It’s been noted that entrepreneurs and criminals share a similar mindset. Both are risk takers, often with low basic skills who see obstacles as challenges and are able to reframe failure as an occupational hazard.
It seems that at a young age, we are looking at a homogenous group of outliers.
Some go one way and found businesses that create jobs, benefit the economy and often wider society; others go another way and become ‘criminal captains of commerce’, or foot-soldiers destined for a life in and out of institutions.
Supposing we could get more of these young people to go down the path of creating legitimate businesses. The kind of young people that are sometimes labelled ‘disruptive’ or ‘difficult’ are often the ones whose energies could be redirected more positively…if only we could help them to find their Millionaire Mind.
That’s what this event is about.
The barriers to entry to the world of business have been busted. AI and social media mean that a young person now has access the same expertise as a FTSE 100 company simply through the mobile device in their pocket.
In any case, evidence suggests that entrepreneurs succeed regardless of resources, so the ready availability of creativity, technical knowhow and connectedness make now an unprecedented time for aspiring young entrepreneurs.
Maybe all that they need is for people to recognise ‘disruption’ as energy and ‘difficult’ as directionless. They need people who can show the way, support and mentor. People who know how to recognise the millionaire mind and what to do with it.
Almost one million young people have been given the label “NEET’, not in education, employment or training. The 2026 Alan Milburn review of youth unemployment and the challenges facing NEET's across 200 pages, made not a single mention of enterprise, entrepreneurship or of creating a start up culture that young people could engage with. It seems implausible that some of these people do not have an entrepreneurial mindset.
These are Millionaire Minds in waiting. This event will give the insights, tools and ideas to support them to find their Millionaire Mind.
This event is for anyone working with young people in schools, youth services, children’s services, employment support or the criminal justice system.
• Anyone working with young people
• Civil servants and policy advisers
• Local, regional and national policymakers
• Senior leaders in local authority children’s services
• Youth workers
• Youth Offending teams
• Mentors and trusted adults
• School and college leaders
• Local authority commissioners
• Budding young entrepreneurs
• Employment advisors
Finding the Millionaire Mind
How to unleash entrepreneurial talent in young people
PROGRAMME
9.50 Welcome and introduction:
Malcolm McClean, Director, Bearhunt, author Bear Hunt: Earn your living doing what you love and To the Edge: Entrepreneurial secrets from Britain's richest square mile.
10.00 The 14 year old schoolyard entrepreneur: Why we need a new enterprise culture for young people
TBC.
10.30 Finding the Millionaire Mind: What should you be looking for?
Dr Adrian Atkinson, Human Factors International
Adrian is an organisational psychologist who has spent much of his life studying the characteristics of entrepreneurs. He developed the Personal Enterprise Profile (PEP) which has proved remarkably accurate in identifying entrepreneurial traits. Perhaps best illustrated in the BBC series Inside the Mind of the Millionaire in which 34 people were invited to stay in a house whilst being observed by a panel of experts. 0f the 34, 17 were entrepreneurs and 17 were not. Adrian’s PEP test successfully identified 16 of the 17 entrepreneurs. So what is it about these people? How would you recognise a potential young entrepreneur if you bumped into one? You may be surprised by the answer.
11.15 BREAK
11.30 Criminal Captains of Commerce: When the Millionaire Mind goes rogue
Dr. Ian Joseph, Senior Lecturer, Childhood and Youth Studies, Open University
Ian’s work hit the headlines when as an action researcher, he embedded himself with a criminal gang in Nottingham, where he was able to observe the culture, leadership and organisational structures of what were termed ‘Criminal Captains of Commerce’. What he identified was a mindset and a culture very similar to the characteristics of the entrepreneur. How do we divert the millionaire mind from going rogue?
David Morgan, Founder, Entrepreneurs Unlocked and CEO of HM Pasties
David works within the prison system to identify and redirect entrepreneurial energy towards legitimate enterprises when offenders are released. He’s worked with hundreds of offenders on the inside and the outside through Entrepreneurs Unlocked and HM Pasties.
What has he found, and what can we learn from looking at the entrepreneurial minds that end up on the inside?
Open discussion about the similarities between the criminal mind and the entrepreneurial mind.
12.15 LUNCH
13.00 The enterprise machine in your pocket
The barriers to entry to business have been smashed wide open and democratised. It’s not essential to have access to physical assets, capital, the right contacts or the right school. Young people now have access to the same information as a FTSE 100 company, they have the potential to create global reach….and all from that little device in their pocket. The smart phone can be a portal into a world of enterprise. Casius Sibanda Lee is a digital storyteller at Oracle, one of the world's biggest tech companies. His job is to explain where AI is going and where it can take us. For young entrepreneurs, having an insight into this is like puts them in a position to seek opportunity.
13.25 When big is beautiful: the world of the influencer
Holly xxxx didn't feel the need to 'out-instagram' the Only Way is Essex crowd. She's plus size and proud and that turned out to be a niche from which she created a business. She's known from Manchester to Miami and is doing what she loves. Here she explains the business model of the influencer and how people get started.
14.00 When entrepreneurs fall they fall forwards: The Pokemon entrepreneur
Ash Ugo worked in Burger King. He soon realised that his pay and hours stayed the same regardless of how hard he worked. He lasted a month and began an entrepreneurial journey that continues to evolve from potatoes, Caribbean food, shoes, Pokemon vending and he has his eyes set on reinventing the neighbourhood shop.
14.20 They told me I would end up in prison – they were wrong: the power of mentors
Jade Barrnett was excluded from seven schools and taken into care. One of her teachers told her that she would likely end up in prison. Everything changed when she found a mentor. Somebody who cared, listened and tried to understand. It was not all plain sailing, but Jade realised that she had something. and that there were others like her. Many entrepreneurs create a business around something that they are dissatisfied with. That’s what Jade has done. She wasn’t satisfied that people like her could just be written off. Her business aims to do something about it.
14.45 Red Everywhere: How Pupil Referral Units can become hotbeds for entrepreneurs
Marcus Isman-Egal, Founder, Red Everywhere sees the potential in those written off by the linear constraints of the formal education system. His Pupil Referral Units focus on contextualising traditional subjects in to make them more practical and enterprise focused. By setting up a PRU in a business start-up cluster building, his students are surrounded by an enterprise culture and have access to business mentors who are doing it in the real world.
15.10 How to spot the young entrepreneurs in your life in 10 minutes
Malcolm McClean demonstrates the Quick PEP Test, based on the work of Dr Adrian Atkinson and deigned to engage young people. It will be made available free to all delegates after the event. It gives young people an insight into where their energies might best be focused and creates an opportunity to open up discussions about entrepreneurship.
15.20 CLOSE.
