--- title: "Gen Y Entrepreneurs: A Nine Shift Post" description: Recently, we stayed in an upscale New York hotel appealing to young people. We wondered how so many young people could afford the hotel. image: https://blog.lern.com/hs-fs/file-355534190-jpg/images/hotel-resized-600.jpg --- [LERN Club Sign-In](http://beta.lern.org/club/) [![lern-logo.png](https://blog.lern.com/hubfs/June-folder/lern-logo.png "lern-logo.png")](http://lern.org) ** # Articles # Gen Y Entrepreneurs: A Nine Shift Post Fri, Oct 18,2013 @ 12:45 PM by William Draves | Last week in New York we stayed in an upscale hotel appealing to young people. We wondered![Our hotel room in New York; photo by NineShift](https://blog.lern.com/hs-fs/file-355534190-jpg/images/hotel-resized-600.jpg?width=377&height=283&name=hotel-resized-600.jpg) how so many young people could afford the hotel.  [Here's a story](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/21/your-money/younger-investors-approach-to-investing.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0) that helps explain why. According to a U.S. Trust report on high net worth business owners, 95 percent of the Baby Boomers surveyed were first-generation business owners, and 78 percent of Baby Boomers who went to own successful businesses grew up middle class or lower. Source: ["Younger Generations' Approach to Investing," ](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/21/your-money/younger-investors-approach-to-investing.html?_r=0)by Paul Sullivan, Sept. 21, 2013. By comparison, just 20 percent of Gen Y business owners grew up middle class or lower. Meaning 80 percent of Gen Y business owners come from families with money in the first place. *This post was written by William A. Draves, who authored "Nine Shift: Work, Life, and Education in the 21st Century" with Julie Coates. Their latest book is "Pedagogy of the 21st Century." This post originally appeared on the [Nine Shift blog.](http://nineshift.typepad.com/) * [![Download: 2014 Nine Shift Seminar Brochure](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/119076/fe53fb0d-b8c8-46bc-9262-b6ba2083e55c.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/119076/fe53fb0d-b8c8-46bc-9262-b6ba2083e55c)       ### LATEST NEWS Video: How to Get the Most From a LERN Membership LERN Video - The LERN Program Review: Position Your Unit for Success LERN Cancellation Rates and New Programs: A Lesson From Netflix Kathryn Lynch-Morin Ready for Liftoff: Drones and Drone Courses are More Popular Than Ever Kathryn Lynch-Morin Working with the University of Nebraska - Omaha LERN [Tweets by @LernUpdates](https://twitter.com/LernUpdates) [LERN Club Sign-In](http://beta.lern.org/club/)