MIT Alum's Program Lets Teens Start Real Companies
Your teenager could launch a real business this summer.
Laurie Stach was a teenager with a big goal: to solve real-world problems. At MIT, she found other young people felt the same way. But she noticed adults kept telling bright kids they'd do great things "someday"—without actually teaching them how. So in 2012, she founded LaunchX, a summer program for high school students who want to start real companies.
The program is intense but hands-on. Students form teams, pick a problem they care about, and build an actual product or service. Then they take it to market. Many even get preorders or make money before the four weeks are over. It's less about lectures and more about doing. Stach, who studied mechanical engineering at MIT and got an MBA from Harvard, ran the first session with 30 students on MIT's campus in 2013. That small experiment quickly grew.
Today LaunchX works with about 500 students each year, both in person and online. For parents, this offers a different path than traditional education. Instead of waiting until college or adulthood to get real experience, teens can learn how to pitch, build, and sell at 16 or 17. It's a crash course in confidence, teamwork, and resilience—skills that help in any career, not just business.
The catch? The program costs money and isn't for everyone. But the core idea is powerful: teenagers don't have to wait for "someday" to make an impact. They can start now.
- LaunchX lets high schoolers start real companies in a four-week summer program.
- Students learn by doing—building products, getting preorders, and earning revenue before finishing.
- Founded by MIT engineer and Harvard MBA Laurie Stach, it now serves about 500 teens a year.
Why It Matters
Teens can learn entrepreneurship early, gaining real-world skills that schools often don't teach.