YSMnation began with a belief about what can happen when young people are given something real to work on and the room to make it their own.
In summer 2026, nine young people helped us put that belief into practice through our first Founders Lab. This page is a record of what we built together, what happened along the way, and what we're learning from it.
These numbers are small, and we're comfortable with that. Our first Founders Lab gave us the chance to work closely with young people and families, observe the experience as it unfolded, and learn what we would want to keep, change, or strengthen next time.
Founders started by paying attention to problems around them—at home, at school, in everyday routines, and in the lives of people they cared about.
They chose ideas worth pursuing and began thinking about who they wanted to help and what that person might actually need.
Ideas became sketches, prototypes, products, names, logos, packaging, and first attempts.
Founders worked through questions about customers, cost, pricing, presentation, and what needed to change.
They practiced explaining what they were building and why someone should care.
On July 11, the work moved out of the learning space. Founders set up booths, spoke with visitors, and experienced what it feels like to put something they made in front of other people.
Each founder brought their own interests, frustrations, observations, and personality into the process. The result wasn't nine versions of the same project. It was nine very different ideas. Tap a logo to read each founder's story.
Sticky notes. Sketches. Questions. Store visits. Mood boards. Product decisions. Practice pitches. Mistakes. Revisions. And eventually, Market Day. Here's some of what the journey looked like.
Founders Lab used entrepreneurship as a reason to practice skills that reach beyond business. Rather than teaching these ideas only as concepts, the program gave founders opportunities to use them while working on something of their own.
Founders worked with ideas such as cost, price, and profit while thinking through what it would take to make and sell their products.
Pitch practice gave founders repeated opportunities to explain an idea clearly, answer questions, and speak in front of other people.
Founders moved from noticing a problem to considering possible solutions, building first versions, and deciding what needed to change.
Founders were asked to think beyond what they personally liked and consider who might use their product and what would matter to that person.
Mixed ages, shared workspaces, feedback, and Market Day gave founders opportunities to help one another and learn alongside one another.
Founder Notebooks and regular reflection created space for young people to record what they were thinking, what changed, and what they learned from the process.
Founders were most engaged when the decisions were genuinely theirs to make. Our role worked best when we asked good questions instead of supplying the answer.
Some ideas came together quickly. Others needed more experimentation than the schedule allowed. Future YSM experiences need to protect enough time for making, revising, and trying again.
Market Day changed the context. Founders weren't only preparing something for us anymore—they had to explain it to people who had never heard the idea before.
Not every product finished at the same level, and that is okay. What mattered was seeing young people work through decisions, setbacks, feedback, and the challenge of putting an idea into the world.
After Market Day, we asked people who attended to share their impressions. These are some of the responses we received.
Founders explored problems, developed ideas, thought about customers, worked through money basics, and practiced explaining what they wanted to build.
The second stage moved deeper into product development, branding, pricing, preparation, and the work leading toward Market Day.
Our first Founders Lab gave YSMnation something we couldn't have developed on paper: real experience.
We're taking what worked, questioning what didn't, listening to families, strengthening the program, and preparing for Founders Lab 2027.
And as YSMnation grows, this page will grow with it. The goal isn't to erase the early chapters as we get bigger. It's to remember what each one taught us.