Entrepreneurship & Rhode Island: A Student’s Playground

What is an Entrepreneur? An Entrepreneur is not a job. However, Google’s definition says, it is “a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks to do so.”

From an article entitled, “The True Meaning of Entrepreneur” the most important equation to become an Entrepreneur is “Entrepreneur + Capital = Products + Customers = Business.” The article references many famous CEO’s including Snapchat’s, Evan Spiegel, and the Co-CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey, who started out with some capital and created a product that served customers’ needs.

Student Entrepreneurship

How can young college students attain their goal of becoming Entrepreneurs with the help of local colleges and universities in Rhode Island? Below are some great colleges and universities with programs, classes, and seminars to help.

Brown University has a Breakthrough Lab allowing all Rhode Island students to utilize its resources. Brown’s greatest goal is to help entrepreneurs, “build the next best thing.”

At Bryant University students are offered classes in Entrepreneurship and students can also have a concentration in it.

Community College of Rhode Island has an Entrepreneurial Certificate Program, and Johnson and Wales has a program in Entrepreneurship.

Providence College offers students a “Ruane Award for Business Education Innovation.” PC also has the Providence College Entrepreneurship Society that connects students, faculty, and PC alumni.

Rhode Island School of Design’s biggest complement to their Entrepreneurship program is a “Mindshare Conference” that examines how its programs help entrepreneurs and young people wanting to create a startup.

Rhode Island College Innovation Lab offers a one of a kind program. In Collaboration with the Central Falls school district, creating a model for Pre-K-12 to College.

Roger Williams, University of Rhode Island, and Salve Regina have clubs and programs focusing on Entrepreneurship.

With the knowledge and insight outlined about these helpful programs, let’s take a closer look at why there is a growing opinion that students should have entrepreneurial experience before graduating. One of the biggest reasons is graduating with a degree does not necessarily mean you will get a job right out of college. Internships are hard to come by for a lot of students, paid internships are far and few between. Starting a business or side “hustle” acts as an internship. Many employers would love to see students who have had the experience of starting a business, because fail or succeed, it gives students lessons they can bring to the table.

And if you want to collaborate around other entrepreneurs and get out of your dorm… check out SE Greenhouse!

Little Rhody Becoming Startup Heaven

Rhode Island is becoming a great startup state with the help of these programs. In an article written by Andrew Wang written on Forbes.com, “Rhode Island also has a progressive and innovative governor, Gina Raimondo, who was a former a venture capitalist.”

Her biggest approach and focus to growing the state’s economy is attracting businesses.

“Rhode Island also offers to help repay student loans for young people trying to start a business related to technology, design, and engineering.”

With the help of government programs, along with the fact that Rhode Island is a great place to live, Rhode Island can become a startup heaven. You are never more than 30 minutes away from the water. Let’s give Rhode Island credit for fast becoming a great place for startups.

Rhode Island students — take full advantage of these programs offered from Brown to Rhode Island College. Stay in the great state of Rhode Island, especially with programs and benefits provided by the governor. Startups are on the rise, GrowthLab considers itself as a startup within a small business. Become knowledgeable about Entrepreneurship… it will only help.