Life in School and Startup

You’ve almost certainly been in our situation before. Were chomping at the bit to get as much of our company up and running before the paycheck from mom and dad and the govt stops coming. Classes are now not only a serious burden to our drinking habit, but are a serious threat to the amount of time we have to spend coding or talking to potential clients. If only the world knew what they had coming for them they surely would all chip in and help us buy our last semester grades and fast food for every meal so that we wouldn’t have to waste 3 minutes cooking hot dogs for every meal. I give you this imagery because I want for you to reminisce on these days of lore and remember how gloriously poor you(we) were(are) in terms of money, cofounders, and hours in the day.

One of the most challenging quandrys that university student entrepreneurs face is the realization that they’ve more or less transcended what the university has to offer them. The academic content isn’t necessarily dry or inapplicable to all bottom-line-driven companies, it’s just that they don’t make classes specifically geared toward YOUR startup. If they offered a degree in Sound Around I would be there all day every paying attention and taking notes. The reality, however, is that generalized classes rarely provide knowledge directly applicable to obtaining our minimum viable product.

Here is where things get sticky. You, as an administrator, have a contract to uphold where you are bound by the university to correctly facilitate the pedogogical value in entrepreneurship teaching and mentorship. We are bound by our drive to get our company to a state where it is making both money and meaning in the world.  These two positions OFTEN have maligned objectives and goals.

From a student perspective here is my advice: if these types of students are enrolled in your entrepreneurship class, there is most likely nothing you can do to reign them in back to the class level. They are beyond the point of being driven by grades. As long as their behavior is not totally detrimental to the program just let them do their thing. There are other students that need the mentoring and attention.  Fighting a frivolous battle with driven entrepreneurs will take away significantly from the other 90% of the entrepreneurship students still finding their legs.  Additionally, working WITH students will ultimately help your university and the university system as a whole in its ability to bring talented individuals together to spawn the next google or facebook.

The university should be seen as a leverage point for entrepreneurs, not a hindrance to their overwhelming desire to start something great.