7 Ways to Take Advantage of Being a Student Entrepreneur

Wash U… let me come back.

College dropout entrepreneurs are hipper than a herd of hippopotami jamming out to a Missy Elliot album.

But before you ruin Christmas dinner by announcing that this semester was your last (and that you’re “toooottallly going to be just like Steve Jobs so please stop yelling dad because you’re spitting into the mashed potatoes”), think about staying.

Why? Take it from a recent grad and two-time student entrepreneur: starting a company in college is awesome.

If you take full advantage of being at school while a founder, there is no better place and no better moment in your life to start a company.

Of course, it’s always difficult. Being a student entrepreneur is challenging in its own ways.

You have to split your time between classes and running the startup. But you also have a longer runway since you don’t need to raise or earn enough to pay yourself a salary to survive.

You don’t have the network that older entrepreneurs enjoy. But you do have access to an incredibly powerful young network, to the talent and the buyers that a lot of companies crave (more on that below).

You don’t know much about well… starting a company. But any honest founder will tell you that you’ll never know much about well… starting a company, even if you’re 40 years old when you’re first doing it.

And as a student, you do have access to resources that most other founders don’t (read: a competitive advantage). So how do you capitalize on being a student entrepreneur?

1. Pitch yourself as a prodigy story

Most people celebrate birthdays. I cry because I know that I’m one year less interesting to journalists. Everyone loves the 18 year old founder… they’re still excited about the 19 year old CEO… the 20 year old is getting up there but young none the less... turn 21 and everyone starts to see the wrinkles.

If you’re a student, you can always start your press pitch with: “student-run business” and people will just understand that you’re exceptionally young.

But graduate from college and it’s all over. You’re not cute anymore. You’re not a prodigy. You’re just a young entrepreneur. And journalists will actually ask you how well your business is doing. They’ll expect numbers that show results. The story has to be about something more than who you are.

The days of free PR will be — for most — over, and you’ll find yourself forking over thousands in cash or tons of time to get the types of articles that used to come to you.

So pitch yourself as an exciting, exceptional student while you can.

2. Take classes that’ll let you work on your startup

It turns out, school is good for learning. Surprise. I know. Get double duty out of your credits by picking classes that’ll let you work on aspects of your company.

I took “Accounting for Entrepreneurs” — for example — and learned that what we’d been doing was… how do I put this? Not accounting.

While a Junior, Fresh Prints co-owner Jacob Goodman did an Independent Study and used the time and reasearch to develop a recruitment plan.

Of course, how easy it is to use classes for your startup depends on what school you go to and what you’re majoring in (Jacob and I went to Washington University in St. Louis, and I majored in PoliSci). But get creative and you’ll find a way to do this anywhere.

Take a writing class, for example, and twist the prompts so that you can use the assignments as Medium articles that drive people to your landing page.

3. Tap into the cheap but brilliant talent you’re surrounded with

Do you know how much Microsoft spends every year recruiting your friends? Do you know how much Fresh Prints spends every year recruiting your friends? I do. It’s a lot.

You — meanwhile — end up hanging out with them even when you’re trying not to.

Everybody wants to get to know college students because you guys are the next big thing. And you guys are relatively inexpensive to employ (but stop taking unpaid internships… more on that in a future article).

Surround yourself with diverse people and look in places you would normally never go.

Befriend the CompSci kids. Befriend the B-school kids. Befriend the art kids. Befriend anyone who’ll talk to you. And then take the smartest of your friends and form an incredible team that can build an amazing company.

4. Be creative about your schedule

This one isn’t so much a resource as a tip for managing it all. Do what you can to cluster your classes so that you can think about the company and only the company for days at a time.

For my last few semesters at Wash U, I took all of my classes on Mondays and Wednesdays so that I could spend every other day on my startups. The giant blocks of time let me focus with the intensity that hustle requires.

5. Play the “I’m a student” card to get world class help

People fork over tons of money or equity for business coaches and board members. They scour LinkedIn and spend hours at networking events hoping for a connection to a high-value mentor.

But you don’t need to do that. People love helping students. Start an email with: “I’m a student at XYZ University” and everyone’s pumped.

Begin by digging into your university’s alumni database and looking at the research your professors do. Find alum and profs with relevant expertise. Track down the professors during office hours, and ask the career center for introductions to the alumni.

Shoot them the “I’m a student” email and most will happily grab coffee and talk you through any challenges (or make valuable introductions to other people who can).

6. Participate in the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA)

This isn’t a plug for them. I swear. In fact, they haven’t answered my last couple of emails. But I was one of the 2013 GSEA international finalists and it was an amazing experience.

Thanks to GSEA, I met incredible young entrepreneurs from all over the world. I was interviewed by multiple newspapers and radio stations. I was asked to participate in a live streamed Google Hangout with the White House, Daymond John, and Barbara Corcoran. I could go on and on.

Participating is 100% free. They covered all of my expenses for the regional competition in Ohio and the international competition in Washington D.C. Just do it. There’s literally no reason not to.

7. Think about everything except revenue

Okay you ready for the absolute best thing about being a student entrepreneur? You get four years to experiment, to push boundaries, to play the long game, to care about relationships more than revenue… which all ultimately leads to more profit.

That’s a unique privilege. It’s the privilege that other startups desperately pitch venture capitalists for.

Enjoy it, embrace it, and use it. Make the most out of the four years and you can build an incredible company.

Thank you for reading! Please recommend if you think other college entrepreneurs will benefit from reading this.