What If Every Teen Learned to Build Something? Lessons from Denmark’s Bold Experiment

A Personal Story

When I was 18, in my final year of school doing A-levels, I was one of six head girls - each of us leading a house named after a pioneering figure. Mine was Sharman House, named after Helen Sharman, the first British astronaut.

One of our biggest events was an “entrepreneurial” challenge: each house had to sell a product, and the winner was whoever made the most money. My team stormed it. We bulk-bought Easter eggs and resold them at a markup - maximum profit, minimum creativity.

At the time, we thought we’d nailed it. And in many ways, we had - profit-making is one version of entrepreneurship, and for some, that’s the thrill of the game. But looking back, I realise that’s not the version of entrepreneurship I care about or am passionate about fostering today.

For me, entrepreneurship isn’t about flipping something fast for a quick win. It’s about solving real problems, creating value, and building things that matter - the kind of work I now dedicate my career to nurturing. That Easter egg challenge taught me less about entrepreneurship and more about capitalism - and it sparked a question I’ve been exploring ever since: what else could this look like?

Denmark’s Bold Experiment

In 2005, Denmark decided to change that conversation. A nationwide reform embedded business, innovation, and entrepreneurship into secondary school curricula. It wasn’t optional - every student in business and technical tracks engaged with entrepreneurship, from idea generation to competitions.

A recent longitudinal study following thousands of students before and after this reform found:

-The researchers concluded:

“Exposure to entrepreneurship at an earlier age is equally important… in developing a preference for entrepreneurship and influencing subsequent career choices.”

Profit vs. Problem-Solving

This resonates deeply with what I see in my work. Many students equate entrepreneurship with making money or chasing unicorn status - exactly what I did back in that Easter egg challenge. And there’s nothing wrong with profit being part of the equation.

But when we frame entrepreneurship as problem-solving - asking, “Who could this help?” instead of “How much can we make?” - everything changes. Students start thinking creatively, experimenting, and caring about impact.

At King’s, we’ve built programs around what we call the Seven Skills of an Entrepreneurial Mindset: things like Compelled Disrupt, Think Lean, and Commit to Growth. These skills aren’t about profit margins - they’re about curiosity, resilience, and building teams that solve real problems.

Denmark’s reform hints at the same lesson: entrepreneurship education can normalize the idea that creating something meaningful is as valid as becoming a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. But it has to be designed thoughtfully - otherwise, it risks becoming just another exercise in profit-maximizing.

The Uneven Playing Field

The Danish study also highlights an uncomfortable truth: students with entrepreneurial parents benefitted most. They already had role models, networks, and an understanding of what building something entails. For everyone else, the leap was bigger.

This mirrors what I see at King’s: students from entrepreneurial families often arrive with confidence (and contacts) that others don’t. Early exposure in schools could help close that gap - especially if it showcases diverse role models and frames entrepreneurship as inclusive and accessible.

Imagine if every teenager - not just those with family businesses - saw someone like them creating value, solving problems, and making a difference.

Beyond Startups: Skills for Life

Here’s the thing: teaching entrepreneurial skills doesn’t have to lead to more startups (though it often will). It leads to something bigger:

• Problem-solving: Seeing opportunities where others see obstacles.

• Self-efficacy: Believing, I can figure this out.

• Resilience: Learning to try, fail, adapt - without shame.

• Autonomy: Realizing you don’t always need permission to act.

Even if students never start a company, those skills are life-changing. They make better employees, better leaders, and, frankly, better citizens.

Well-being and Hustle Culture

But there’s a caveat: we can’t teach entrepreneurship like it’s Shark Tank. If we only glorify success stories, we set students up for burnout.

Early education is the perfect place to normalize failure as learning, to build what I call a “bigger stress bucket” - the capacity to handle risk and uncertainty without tipping over. If we weave well-being into entrepreneurship education from the start, we can raise a generation who innovate sustainably, not frantically.

Do We Need a New Subject?

I don’t think every school needs a standalone “Entrepreneurship 101.” Instead, we can weave entrepreneurial thinking into other subjects: problem-based projects, hackathons, real-world challenges. Combine that with career guidance that includes entrepreneurship alongside traditional jobs, and suddenly students see more paths open to them.

A Call to Action for Ecosystem Builders

This conversation isn’t just for policymakers in Denmark - it’s for all of us shaping the future of work and education:

• Educators: How can you bring entrepreneurial problem-solving into your classroom, whatever you teach?

• Ecosystem builders: How can you design programs that reach every student, not just the already-advantaged?

• Employers: How can you support entrepreneurial skills even within traditional roles?

If we get this right, the result won’t just be more startups. It’ll be a generation that feels empowered to build - whether that’s a company, a community project, or a better way of doing things.

Your Turn

If every teenager left school understanding how to spot opportunities and create value - how would our economies (and communities) look different?

And what’s stopping us from making that a reality?

Why This Matters to Me

That Easter egg challenge back in Sharman House sparked something, not because of what I learned, but because of what I didn’t. It showed me how much better we could do at teaching entrepreneurship.

Today, through my work at King’s College London and with The Disruptive Realm, I’m focused on building programs that go beyond profit - helping students discover confidence, creativity, and resilience so they can solve problems that matter to them. Because every teenager should leave school knowing entrepreneurship is an option - not just for a select few, but for anyone with the curiosity to try.