Mark Bao - Meet Generation Y

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Mark Bao was a speaker at our recent Gnomedex conference. He discussed with us how he has become a successful entrepreneur at such a young age. Then Francine Hardaway and I joined him on stage. We represent three generations of Geeks, and what followed was a very lively discussion, indeed.

Mark Bao is currently 16 and a sophomore in high school. He is President and CEO of Avecora, a web, new media, and advertising business. Through Avecora, Mark co-founded DebateWare and developed DebateNet, the online debate and event management system for debate organizations. DebateWare has provided services for the Junior State of America, the largest student-run organization in the United States, as well as the Collegiate Society of America, a nationwide college debate organization. Mark has developed several Facebook apps, including TopVideo and Facebook Idol. He organizes the Facebook Developers Boston meetings for social media developers in Boston.

As a partner in Stealthmode Partners, Francine Hardaway has helped package and secure funding for many early-stage technology companies. She has created positioning and marketing strategies for dozens of companies growth companies (from startup to IPO to maturity). She has a very popular blog, where she writes about technology, entrepreneurship, and society.

Together, Mark and Francine represent opposite ends of the age spectrum in today’s entrepreneurs and bloggers. They discussed some of the differences between the way things were done then and now, along with the ways things are the same. Much laughter was heard throughout the conference center, especially when Francine showed off the different ways she has “dressed for success” over the years.

The audience had a ton of questions. Many were funny, some were serious… all were full of awe for the two people on stage. Francine has accomplished many wonderful things over her lifetime, with much more in store. Mark has only begun, and is an inspiration to all of the young people who follow what we do.

Thanks so much to both of you for providing such an interesting talk, for teaching us things we may not have known, and mostly for helping to bridge the so-called “age gap” even more. By having Mark and Francine talk together, we were able to shatter the myth that there IS a “gap”.

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