Should Entrepreneurs Study Entrepreneurship in College

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Entrepreneurship is a contact support. Entrepreneurs studying entrepreneurship in college so that they can then start their own company after college are missing the point — the best time to start a company and be an entrepreneur is right now. Starting a company doesn’t mean quitting everything and throwing caution to the wind, rather, you can start a business on the side and learn as much as possible. Do I advocate running a startup part-time? No. Do I know anyone that’s been successful doing it? No. Is it still a great way to learn? Yes.

Here’s what entrepreneurs should do in college:

Start a business on the side offering a service that you’re good at or selling a product that you’re passionate about
Build deep relationships with classmates as your network is forever valuable
Spend time with other like-minded entrepreneurs to develop a peer group
Take practical and/or challenging subjects like accounting, finance, software development, and engineering classes

There is no pre-requisite for entrepreneurship, especially not college. Entrepreneurs should focus on building their social networks and technical skills while running a business on the side in college.

What else? What other thoughts do you have on entrepreneurs studying entrepreneurship in college?

Comments

7 responses to “Should Entrepreneurs Study Entrepreneurship in College”

April 6, 2011

elenamusic

I have given you the Versatile Blogger Award! Check out my post to read more about it: http://elenamusic.wordpress.com/2011/04/05/the-versatile-blogger-award/

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1. April 6, 2011
  
  David Cummings
  
  Awesome, thanks!
  
  Reply
April 6, 2011

Adam

I’ve always thought the perfect education coming out of college would be a double-major. One field of study would be in in a practical science like computer engineering that gives you the tools to build a product. The other area of study would be in business so that you have a general understanding of economics, finance, accounting, and legal.

I also recommend starting some type of business before graduating – even if it’s a summer lawn care business.

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1. April 6, 2011
  
  David Cummings
  
  Agreed, great idea about the double major
  
  Reply
April 6, 2011

Adam

Well done, David. I’ve been reading for a few months and this is one of your best and most unfortunate posts. While the content and advice is excellent, I say unfortunate because of the timing. If only I had some of these bullets six or seven years ago, I wouldn’t have had to learn these skills later in the business world (still learning)…

I’ve learned quite a bit about them since graduation and my biggest asset-to-date is the strong connection I have with a network of friends I made through an on-campus organization. Not only do I have great friends, but that network has opened up doors I didn’t even expect to find.

Good piece, now write it six years ago.

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April 18, 2011

Dave

It is like anything. The more you do it the better you get or you realize that you aren’t good at it which is valuable info too!

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April 21, 2011

“Entrepreneurship at the Next Level” on April 7th – 8th, 2011 « Annie Sells a.k.a. @sells_annie

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