Who do you picture when you hear the word entrepreneur? Does the description conjure up someone with honed business acumen, years of experience, a vast network and the robust finances needed to successfully launch their own venture? Or do you see an individual with little resources other than a great idea?
Increasingly, today’s entrepreneur falls into the latter category. From Mark Zuckerberg to Nick Daloisio, innovators are young, passionate and likely to be working out of their dorm rooms.
The interest in entrepreneurship from students has had a profound effect on higher education. From coast to coast, universities are offering entrepreneurship courses geared specifically towards college-age students. The phenomenon has been attributed to a number of things; the technological savvy students possess from an early age, the easy access to inexpensive marketing channels and, most of all, a sincere drive to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.
We’re thrilled to see this development here at Booth. The school started offering entrepreneurship courses back in the 1970s and since then has established the renowned Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation which supports the current entrepreneurship curriculum through lab courses, faculty research, mentorship and competitions like the New Venture Challenge. Similar to undergraduate institutions, we’ve seen more and more business school students drawn to the idea of starting a business; entrepreneurship is currently the second most popular concentration at Chicago Booth.* Booth students have produced a long list of viable business while studying for their MBA degress; GrubHub, Bump Technologies, LuminAID and ORIGAMI are all among them. And judging by the impressive roster from last year’s New Venture Challenge, there will be many more to come.
It’s definitely exciting to come across an application from a self-starter who launched their own business at a young age – even if it didn’t work out in the long run. Similar to what I described in my last post on how we evaluate a candidate’s work experience, coming up with an idea and trying it out is impressive to the admissions committee. We are looking for people who are creative, collaborative and willing to take risks and student entrepreneurs are a natural fit.
At this stage, we encourage you to keep pursuing your entrepreneurial dreams and testing things out. It might also be helpful to research how studying for the MBA degree can finely hone the types of skills required to successfully run a business. Current student and self-described “serial entrepreneur” Stella Fayman offered her reasons for going back to school recently in Forbes, citing the opportunity to learn from incredibly talented peers and the support received from the business school network.
Take a look at the Polsky Center’s Facebook, Twitter and YouTube feeds for glimpse of entrepreneurship at Booth. You might also want to plug into the booming startup community here in Chicago through organizations like Built in Chicago and 1871.
Whatever your idea is, keep driving at it. Who knows – you could be the next Matt Maloney.
Best,
Meghan
More...
Increasingly, today’s entrepreneur falls into the latter category. From Mark Zuckerberg to Nick Daloisio, innovators are young, passionate and likely to be working out of their dorm rooms.
The interest in entrepreneurship from students has had a profound effect on higher education. From coast to coast, universities are offering entrepreneurship courses geared specifically towards college-age students. The phenomenon has been attributed to a number of things; the technological savvy students possess from an early age, the easy access to inexpensive marketing channels and, most of all, a sincere drive to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.
We’re thrilled to see this development here at Booth. The school started offering entrepreneurship courses back in the 1970s and since then has established the renowned Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation which supports the current entrepreneurship curriculum through lab courses, faculty research, mentorship and competitions like the New Venture Challenge. Similar to undergraduate institutions, we’ve seen more and more business school students drawn to the idea of starting a business; entrepreneurship is currently the second most popular concentration at Chicago Booth.* Booth students have produced a long list of viable business while studying for their MBA degress; GrubHub, Bump Technologies, LuminAID and ORIGAMI are all among them. And judging by the impressive roster from last year’s New Venture Challenge, there will be many more to come.
It’s definitely exciting to come across an application from a self-starter who launched their own business at a young age – even if it didn’t work out in the long run. Similar to what I described in my last post on how we evaluate a candidate’s work experience, coming up with an idea and trying it out is impressive to the admissions committee. We are looking for people who are creative, collaborative and willing to take risks and student entrepreneurs are a natural fit.
At this stage, we encourage you to keep pursuing your entrepreneurial dreams and testing things out. It might also be helpful to research how studying for the MBA degree can finely hone the types of skills required to successfully run a business. Current student and self-described “serial entrepreneur” Stella Fayman offered her reasons for going back to school recently in Forbes, citing the opportunity to learn from incredibly talented peers and the support received from the business school network.
Take a look at the Polsky Center’s Facebook, Twitter and YouTube feeds for glimpse of entrepreneurship at Booth. You might also want to plug into the booming startup community here in Chicago through organizations like Built in Chicago and 1871.
Whatever your idea is, keep driving at it. Who knows – you could be the next Matt Maloney.
Best,
Meghan
More...
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