There are a multitude of reasons why you should start a startup while you’re a student, but here are the top ones from my experience working with student innovators and entrepreneurs.
- WHY NOT?
First of all, why not? Your future is now, so why not explore the possibilities as soon as you can? You’re working toward a degree, but do you know what you could do with that degree? Stepping into exploring how you can apply what you’re learning toward solving problems in the world opens doors to a future you may not even know exists!
Take for example Emily Siegel, a recent Pitt chemical engineering graduate who is now launching a natural, sustainable, healthy chewing gum business, Trek Gum. She started Trek while attending Pitt!
- People LOVE to help students!
As a student starting a startup, people are so anxious to help you. As a student, you have abundant access to incredible mentors, coaches and advisors through university centers like the Big Idea Center as well as the vast network of Pitt alumni happy to help the next Pitt grad realize their dream!
- You can LEARN how to start a startup while you still have a “safety net” of sorts
Places like the Big Idea Center are designed to help the student innovator and entrepreneur explore and learn how to turn that idea you have into a reality. Entrepreneurial action in and of itself is a HUGE learning experience. At the Big Idea Center, we guide you through key concepts and frameworks to help you learnwhat it takes to create a successful startup… and we guide you along the way!
Through dedicated entrepreneurs in residence (EIRs), coaches and mentors at the Big Idea Center, you don’t have to go it alone! You have access to people who are here to help you navigate the thrill, terror, twists, turns, and excitement of starting a startup (remember…people LOVE to help students. This is what we do!)
And even though there’ll always be some risk when pursuing entrepreneurship (that’s just the name of the game), there are less stakes involved when you’re a college student compared to after you graduate from the college “bubble”.
- There are LOADS of RESOURCES available to you as a student.
You have access to abundant resources that are often only available to you as a student…so use your time in school to take full advantage of them!
- Faculty are a well-spring of knowledge, connections, and subject-matter expertise that you can tap into.
- Technology and other assets are available to students, from various digital tools (Adobe, CAD, etc.) to thinker, tinker, and maker spaces.
- Talent you might need to explore your startup opportunity is abundant among your fellow students and many are anxious for the chance to be a part of a startup team to hone their own skills and build their resume
- Money! Student competitions are abound where you can compete and win hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars (or more) to advance your idea. The earlier you start exploring a startup idea while in school, the more opportunities you have to fund your startup with what I call “free money” before you need investments (meaning you give part of your company to investors) or loans (meaning you take on debt that you have to repay).
- Entrepreneurship brings a NEW PERSPECTIVE to your academics
If you start a startup as a student and take advantage of programs, resources, mentors and others, you will likely view your discipline and classes in a whole new way. You will begin to see applications to what you’re learning. Class projects can take on new meaning as opportunities to flex your entrepreneurial prowess. You may even find new problems that spark ideas for creating innovative solutions.
- It EXPANDS your personal and professional network
Whether it’s finding peers in your classes, clubs or elsewhere to work on your idea, or meeting and working with coaches, mentors and other student startups, engaging in the “ecosystem” surrounding student entrepreneurs helps build and strengthen your own network that will last long after graduation.
- It is a huge CAREER BUILDER
Whether you end up starting that startup, it pivots, or it tanks, the skills and experience you gain is incredibly valuable to future employers! It shows that you’re a creative problem solver, resilient, driven, have some business chops, can deal with uncertainty, adaptive, have leadership and communication skills, and most all of the top skills employers currently seek that may not be gained in the classroom. Students who engage in entrepreneurial efforts during their academic career have a competitive edge in the job market because they worked on a startup as a student (whether it succeeded or not). And…maybe someone in that network you’ve built will become your potential employer or partner at some point!
- It gives you a chance to EXPLORE your passions
Don’t put off figuring out how your passions intersect with your degree and what you do upon graduation. Exploring big ideas while you are still a student can actually help you identify a career path you would have never known or considered…so, again, WHY NOT try starting a startup while you’re a student?
So if you’re ready to explore your possibilities, we encourage you to reach out to us -- we'd love to help you get started on your entrepreneurial journey!