April/May 2014 59 The Social Entrepreneur JASON LI pion. As a boy growing up with his parents and younger sister in Cupertino, Sunnyvale and now Los Gatos, he devoted most of his time to judo, working hard to rise through the competitive ranks. But, his plan was derailed during his freshman year when a serious back injury left him immobilized for a while. He was unable to return to contact sports. The heartbreak of losing that dream could have sidelined the young man, but instead he gained new insight. “I think what settled in my head was that every day is a day by itself, and you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. I had dreams of becoming an Olympic champion, but obviously there was a turn of events,” he says. He decided he would leave a legacy in some other way, and did one of the few things he could do from bed: read. ANOTHER DOOR OPENS “I wanted to create some kind of social impact; I read a lot of books, in every field,” he says. “I was really trying to find something that as a 15-year-old I could conceive and realize.” He read the book “Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know,” by David Bornstein and Susan Davies, and was inspired to create something that would use capitalism to make a difference in the world. “I wanted to start something, I wanted to pioneer something and really set an example for other students to follow,” he says. Recognizing that technology is always evolving, leaving in its wake a trail of e-waste, he created iReTron as a way to help both the environment and struggling communities. “Now that it’s gained a little more traction and we’re profitable, it’s turning into an example for other high school students, as proof you can do this kind of thing, and if you have a dream and a passion, you can definitely pursue it,” Jason says. The young entrepreneur acknowledges that he’s grateful for friends who have helped him all along the way with iRe- Tron. At the beginning, he and a couple of those friends used a folding display to promote his new company—setting it up in front of a long line of people waiting for a large electronics store to open on Black Friday. They were kicked off the premises, so they headed to another store, where they were once more asked to leave. He says friends continue to help him, but now they’re setting up booths at environmental fairs and high schools where Jason gives speeches. Wherever he decides to enroll this fall, Jason says he looks forward to forming new friendships with like-minded students. And although he may land across the country for the next few years, he says the place that nurtured his entrepreneurial spirit will most likely be where he’ll return. Jason has been watching and soaking in the examples of Silicon Valley business leaders for years. A chance to hear LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman answer questions from young people at an event had a profound effect on him. When a college student asked Hoffman to listen to an idea and respond to it, Jason recalls the founder’s answer. “Hoffman said, ‘I don’t want to hear your idea. Do something about it, then show me what you’ve done with your idea.’ It was a very powerful moment in my life. It made me feel good about myself—that I went for it, and I’m still going for it.” n Jason likes to describe himself as average, just another high school student. But how many other seniors last year were ranked No. 25 on a list The Best Schools website calls “The World’s 50 Smartest Teenagers”? “Yeah,” he sheepishly smiles when that fact is pointed out to him. “It was surprising.” However, the Saratoga High student insists it’s not about who has the smarts. “I think the people who can really achieve something are not the people who are talented or naturally born that way. I think half of the time it’s the people who are go-getters and realize their ideas.” As a “go-getter” himself, Jason started a company at age 15, won the title “The Next Teen Tycoon” in a contest, attended a summer business institute at Wharton, and has been compared to Mark Zuckerberg. In March Jason appeared on the top-rated ABC television show “Shark Tank,” where he struck a $100,000 deal with Sharks Barbara Corcoran and Mark Cuban for 20 percent of iReTron, and 20 percent of any company he starts in the next five years.“I can’t help but think you are a winner,” Corcoran told Jason before making her initial offer. Jason convinced Cuban to join in by assuring the entrepreneur, “I’m not going to stop hustling.” He proudly says his company, iReTron, which buys back people’s smartphones, tablets and other electronics and then recycles or refurbishes them to sell to public schools, hospitals and other organizations, is turning a profit. He plans on continuing to run and expand the company while he’s in college, where he hopes to study business or social entrepreneurship. The drive to achieve seems to come from somewhere deep inside the outgoing Jason, who originally worked toward one day becoming an Olympic judo cham- AGE 17 LIVES LOS GATOS FOR FUN SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY
South Bay Accent - Apr/May 2014
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