A university for entrepreneurs

Universities could do more to nurture entrepreneurs, but expanding MBE courses is not the answer, says Alex Barrera.

What is wrong with our universities? Many things. We all know. I can feel people perspiring already just thinking about how many things Spanish, and European universities in general, do wrong. Of course, they do many things right too. I have a deep love for the university. I’ve been student, association president, guest lecturer and professor at many of them at some point in my life. While we could go and discuss resources, professor quality, curricula and other touchy subjects, today I want to talk about what the university is doing for entrepreneurs.

We are lucky today to live in a world where entrepreneurs are trendy. Trendy to the point of madness, perhaps. Trendy to the point that the word is synonymous with Hercules, Jason and Theseus mixed in with a little Buffet and Soros. Entrepreneurs are the new saviours, the new heroes. They will defeat the economic recession single-handed. It seems everyone wants a piece of the action and universities are no exception. In the same way many start-up accelerators have jumped on the bandwagon, universities are trying to, too.

But, as with so many others, universities have little idea what they are doing, or should do. Look at it though the eyes of Warren Buffet’s 3 “I”s progression. Whatever the trend is, it always follows the following sequence: first come the Innovators, people that see the future before it happens, who can see patterns that no one else sees. These people are the ones responsible for the creation of everything we use and see around us.

The unknown is always risky business, but when the first follower comes to dance next to an innovator, others follow. These are called Imitators. Even though they have been trash-talking the innovators and proclaiming how stupid they are and how they are wasting their time, they recognise the Golden Fleece when they see it.

And so, when they are sure it is safe, they join, steal from the innovators and replicate or rather, try to. They are actually quite smart themselves and in many cases make more money than the innovators, mostly because their lives revolve around doing so.

Then we have the third group, the Idiots. These are the ones who, safe in their ignorance, decide to outsmart themselves. Needless to say, these are the ones riding bursting bubbles and crashing markets. Sunday morning, while attending John’s barbecue, they get a whiff of how Fred, the next door neighbour, managed to buy his new GT. In just 10 easy steps. Hey, if Fred can do it, so can I. Again, idiots.

But back entrepreneurship and the universities. The 3 “I”s progression is reaching the Idiocy step here too. Universities, in their desire to attract more students, are finding ways to connect to the start-up ecosystem. Their newest invention is the MBE, Master in Business Entrepreneurship. I can’t even begin to stress how many things are wrong, just with the name. But MBEs have spread like wild mushrooms, cropping up in every top university in Spain (UPM, UCM or URJC for example).

There is a big problem rooted deeply within this notion of entrepreneurship. It assumes being an entrepreneur is a profession that you can study. Many might agree with this definition, but being an entrepreneur is much more than that. It is a behaviour, an attitude, a way of life. In the same way cautious people roam the world taking safe and calculated bets, entrepreneurs live their lives through a very different mindset.

While the name entrepreneur has surged in popularity of late, the behaviour has always been there. At school, there was always the nervous kid. Always running, always moving, always doing mischief. In your teens, it was the student president, the party organiser, the editor of the school’s newspaper. Step into university and they are the hackers, the Zuckerbergs of this world. These are the entrepreneurs.

Classes, courses and talks will undoubtedly help and empower an entrepreneur, but they will not create one. The problem is not that. Why would an entrepreneur take an MBE when there are plenty of other ways to gain the same knowledge? The internet has, in many ways, shifted the balance of power.

A century ago universities were the gatekeepers of knowledge, but the internet has opened the sluice gates and flooded everyone with information that was not just impossible to reach before, but also intentionally hidden or protected. Not only do media businesses need to change, but the whole concept of how a university teaches its students needs to, too (not in vain did Peter Thiel recently say something along similar lines). But of course, this is wishful thinking.

So instead of being an Idiot and replicating the old model of you-listen-I-speak, universities should be encouraging young students to experiment, and pursue their own ventures. The real problem is not the teaching of more content, but uncovering what I call the “dormant entrepreneur”.

These are entrepreneurs who, due to a range of reasons (environment, family, society,) have dulled their inner selves. They are, in most cases, a shadow of what they could become. We have a responsibility to identify these individuals and spur them on from a very young age.

Many parents will miss the signs, and so, it falls to the university to identify, empower and push these kids. That does not mean give a talk on entrepreneurship, or create weird and complex technology transfer offices. The “we’ll provide and they’ll come” logic is deeply flawed.

We need to understand that these students do not yet know that they are entrepreneurs, they have yet to awaken or train their curiosity. Professors should learn to detect them and approach them with help. That help needs to be designed and woven into the university curricula, into the student’s homework and day-to- day activities.

This, though should not be confused with turning the university into an entrepreneur farm where all students should start a business. For starters, being an entrepreneur is not synonymous with starting a business. In most cases, it is the usual consequence, but it is not always the case. Not everyone with music talent ends up as a musician.

In the same fashion, not all entrepreneurs need to do a start-up. The people in charge of entrepreneurial activities in most universities (which in many is none) keep thinking tha, not only should students create new businesses, but that this should be the norm for all students. Luckily for us and society, not everyone is an entrepreneur and that should not be the goal. It would be similar to forcing all the population to be risk takers. Homogenisation of talents has always been a very bad idea.

This is such a widespread belief though, that most metrics for these technology transfer offices revolve around the number of start-ups that are “produced” each year, regardless of the quality or future of that business, and the number of students and professors who are involved in them. When an institution or group who should be devoted to helping students and advancing science and technology is solely focused on such flawed and half-backed metrics, it shows not only that the members fail to understand the problem, but also that the creators of such groups don’t believe, or care for it, either.

We should strive for greatness, not the mollifying mediocrity most universities tend towards. Many start-ups are also at fault. The responsibility is not exclusive to the education system. Start-ups should go to universities, give talks, encourage students from freshmen to graduates, hire talent from the dormant entrepreneur pool and instruct professors and alumni alike in the art of detecting and empowering the future of these young minds. Quit imitating, focus on early detection and guidance, and let others copy. Become an Innovator.