Is Silicon Valley your must-see TV? Are your Fiverr reviews through the roof? Then you probably have the entrepreneurial spirit to create the next big business thing. And if you’re an undergrad with a passion for that, how do you prepare? It turns out, more and more colleges offer startup training programs to help you get on your feet, and you should seriously consider them. Here are just a few of the ways they can help you hit the big time.
1. It gives you a head start on changing the world.
So a guy made an app in college. It’s called Snapchat, or something? Apparently it’s totally changing how people communicate. Same goes for Reddit, Modcloth, and more—so many business behemoths began as startups by undergrad founders. It just goes to show: college is the perfect time to explore your entrepreneurial side. And if you’re at a school with a startup training program that connects you with expert mentors, engaged alumni investors, and ambitious peers to help you launch your earth-shaking creation into the stratosphere? Even better.
2. It teaches students to (net)work it.
Real struggle: Your project is a killer app idea, but you can’t code. You’ve assigned yourself the next great invention, but prototype building? Not in your wheelhouse. Solution: Ask that Info Systems major in your dorm to help you build a sick UI. Find an engineering student who can bring your prototype to life. Networking may be outside your comfort zone, but college startup programs teach you how to take educated risks, how to get what you need to make your ideas realities, and that successful businesses are interconnections of expertise.
In other words: Networking is life.
3. It shows you firsthand: Failure’s a great way to learn.
Ask any student building a startup in school and she’ll tell you: You start with a seemingly airtight plan, and then watch professors and classmates poke holes through your logic one by one. But having the space for your idea to faceplant is great. It allows you to learn where you stumbled, fill in those gaps, and refine a sparkling pitch investors can’t help but throw Benjamins at.
As one smart Jedi says, “The greatest teacher, failure is.” And that initial idea? It’s something that you grow beyond.
4. It gets you to stick by your instincts.
So your first-draft pitch failed hard in your startup class, and all your classmates have ideas for how you can improve it. Sure, you’ll have to revise your idea as you go, but guess what? Not all suggestion are right for your startup. Experiencing that in a learning environment provides you with a faculty mentor’s guidance to help you cherry pick the best ideas to further your vision toward success…and to realize that you can ditch the ones that don’t.
5. It teaches you how to show the world you’re a star.
Obviously the startup you develop in class will rocket you to Elon Musk levels of fame, but that’s not what this means. Instead, when you’re trying to pitch your startup, mentors and investors will want to know why they should place their time, attention, and money with you. Through the practice time a college’s startup training program provides, you’ll hone that skill, and come out the other side showing anyone who asks that you have the confidence, the determination, and (most importantly) the expertise to bring your ideas to life.
At Fairfield University, entrepreneurship is celebrated, literally. Students go through a year-long sequence of educational, networking, and mentoring events designed to help them create and articulate their business models. At the end of the year, student teams pitch their business to a panel of investors—competing for real seed money—at the University’s annual Fairfield StartUp Showcase.
This year’s Showcase is April 26, located in the heart of Stag Country. Find out how you can be a part of it, and don’t miss a second as the future of business unfolds at Fairfield University.
