Full article written by Shalene Gupta at Fast Company and is available here.
As a child, Reed Switzer developed a passion for building things while he watched his father create interior designs. He struggled with dyslexia and attended a school for people with learning-based disabilities. Today, the biracial 22-year-old has turned his passion for building into a career as an entrepreneur. He dropped out of Wharton his sophomore year to found Hopscotch, a payment platform for small businesses and freelancers.
Switzer got his start in the business world as a freshman in high school, when he founded a clothing company with friends. He was particularly struck by how inefficient the payment systems were for vendors.
At the age of sixteen, he met Tony Abrahams, the creator of a music streaming startup. Originally, Switzer was part of a focus group that brainstormed with the company executives once a month. However, he impressed executives so much that he was brought on as operations lead, where he got a front-row seat in all aspects of business.
When he came up with the idea for Hopscotch in college, he decided to drop out and focus on building it. Today, Hopscotch has raised nearly $10 million in venture funding.
Switzer appears ageless—as if he could be anywhere between the ages of 20 and 35. In part, this is because he projects an air of unflappable calm and confidence, the kind of person you want around in a crisis. He sat down with Fast Company to talk about life as a young entrepreneur.
What was it like being an operations lead in high school and interacting with executives who were much more experienced?
It was extremely intimidating. But when you take a step back and think about what the company is actually trying to build, there’s probably no one better suited than me in that group to provide perspective on what this platform should look like. Gen Z is in a unique position where we’ve literally grown up in this age of digital transformation, and it comes naturally to us. Once I was able to really internalize that, it made the conversation a lot easier.
Speaking of being a young entrepreneur, what in your education was helpful? And what were the gaps?
So, I’m going to answer this in two pieces: early schooling and then later. I am dyslexic. I went to this specialized school for students with language-based disabilities. And one of the things that they taught us early on was dyslexia gives you this unique point of view, this unique way of thinking and approaching problems that, you know, can be viewed, frankly, as a sort of superpower. And so they gave us all of these really great tools on how to think about the world.
And then when I went on to high school, they taught us a bunch of really generally applicable things like public speaking and history, math, science—but they didn’t cover business. How do you think about cash flow? How do you think about, you know, building a budget for your business or [filing taxes]? I had to look elsewhere for that, and found it when I was working at the music streaming startup.
If we want to see more young founders, what should we be thinking about changing in the education system?
Everyone is different. I wouldn’t say everyone should leave school to focus on building something they’re passionate about. There are a ton of valuable lessons you’ll learn in school, and especially in college, about networking, and building relationships that’s just important in the natural development of someone. But for myself, I’ve just always found more value in building something and getting that real-world experience, so it was a really easy decision to leave school and focus on building Hopscotch. And I think given what we’ve done thus far it’s put me years past where I would have been in school. But again, that’s just me, and my personal experience in dealing with dyslexia.
What’s something you’d like to get better at?
I’m always pushing myself on, “How do you build better cultures?” One of the things younger founders experience is managing people that are two or three times their age. You’re having conversations with these people that have a lot more experience than you do. So, how do you bring all of these super-sharp people from different backgrounds into a room and build something that’s your vision, and do so in a way that’s fun, and everyone feels passionate and like they have a hand in building that company?
The easiest way to learn about this is just having conversations with founders across different spaces and learn about the things that didn’t work out well for them early on, and the things that they would advise you to do. Early on, I always reverted to looking it up on Google or listening to a podcast. But I don’t think there’s a replacement for having conversations with real people that have really built these things. I would advise everyone to master the art of cold outreach. Shoot someone you admire an email, and get them on the phone and chat about their experiences.
What other advice do you have for people who want to be founders?
One, I will reiterate the art of cold email, because when we were fundraising early on, it took us about eight months to bring in our first seed capital. That was a long, arduous process. I didn’t have any introductions to start. I had a process where I used CrunchBase to find investors, and then shot them an email or DM, and then if they listed a phone number, gave them a call. The first piece of advice is, like, you have to be extremely scrappy. Entrepreneurship is glorified in modern films and TV shows, but it’s not easy, so take pride in the journey and try to enjoy it.
And number two is don’t be afraid of doubling down on your vision and your ideas. I think it goes hand in hand with managing folks that [are] maybe double your age. It’s easy to be swayed by those that have a lot of experience, because you think that experience leads to just knowing what the right direction is, but that’s not always the case. So make sure you come to the table with your own perspective and ideas.
How do you balance staying true to your vision with managing people with more experience? When do you know it’s time to pay attention to your vision versus when they have a good point?
I’m still figuring it out! What’s helped me a lot in is being a good listener, being able to disassociate from yourself and put yourself in that other person’s shoes. I like to just completely forget what my vision or thinking is and step into that person’s shoes and view the situation or the idea objectively. If you can really do that well, then everything else becomes so much easier. You understand how your team members might be feeling and where they are coming from. The short answer is: Don’t have an ego. You may not always be right. Viewing things from a different perspective will help you find the best answer.
How does being a founder of color impact you?
I feel that there’s a lot more pressure on us to deliver. When we deliver, it says something for the group that I’m representing. The unfortunate reality is you have to push so much harder to make things happen. But one of the things that I’ve tried to do is not think about it too much. There are barriers I’ve faced and will continue to face . . . but the way I look at it is just makes what we do as founders of color look more impressive, and that much more powerful in the long run. And so I don’t think about it too much. I like to just keep pushing and hopefully [I’ll] be able to look back in 10 years from now and be like, we went through all of that and proved everyone wrong.
Finally, how much do you focus on your age?
I actually try not to talk about my age. I’ve been told by some folks that I should publicize my age a bit more, but I am hesitant to, because I feel like age doesn’t really matter. You shouldn’t get more press because you are younger. You shouldn’t get less press because you’re older. Your results sort of speak for themselves. . . . Sometimes there are investors or corporate partners who may try to take advantage of you if they know you’re younger because they assume you’re naive. I like to try to keep an air of mystery.