing either an enforcer or a protector mindset, when what students actually need is a mentor mindset.

The enforcer, according to Yeager, emphasizes high standards and strict accountability. The protector emphasizes high support and shielding students from struggle. The danger isn’t high standards or high support—it’s the absence of one alongside the other. Yeager argues that high expectations can be demanded in a healthy, motivating way when they are paired with high levels of support. This balance, he suggests, is the foundation of the mentor mindset.

As we launch entrepreneurship programs in schools, a critical part of the training for educators who lead these programs is helping them move from the role of traditional classroom teacher into that of a business mentor. This role leans heavily toward coaching—which is likely why so many successful Seed Tree teachers are former or current coaches.

A business coach doesn’t dictate every decision students make. Instead, they provide the support needed for students to make wise decisions while holding them accountable to the disciplines required for a business to run well. This mirrors exactly what Yeager describes: high expectations within a high-support environment.

And this posture, in turn, motivates young people.

At a time when motivating students can feel increasingly difficult, entrepreneurship often produces motivation as a natural byproduct of the work itself. When students are building something real—launching a student-run business, generating revenue, leading a team—engagement follows.

Just the other day, I received the following text from Jennifer Sullivan, who is leading the growing entrepreneurship program at NorthStar Academy, a fully online school:

“I had a student raise his hand and say, ‘Mrs. Sullivan, it’s so weird because these assignments don’t feel like schoolwork. They feel real. They feel like more.’”

When students are deeply engaged, it’s often because they’re operating in an environment marked by both high expectations and high support. When that happens, true entrepreneurial magic begins to take shape.

David Yeager's Work Helps Unlock Effective Entrepreneurial Mindset Strategies

Quick note—don’t miss your chance to be part of one of the most energizing events of 2026: the Entrepreneurship Symposium for Christian Schools. Whether you’re building an entrepreneurship program or ready to launch one, this gathering will accelerate your impact.

Last Friday, my friend Jayme sent me a text along with a few photos that immediately translated into a genuine, full-body smile. I felt this wave of joy—almost a sense of pride—and all because of a group of students who had just completed the soft launch of their new venture: a dirty soda business called “Sodalicious.”

I was in Arlington, Texas, a few months back visiting their school (and yes, I tried my first dirty soda while there) and had a chance to meet with this wonderful group of students as they were ideating their business concept.

And as fun as that moment was, nothing compares to the actual launch.

This particular group set what they believed to be a challenging long-term goal: sell 100 drinks. Instead, they sold 200. Doubling their target was impressive, but the number alone doesn’t tell the story. What matters is everything that happened in the process: 

They developed grit. 

They discovered a deeper passion for their work. 

They learned how to collaborate, adapt, encourage one another, and push through uncertainty. 

Those are the experiences that stay with a student long after graduation, long after the final bell rings, long after the last drink is sold.

Dan Heath, in The Power of Moments, writes about how we only carry a small number of defining experiences with us throughout our lives, and they are rarely tied to conventional classroom routines. They tend to be the moments that elevate us, stretch us, and shift our understanding of what we are capable of. I am convinced this soft launch will become one of those moments for these students.

They will remember what it felt like to come together around a shared goal, to believe they were aiming high, and then to discover that they were capable of far more than they imagined. They will carry the memory of surpassing their expectations not because someone told them they could, but because they proved it to themselves.

This is the entrepreneurial mindset lived out—not as theory, not as curriculum content, but as transformation through hands-on experience. And when students get a taste of that kind of growth, there is no limit to what they can build next.

Seed Tree Group students at Grace Prep preparing for their Venture Launch.

Quick note—don’t miss your chance to be part of one of the most energizing events of 2026: the Entrepreneurship Symposium for Christian Schools. Whether you’re building an entrepreneurship program or ready to launch one, this gathering will accelerate your impact.

We talk a lot about the growth mindset in entrepreneurial education—the belief that students can grow, adapt, and improve through effort. It’s a beautiful and necessary foundation. But there’s a danger hidden inside the enthusiasm. When we celebrate growth without teaching discipline, we create something that looks like momentum but has no direction. It moves, but it doesn’t go anywhere.

The truth is simple and often uncomfortable: discipline is the difference maker.

Discipline has a reputation problem. It sounds rigid, restrictive, maybe even old-fashioned. Students sometimes hear the word and imagine punishment rather than purpose. But in reality, discipline is the force that unlocks everything we want to see in them—agency, resilience, ownership, and the confidence that comes from doing something consistently over time.

“Consistency compounds.” 

It’s one of the most powerful principles we can give students, and it only works through disciplined behavior. A habit practiced daily becomes a skill. A skill practiced intentionally becomes mastery. Mastery applied with purpose becomes impact. 

Growth without discipline is chaotic—full of motion but lacking direction. Discipline without growth is rigid—full of structure but lacking life. But disciplined growth, anchored in purpose, is unstoppable.

This is the message our students need today, especially in a culture that drifts them toward passivity. No victims. No passengers. No waiting for life to happen to them. We want to develop proactive, purpose-driven young people who embrace a growth mindset and understand that growth requires disciplined action.

At the heart of the entrepreneurial mindset is this simple truth: discipline turns potential into reality. It is the bridge between intention and impact. When we help students see discipline not as restriction but as formation—shaping them into who they are becoming—we give them one of the greatest tools they will ever carry into adulthood.

Let’s teach growth. Let’s teach purpose. But let’s also boldly and unapologetically teach discipline.

When students operate a business, they can't help but learn key disciplines.

Over the past decade, I’ve noticed a pattern in K–12 education. Schools are increasingly aware of the need to teach entrepreneurship, and many begin by creating a single semester or year-long class. They choose a curriculum, assemble a few hands-on activities, and offer students a taste of what entrepreneurship looks like.

It’s a wonderful start—but it’s only a start.

Entrepreneurship thrives in long arcs, not short bursts. While a single class can lead to a launch, a program can cultivate leaders who return year after year to grow that launch into something meaningful, sustainable, and deeply transformational.

When schools build a true entrepreneurship program, something remarkable happens. Year one becomes the foundation—students imagine, create, and launch a student-run business on campus. The energy is high, the hands-on learning is real, and students experience the joy and vulnerability of putting something into the world that didn’t exist before.

But the real magic happens in year two.

Students who return become leaders. They mentor the next class. They refine systems. They begin to see entrepreneurship not as a project but as a way of thinking, choosing, and showing up. Launching a business is one thing. Running that business—and helping it grow—is something else entirely.

We talk often about the excitement of the launch, and rightly so. Launching is exhilarating. And electric. But if we stop there, we shortchange students because so much of the richness of the entrepreneurial mindset comes from the ongoing grind, the continuous improvement, the small pivots, the unexpected challenges, and the incredible satisfaction of seeing effort compound over time.

This is why I encourage schools not to build a class, but to build a three-to-five-year pathway. Start with mindset and then add hands-on business experience. Layer in financial literacy while integrating mentorship and developing a leadership pipeline. Finally, add in a certificate track that gives students a formal credential—something that recognizes their mastery, celebrates their growth, and prepares them for whatever comes next.

This is the Seed Tree Group model. It’s the model being used in over 30 schools around the nation. And it works—because it takes the long view. It builds a culture, not a course. It builds leaders, not just learners. It builds a program that transforms students in year one—and even more in year two, year three, and beyond.

If you are ready to launch an entrepreneurship program—not just a class—reach out today and let’s build something incredible together.

The 2025 Entrepreneurship Certificate Students from Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy

When I visited Santa Fe Christian Schools, I was struck by more than the ocean air and open campus. I was struck by a mindset. Just over a mile from the Pacific, Head of School Rod Gilbert isn’t focused on keeping students safe from the waves of culture—he’s teaching them how to ride them with strength, discernment, and joy.

Rod joined me on the latest episode of the Entrepreneurial Mindset for Transformative Education podcast, and I truly believe it’s one of the most important conversations we’ve had yet. 

We explored what it means to prepare students not just to endure change, but to grow because of it. That’s the essence of being ANTIFRAGILE—a term coined by Nassim Nicholas Taleb to describe systems that get stronger through stress, not weaker.

Fragility is everywhere in modern education. Students are taught to avoid risk, protect comfort, and mistake challenge for harm. But Rod offers a different vision—one where Christian education doesn’t just prepare students for college, but for calling. He’s cultivating resilience rooted in faith, where courage, humility, and purpose become the natural byproducts of pressure handled well.

That’s also what entrepreneurship education does at its best. Every prototype, pitch, and business venture is a low-stakes version of real life—full of uncertainty, feedback, and iteration. The entrepreneurial mindset teaches students that struggle isn’t failure; it’s formation.

If you lead a school, teach a class, or parent a child, I’d encourage you to listen to this episode with one guiding question in mind:
How can we build environments that strengthen students through challenge rather than shielding them from discomfort?

Let’s stop creating comfort zones and start creating growth zones. The world doesn’t need more fragile learners—it needs antifragile leaders.

Students who engage in real-world environments develop antifragile mindsets.

Schools across the country want to bring entrepreneurship to life through a student-run business. The dream is clear: a café buzzing with activity, a marketplace filled with student-made products, a space where learning feels real and alive.

And this is indeed a noble dream - this student-run business functions as a real-world laboratory where students develop the durable skills that will propel them into a purpose-filled life.

The challenge is that many schools start by building the final version first. They invest heavily in permanent spaces and expensive equipment before students have ever tested whether the idea works. By the time students step in, they are operating someone else’s vision. Entrepreneurship becomes execution, not creation.

There is a better way to begin. Start with a Minimum Viable Product.

An MVP asks a simple question: what is the smallest version of this idea that allows customers to show us whether it has value? A mobile cart, a pop-up booth, or a temporary café setup gives students the chance to launch quickly, gather real feedback, and improve through iteration. The first version does not require polish. It requires proof.

Most schools can do this with an interest-free loan of ten to fifteen thousand dollars. Students run a mobile concept for a semester or a year. They discover what sells, adjust when challenges arise, and build confidence as they create revenue from scratch. 

If the market responds, then the school considers investing in a permanent build-out that might cost two hundred thousand dollars or more. That sequence protects the budget and profoundly amplifies learning.

A mobile MVP does not diminish the dream. It fuels it. Students gain ownership, resilience, creativity, and courage because they are builders, not bystanders. Engagement skyrockets when what they are learning matters beyond the classroom.

Entrepreneurship should not wait for someday. It should begin with what students can build today.

If you want help designing an MVP venture that fits your school’s goals and culture, reply to this newsletter. We’ll start small, launch fast, and learn our way into something extraordinary.

Students at Gilbert Christian Schools starting with their MVP Snack Shop Concept

Imagine hundreds of schools telling students that the pinnacle of innovation is stepping into a tank full of sharks. The lights beam down. The pressure rises. The sharks circle the idea, circling each other. 

The goal becomes survival, not significance.

Shark Tank has elevated entrepreneurship in pop culture, and that is something to celebrate. Yet its entire premise is rooted in the red ocean: crowded markets, fierce competition, incremental innovation, and a focus on winning slices of existing demand. The sharks hunt where the waters are bloody.

What if we shifted the narrative?

Blue Ocean Strategy teaches that the most transformative opportunities emerge where no one is currently swimming. Instead of fighting over what exists, students can design what is missing. Entrepreneurial learning can move from “sell the coolest gadget” to “solve the real problems others ignore.”

What if we asked:
What pain points go unseen because they are too familiar?
Who is struggling quietly while the world focuses on flashy ideas?
How could business become a mechanism for healing brokenness?

At Seed Tree Group, we are exploring exactly that through encouraging our students to look for collaborative approaches to uncover real needs in the world, then build scalable and compassionate solutions. Proactive thinking over reactive competition. Discovery over defensiveness. Service over spectacle.

There is nothing inherently wrong with Shark Tank. Students learn confidence, persuasion, and financial literacy. Yet if we only teach them to perform for sharks, we risk limiting their impact to the size of the tank.

The ocean is vast, full of possibility, and waiting for young explorers.

Let’s set them loose to discover it.

Ready to bring an engaging entrepreneurship program focused on solving real world problems to your school?

When the Sharks Circle, perhaps We Should Head to New Ocean

When we talk about developing grit, it’s tempting to focus on the outcome — resilience, perseverance, the ability to keep going when things get hard. But grit doesn’t start there. It’s forged in the moments when students feel uncomfortable and choose to stay engaged anyway.

Angela Duckworth defines grit as “passion and perseverance for long-term goals.” That perseverance is built not through success, but through struggle — through the discomfort of not knowing what to do next, of trying something new, of facing possible rejection.

That’s why, in the first year of the Seed Tree Group program, we intentionally design projects that push students outside their comfort zones. One of my favorites is the Selling Project. Each student has to sell something — a product or a service — to someone they don’t know. It’s a simple concept, but a powerful experience.

For many, it’s the first time they’ve heard “no” from a real customer. It’s awkward. It’s uncomfortable. And that’s exactly the point. Because when we guide students to push through that discomfort — to ask again, to listen better, to adjust their approach — something begins to shift. They realize rejection isn’t failure. It’s feedback.

In those moments, grit starts to form. And along the way, they learn something even more valuable: how to communicate value, solve real problems, and see opportunity where others see obstacles. That’s the heart of the entrepreneurial mindset.

Our goal isn’t to make students fearless — it’s to help them build the confidence to act in spite of fear. To get comfortable being uncomfortable. Because that’s where real growth happens.

If you’re an educator looking to help your students develop grit through real-world experiences, start small. Create moments of healthy discomfort — projects where success requires persistence, courage, and follow-through.

That’s where the mindset shifts begin.

Students at Trinity Christian Academy are starting the selling project now as they prepare for the launch of their coffee shop later this school year!

A few weeks ago, I shared a story during a call with K-12 principals that struck a chord: what if entrepreneurship in Christian schools wasn’t primarily about starting businesses — but about restoring purpose? What if every student learned to see themselves as a creator, problem solver, and servant leader — someone who takes a risk to create something new for the good of others?

That idea — redemptive entrepreneurship — is at the heart of a new national working group I’m launching with CESA Schools this December. And it’s open to every Christian school that wants to be part of the conversation (you don’t have to be a CESA school to join).

This isn’t a traditional PD series. It’s a six-session, interactive journey for school leaders who want to move beyond theory and start building systems, language, and culture around the entrepreneurial mindset — all through a distinctly Christ-centered lens.

We’ll unpack what it means for students to connect their faith with real-world innovation, develop durable skills like grit and opportunity-seeking, and bring redemption to the spaces they touch. 

Together, we’ll explore:

1. How to increase student and faculty engagement through redemptive entrepreneurship

2. How to weave the entrepreneurial mindset into your curriculum at every grade level

3. How to theologically ground innovation so it leads to Kingdom impact

4. How to build peer networks that make this work sustainable long term

Christian schools are filled with students who want to make an impact — but too often, we train them to fit systems rather than change them. Redemptive entrepreneurship invites a new posture: to see every classroom as a launchpad for good.

If this resonates with you, don’t wait on the sidelines. Be part of the first group of schools shaping what redemptive entrepreneurship looks like in Christian education.

Register by November 15 to join the Redemptive Entrepreneurship Working Group.

Let’s build a movement where students don’t just learn about faith and innovation — they live it.

Join the Conversation to Elevate Our Schools

A few months ago, after finishing my certification training for teaching the entrepreneurial mindset, one of my partner schools said something that stopped me in my tracks:

“You know, Stephen, it’s almost as if you’re encouraging students to become problem junkies.”

They meant it as an observation—but I took it as a compliment. Because that’s exactly what we want.

When we say we want students to think like entrepreneurs, we’re really saying we want them to fall in love with finding problems. Opportunity seeking—one of the core attributes of the entrepreneurial mindset—is about intentionally reframing problems as opportunities. Once students start seeing the world that way, every frustration becomes fuel for innovation.

In our classrooms, we call this problem harvesting. Students go out and look for problems everywhere: in the hallways, the cafeteria, their daily routines, even their own habits. It’s amazing what they discover when they start paying attention.

One of my favorite recent examples comes from a partner school that put this idea to the test during a design thinking exercise. The students were sent out to scour the building for problems worth solving. A few minutes later, one student pointed out, “Hey—there are no bathroom signs.”

Sure enough, the newly renovated building had makeshift signage. The class grabbed onto the idea. After some quick brainstorming and paper prototyping, they used the Glowforge to create a professional sign. Then came feedback: a few classmates noted that part of the school community speaks Spanish. So the team went back, redesigned, and produced bilingual signage. 

Several iterations later, the school now has beautiful, student-designed bathroom signs—and a group of young people who feel genuine ownership over their environment.

That’s the essence of the entrepreneurial mindset. The opportunity didn’t show up in a textbook. It showed up on a blank wall—waiting for someone curious enough to notice.

So let’s get students up, out, and looking around. Let’s raise a generation of problem harvesters who see the world not as it is, but as it could be.

Ready to help your students start harvesting?

From problem to prototype—students designed this sign after noticing the need

Years ago at an event, Dave Ramsey was mobbed by entrepreneurs pitching their ideas. I stood on my tiptoes and called out, “Hey Dave—how would you teach grit to high school students?”

Like the Red Sea, the crowd parted. He walked over and said, “Easy. I’d have them try to sell something nobody wants and watch how they respond.” He told me about college students who used to sell encyclopedias door-to-door; if they stuck with it, he’d hire them. If they could do something that hard, they likely had the grit his team needed.

Comfort and growth can’t co-exist. That’s why our Seed Tree curriculum replaces “business plan workshops” with real sales experiences.

Why This Matters

At this point in the year, schools using Seed Tree curriculum are stepping into Grit & the Art of Selling—a live, real-world module where students must:

-Create a simple product or service

-Craft a clear UVP (unique value proposition)

-Make one actual sale to someone they don’t know

Students feel the awkwardness. They face no’s. They iterate the pitch. And they discover that grit isn’t a poster—it’s a muscle.

Key Takeaway: Students don’t learn grit by talking about it. They learn grit by selling through discomfort.

Try This Starter:

1. One-Sentence Offer: Have each student write a 12-word pitch that starts with the outcome, not the object.
   

2. Five Whys: Push the offer down to the life-level value (not “phone charger,” but “device to ensure you won’t miss opportunities”).
   

3. One Real Customer: In the next 48 hours, students must attempt one sale to a stranger. Debrief: What changed in your pitch after the first “no”?
   

Schools running this module report sharper messaging, higher student confidence, and more authentic classroom energy—because students are doing the real thing, not the worksheet version.

If you are an administrator, connect with me to book a 30-minute Discovery Call to see the Grit & the Art of Selling module and resources your teachers can use next week.

Let’s Go!

Dave Ramsey believes grit can be developed, and so do we.