Jensen Bergman spent weeks preparing to pitch his team's business idea to investors. Minutes before the meeting, he was playing ping-pong outside the board room to stay calm.

詹森・伯格曼(Jensen Bergman)准备将他团队的商业理念推销给投资者，他为此花了数周时间准备。见面前的几分钟，为了保持冷静，他在董事会会议室外打起了乒乓球。

Jensen is 9 years old.

伯格曼今年九岁。

'If they say no, it's going to be really upsetting for us,' he said as one of his teammates wheeled up beside him on a tiny scooter.

他说：“如果他们拒绝，我们真的会很沮丧。”他的一个队友正在旁边滑着小型踏板车。

Jensen was taking part in a program called '8 and Up' that teaches young children about entrepreneurship. As a culmination of the class, which met for six weeks in Princeton, N.J., and cost $350, Jensen and his 15 peers would soon pitch their idea -- 'Tiger KidsClub,' a Friday night hangout space for children -- to real, grown-up investors at Tigerlabs, a local seed fund.

伯格曼参加了一个名为8 and Up的项目，这个项目是为了培养小孩子的创业精神。孩子们将在新泽西州普林斯顿(Princeton)参加为期六周的课程，学费为350美元。很快，作为这一课程的高潮部分，伯格曼就要和他的15个小伙伴将他们的“老虎儿童俱乐部”(Tiger KidsClub)――一个为孩子设立的周五聚会玩耍之所――的创意推销给当地种子基金公司“老虎实验室”(Tigerlabs)的投资者，真正的、成年的投资者。

As startups like WhatsApp and Oculus VR Inc. get snapped up for billions of dollars and others, like Twitter and Facebook, go public for more, younger children are filling classes, camps and other programs that promise to develop entrepreneurial skills in the pre-pubescent set.

即时通讯应用提供商WhatsApp和虚拟现实头戴设备公司Oculus VR等初创公司争取到了数以十亿美元计的投资，推特(Twitter)和Facebook等公司则通过上市筹到了更多资金，与此同时，年幼的孩子们也纷纷参加课程、野营等项目，这些项目承诺能培养尚未到青春期的孩子创业技巧。

Some scholars argue that cultivating entrepreneurship in the very young is vital, as children are born imaginative, energetic, and willing to take risks, but lose this entrepreneurial spirit over time. Advocates say such programs make up for gaps left by an educational system that ill prepares students for a tech-centric, rapidly shifting job market.

一些学者认为，在幼年时期开发培养孩子的创业精神至关重要，因为孩子们生来想象力丰富、精力充沛并且愿意冒险，但却在成长过程中逐渐丢失了这些创业精神。提倡者称，此类项目弥补了教育体系带来的缺陷；现在的就业市场以技术为核心并且瞬息万变，但现在的教育体系并未让学生们做好充分准备。

'It's best to teach them at age 5,' says Cristal Glangchai, founder of VentureLab in San Antonio, which offers a weeklong course for 5- to 7-year-old girls called Girl Startup 101. It costs $255 for five six-hour days of instruction, including lessons on 3-D prototyping, market research, business modeling and pricing.

安东尼奥(San Antonio)VentureLab的创始人克丽丝特尔・格朗才(Cristal Glangchai)说：“最好是在五岁时教他们。”VentureLab面向五至七岁的女孩开设有为期一周的课程，名为“女孩创业101”(Girl Startup 101)。课程学费为255美元，每天提供六个小时的指导，一共五天，课程内容包括3D原型法技术、市场调研、商业建模和定价。

In a similar course last summer, Ms. Glangchai says she helped a 5-year-old identify a problem: getting into trouble for eating Play-Doh. The solution: After polling students and parents, he created a marketing plan for a line of edible clay-like products in various flavors.

格朗才说，在去年夏天一个类似的课程上，她帮助一个五岁大的男孩子发现了一个问题――有些小孩子因为吞吃了培乐多彩泥(Play-Doh)而陷入麻烦；并找到了解决之道――在对学生和家长做了民意调查后，这个孩子为一系列不同口味的可食用粘土类产品制定了一个营销计划。

Frederick Mendler's daughter, Isabel, age 6, has attended Girl Startup twice, last summer and in March. Mr. Mendler, who co-founded a recruitment-technology startup called TrueAbility, says he was skeptical of a class aimed at such a young audience. But he says he hoped the class would help her be 'independent,' something she wasn't getting from 'all the princess books and the Barbies.'

弗雷德里克・门德勒(Frederick Mendler)六岁的女儿伊莎贝尔(Isabel)分别于去年夏天和今年三月参加过两次“女孩创业”的课程。弗雷德里克与人共同创建了招聘技术初创企业TrueAbility，他说，虽然他对这一类针对这么小的孩子开设的课程持怀疑态度，但他希望这个课程能帮助女儿“独立”，而这一点是她无法从“公主王子的童话书和芭比娃娃”中学到的。

He has been pleased with the result. One recent evening, Isabel -- a big fan of the Disney film 'The Princess and the Frog,' which is set in Louisiana -- proposed opening a business to sell New Orleans-style beignets.

弗雷德里克对结果感到满意。伊莎贝尔是迪斯尼电影《公主与青蛙》(The Princess and the Frog)的超级粉丝，这部电影的场景设在路易斯安那州。最近一个傍晚，她提议开设一家公司，售卖新奥尔良风味的贝奈特饼。

James Schrager, who has been teaching entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business since 1981, says interest in venture capital rises and falls along with the stock market. Today's camps and classes, he says, can be seen as modern attempts to replicate the old ways families taught children about business, most notably by bringing them to the workplace.

詹姆斯・史瑞格(James Schrager)自1981年以来一直在芝加哥大学布斯商学院(University of Chicago Booth School of Business)教授企业管理。史瑞格说，人们对风投的兴趣随着股市起伏。他说，以前的家庭为了向孩子们传授商业知识，最常见的是将他们带去工作场所，如今的野营活动和课程，则可以被视作传统方法的现代演绎。

'Shark Tank,' an ABC reality-television program in which contestants pitch to a group of investors, recently ran an episode featuring entrepreneurs under 18. Kevin O'Leary, a venture capitalist and founder of Softkey Software, as well as an investment fund company called O'Leary Funds, says he was once chased down at an airport by a hopeful 9-year-old contestant.

“创智赢家”(Shark Tank)是美国广播公司(ABC)一档由参赛者竞相向投资者推销理念的电视真人秀。该真人秀最近针对年龄在18岁以下的创业者制作了一期节目。风险投资人、Softkey Software创始人、投资基金公司“奥利里基金”(O'Leary Funds)的创建者凯文・奥利里(Kevin O'Leary)说，他有次在机场曾被一名很有希望的九岁参赛者认出。

Kiowa Kavovit, who was six years old in the March 14 episode, pitched Boo Boo Goo, a waterproof, liquid bandage available in many colors. On the show, Kiowa and her father were granted an offer, contingent upon a patent being granted to the product, of $100,000 from Mr. O'Leary, who also asked for a 25% stake in the company.

现年六岁的基奥瓦・卡沃维特(Kiowa Kavovit)是3月14日那期节目的参赛者，他推销的是一款有多种颜色可选的液体防水创可贴Boo Boo Goo。节目中，她和她父亲获得了奥利里10万美元的或有投资，投给这款产品的专利权。奥利里则要求拥有该公司25%的股份。

Most entrepreneurship classes for children follow this basic format: Students are presented with a problem, tasked with finding a solution, and often put in groups to pitch and, eventually, execute the idea.

大部分儿童创业课程都采用了这一基本模式：向学生提出一个问题，要求他们寻找解决途径，并常常以小组的方式对外进行宣传推销，并最终将想法付诸实践。

Children's business ideas can be unexpectedly adult. In an entrepreneurship class at Long Island University's Brooklyn campus called 'Lemonade Stand 101,' a group of children under 12 faced the problem of differentiating juice stands in a crowded market. Some suggested offering fancy sweeteners adults would enjoy, like agave, said instructor Michael Murphy, who has worked for the advertising agency Young & Rubicam.

孩子们的商业理念有时可能成熟得出人意料。在长岛大学布鲁克林校区(Long Island University's Brooklyn campus)举办的一项名为“柠檬汁小摊101”(Lemonade Stand 101)的创业课程中，一群不到12岁的孩子遇到了一个难题：如何在拥挤的市场中使你的果汁摊位显得与众不同。指导员麦克・墨菲(Michael Murphy)说，一些孩子建议提供成年人喜欢的独特的甜味剂，如龙舌兰。墨菲曾在电扬广告公司(Young & Rubicam)工作。

In March, Karl Ulrich, a professor of entrepreneurship at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, stopped by his sons' school to help teach middle-schoolers a three-day entrepreneurship course focused on a problem facing a local business. Little Baby's Ice Cream wanted to offer a wedding-cake option, but making big, meltable cakes last through a wedding was proving something of a challenge.

卡尔・乌尔里克(Karl Ulrich)是宾夕法尼亚大学(University of Pennsylvania)沃顿商学院(Wharton School)的企业管理教授，今年三月，他的儿子们就读的学校请他去帮忙给中学生上三天的企业管理课，内容围绕当地一家企业遭遇的一个难题展开。Little Baby's Ice Cream公司希望推出一款冰激凌结婚蛋糕，但要让一个易于融化的大蛋糕撑过婚礼并不是件容易的事。

One child solution: Why not pipe liquid nitrogen around the cake to cool it? Pete Angevine, who helped found Little Baby's Ice Cream, says he liked that idea so much that the company plans to test it by experimenting with liquid nitrogen at NextFab, a Philadelphia maker space.

一个小孩提议：为何不在蛋糕周围用装满液态氮的管子装饰起来，助之冷却降温呢？帮助创办了Little Baby's Ice Cream的彼得・安杰文(Pete Angevine)说，他非常喜欢这个主意，公司计划在费城的创客空间NextFab用液态氮进行实验，测试这一方法。

Entrepreneurship classes have their skeptics. Mr. Ulrich's wife, Nancy Bentley, a professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania, says she is fine having her sons learn entrepreneurial approaches to problems. But she is wary of the 'hero-worship' of entrepreneurs -- the 'fuzzy thinking that there's some kind of magic dust and if you have it, it's going to mean wealth and growth and all kinds of good things,' she says.

亦有人对创业课程持怀疑态度。乌尔里克的妻子南希・本特利(Nancy Bentley)是宾夕法尼亚大学的一名英语教授。她说，她对儿子们学习企业家解决问题的方法没有意见，但是她担心他们会对企业家产生“英雄崇拜”，担心他们“会觉得有什么魔法粉尘，只要你拥有了它就能拥有财富、成长和一切美好的东西”。

Mr. Schrager, from the University of Chicago, notes that some programs assume all children have a predilection to be entrepreneurs. 'You can't teach the gestalt,' he says.

芝加哥大学的史瑞格注意到，有些项目会假设所有孩子都希望成为企业家。他说：“你不能教授格式塔。”

The '8 and Up' pitch included a persuasive essay, a rap, a look at the children's Lego model of the space, and even a showing of 'grit,' by 9-year-old Jensen and a friend, who did as many sit-ups as possible in one minute. Grit is one of the six entrepreneurial themes taught in the class. The group asked the board, composed of four Tigerlabs associates, for permission to host KidsClub at Tigerlabs' offices, and offered the board a cut of an expected $750 in revenue from their first event, to be held in May.

8 and Up项目的推销环节包括一篇说服性文章、一段说唱音乐，以及孩子们用乐高积木搭建的聚会空间的模型，甚至还有“决心”展示――九岁的詹森和一个朋友在一分钟内做了尽可能多的仰卧起坐。决心是课程教授的六个创业主题之一。这个小组要求董事会――由“老虎实验室”四名合伙人组成――同意他们在“老虎实验室”的办公室中举办“儿童俱乐部”，并承诺从第一次活动的收入中拿出750美元返还给董事会。他们将于五月举办第一次活动。

The 9- and 10-year-olds listened intently as the board offered tempered praise, constructive feedback, and, after a pause, $100 dollars, with several conditions attached, to fund KidsClub. Bert Navarrete, who co-founded Tigerlabs and sat on the board, said he liked the KidsClub idea. But, he said, he and the board were unsure of its feasibility. To that end, he explained the board would offer an initial $100, but would only offer space for the business if the children could promise enough sponsorship and clientele to make the project work.

这群九岁、十岁大的孩子专心致志地听着，董事会成员首先对他们进行了温和的表扬，并给与了建设性的反馈意见，短暂的停顿过后，他们还答应有条件地资助“儿童俱乐部”100美元。董事会成员、“老虎实验室”的联合创始人伯特・纳瓦雷特(Bert Navarrete)说，他喜欢“儿童俱乐部”这个想法。但是他说，他和董事会成员对其可行性并不是很确定。在这种情况下，他解释道，董事会将提供100美元的启动资金，但只有在孩子们获得了能使项目实现的足够多的资助和客户人数后，他们才会为其提供场地。

The children cheered. In the lobby afterward, Jensen said his nerves had settled. 'The only reason my stomach might hurt now is because I'm starving,' he said, as his parents stood nearby, waiting to drive him home.

孩子们欢呼起来。在随后的游说活动中，詹森说，他终于放下心来了。他说：“现在我可能感到胃疼的唯一原因就是我饿了。”他的父母正站在旁边，等着开车带他回家。