Every generation of young people faces challenges, Ross Gerber said.
“When I was a kid, the cost of housing was high, and interest rates were 7.5% on a mortgage, and there was an earthquake in LA, and you couldn’t get a job,” he said.
The CEO and cofounder of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, a $3 billion asset manager, underscored how cheap and easy it is to start an online business, and hailed the wealth of career opportunities created by the AI boom.
“This couldn’t be a more abundant and opportune time to be a young person,” Gerber said. College students who “apply some skills and work hard for a few years” can earn six figures, and people without a college degree can earn the same as electricians or plumbers, trades he said were “just killing it.”
Gerber said it’s vital for kids to pay attention in class, build social networks at school, and learn from their parents and peers, as many are growing up with a “complete false expectation of reality.”
“They don’t have a trade or a skill other than playing Roblox, and then they come into work and they’re all entitled, thinking that work is a four-hour-a-day job and then they can work from home,” Gerber said.
