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Advice from Sahil Bloom & Ali Abdaal

Author

Ivy Xu
February 02, 2024

Last week, visionary entrepreneurs Ali Abdaal and Sahil Bloom hosted an event at the London School of Economics.

And it just so happens that we have Prequel peeps in London, so we attended, and even snagged their top advice for Prequel students!

Let’s break down what they had to say. 👇

Sahil’s advice: up your community game.

Sahil told us:

“Focus on surrounding yourself with inspiring people. When you do that, the best journeys start, and the best destinations are reached.”

So how can you encourage your kid to follow Sahil’s advice?

👉 Seek out mentors and role models.

Mentorship has the potential to be the spark that lights the flame, so don’t sleep on this one.

  • Take the lead on introducing your kid to great mentors or role models in your circle. Remember, they’re surrounded by other kids all day. You have better access to influential people.

  • Encourage your kid to be curious. Have them write down questions for their mentor and reflect after their discussions with their mentor.

  • Don’t push. Sometimes the vibe isn’t right. If spending time with their mentor feels like a chore for your kid, then they’re not the right mentor.

👉 Choose friends wisely. 

Your kid’s friendships are their community. And while you can’t control who they become friends with, you can nudge them in the right direction.

  • Talk to them about character. Discuss the qualities of a good friend, like respect, honesty, and encouragement.

  • Guide, don’t dictate. Be a mirror and help them reflect on how their friends make them feel.

Sahil’s advice is pretty darn good for everyone, no matter their age!

Ali’s advice: don’t sell to your friends.

Ali told us:

To BETA Campers: advice for young entrepreneurs. It’s much easier to make money if you’re trying to sell to people who already have money. 

Do not try and make a product sell to your teenage friends, ‘cause they’re all broke. 

Make a product to sell to people or businesses with money ‘cause it’s way easier. Then you can start creating a product for teenagers once you’ve already made the money.

We see this all the dang time when kids first enroll in our programs, and I’m so glad Ali is shining a light on it!

So how can you help your kid follow his advice?

👉 Share your life with them.

It’s likely that you try to keep your problems, especially your work problems, away from your kids. 

That’s reasonable. But this also means they don’t have any exposure to work problems. 

BETA Camper Isha Anand invented a product when she overheard a frustrated conversation her father was having, and now she’s in business with a $200m company.

👉 Get them excited about research.

  • Bring them to community meetings so they can see the problems their neighbors are facing.

  • Provide them with plenty of books in their areas of interest, and challenge them to distill the information down into a conversation with you.

Thanks for the solid advice, Ali and Sahil!