The Passionate Economy of Gen Z – Interview With Brent Liang

We know them and love them – Gen Z is a passionate and caring cohort. Born between 1995 and 2005, they are now taking the labour market by storm. As digital natives from the very beginning, they offer businesses a unique business perspective. They can shine a new light for their more experienced colleagues where there is still room for improvement. 

To learn more about them, we invited Brent Liang – an inspiring representative of Gen Z who has a couple of startups under his belt and has seen much of the world.  He spoke with Katarzyna Dabrowska on inStreamly’s “It’s Simple, You Know?” podcast to discuss how Generation Z thinks, what drives them, and the most essential thing in business from their perspective. 

So… what can we learn from them exactly?

1. Do things out of genuine interest
2. There is no point if you just want to prove a point
3. There is no shame in walking away
4. You choose what you care about

Do Things Out of Genuine Interest

Generation Z is unique in how they do business – they just do things. 

Literally, that’s it.

This allows them to launch products quicker; they don’t overthink everything. If there is something they are passionate about, they just grab the opportunity and go for it. The goal is the journey itself. So do your job. Try things that interest you and see what works out. There is added benefit: the more you try, the more experience you get.

There Is No Point if You Just Want to Prove a Point

If there is one thing you should not care about is proving anything to anyone, even yourself. Gen Z’s brightest achievements come from passion and genuine care, not trying to prove something or someone.

Get into the learning mindset, and along the way, you will figure out what you want to do with your life. It doesn’t matter if you trip and fall in the process or how many things you will try out. As long as you care about them and are not trying to prove it to someone else, you will have a lot of fun.

There Is No Shame in Walking Away

Gen Z doesn’t stick to one thing for the rest of their lives. They go by heart and know if something is worth their effort. If it’s not, they just drop it. They try many different things, so later, it becomes easier to tell if something is temporary.

Walking away isn’t easy when you feel like you have failed. It’s not the end of the world, though. When you’re working on something, and you get to a point where you have to push too much to make it work, it’s not worth it in the long run. There is much less anxiety when your mind is set on knowing that everything will always be alright. So don’t think about what others may say or how they will look at you. Just do you.

You Choose What You Care About

The line between dropping things because there is no point in doing them and dropping them because it gets a little tough is thin. There is a subtle difference between the path to success being a little bumpy and your business just not working out.

It’s a tricky balance, and in order to recognise that line, you need to try things out. You’ll learn to recognise when things don’t have any chance of working out. Then it’s a matter of dropping it and moving on. Focus on one-two things at a time, give it your best and see where that leads you.

Gen Z is not afraid of trying new, multiple things and failing if it means that they’ll learn in the process. As long as this one thing succeeds and finds the true meaning, everything will be good. Being happy and fulfilled is about working on something right now, taking risks to figure out what the next thing will be. 

Tune in to listen to the full episode with Brent Liang and learn more about his incredible story of a young entrepreneur with big dreams and some solid advice.