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Ryan worked as an intern in high school, but not while he was a college student at University of North Carolina.He started his own company instead.
And he doesn't think he's so unusual.
ALLIS: The barriers to entry in creating a company today are much much lower.
Anybody with a thousand-dollar computer and a couple friends can create a successful venture over a few years.
Well, maybe not just anybody.
But business owners have been skewing younger.
During the tech bubble, Jeff Reid started a popular entrepreneurship program at the UNC.
He thought student interest would wane when the bubble burst.
But he says it just kept growing.
JEFF REID: We kind of theorized that there was this new entrepreneurial generation - that the younger kids had been reading all about these Internet startups and that's what they decided they wanted to do with their career.
As to whether it's better to do an internship or start your own business, Reid says that's a personal choice.
But he says it's a lot cheaper to get experience watching someone else' s mistakes than making your own.
Wharton business school grad Ryan Comfort says not doing an internship was out of the question.
RYAN COMFORT: My school is very competitive, you get the top internship at the best bank you can.
You have to.
You have to have that experience.
Comfort says it didn't matter whether an opportunity was paid or unpaid.
But not everyone can afford to give it away for free.
UNC senior Sonya...
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