the term "millennial entrepreneur" refers to a business owner who is affiliated with the generation that was brought up using digital technology and mass media—the products of baby boomers, those people born during the 1980s and early 1990s. also known as generation y, these business owners are well equipped with knowledge of new technology and new business models and have a strong grasp of its business applications. there have been many breakthrough businesses that have come from millennial entrepreneurs such as mark zuckerberg, who created facebook. despite the expectation of millennial success, there have been recent studies that have proven this to not be the case. the comparison between millennials who are self-employed and those who are not self-employed shows that the latter is higher. the reason for this is because they have grown up in a different generation and attitude than their elders. some of the barriers to entry for entrepreneurs are the economy, debt from schooling and the challenges of regulatory compliance.