College Startups — The Last Hope for Higher Education

Interest in entrepreneurship has exploded among college students. According to the Kauffman Foundation, entrepreneurship courses have grown 20 fold across universities. Also, about one-third of business incubators are based at universities. While startups are often perceived as risky endeavours and a distraction from school; they are a win-win for student founders for two simple reasons.
First, a college environment is one of the easiest environments to start a company in. With a plethora of free resources, that provide mentorship, talent, and non-dilutive funding, the barrier to get to an MVP is extremely low. Customer discovery is also a lot easier since people are more willing to talk to students working on a “school project”. And if your target customer is college-aged, well you’re in luck they’re everywhere! There are also opportunities, like the Thiel Fellowship, that provide more than enough funding to get something off the ground.
Second, the classroom is good for learning theory but not for learning what’s practical. The summer after my junior year, I decided to start a company called EZ Park with some guys I met at a startup weekend event. While we ultimately decided to stop pursuing the idea after 9 months, it probably changed the course of my life. It allowed me to find my true passion for coding and gave me a lot more confidence in my communication abilities. I ultimately decided to pursue an MS in computer science but I’ve spent most of my time consulting for other startups, even with my thesis research. For many students, the best strategy to use for school is one from Nassim Taleb who said:
“Get a degree from school, but become an autodidact. Don’t waste time trying to get an A because you’re not going to remember all that shit. You always remember what you try to read by yourself…Read as much as you can, and try to get the lowest possible passing grades you can at school”.
Startups in college ultimately have a tremendous upside and very little downside. Either way, the amount of learning you’ll do will far outweigh what you’ll learn in school. You’ll also learn where your true passions lie and how you can best use your strengths. Even more, you’ll probably make lifelong friends and acquaintances that will serve you well later in life.
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