(also known as ‘Why i think Teaching Entrepreneurship is a cheap trick to rob you of your money’)
I realize im taking on the billion dollar business of teaching ‘Entrepreneurship’. My intention is not to rub anyone the wrong way. Im actually giving them full credit - it takes a smart entrepreneur to identify a lacuna in the market and design a ubercool product to sell and profit from. Because of that, i highly respect Mr. Amit grover, the IIT-IIM graduate from Infosys, Asian Paints and Onida.
1. The word ‘entrepreneur’ is a highly ambiguous, hype induced, buzzword compliant, media fueled word. Lets take a walk down any road in India - you will notice shops lining the road. What do you think the shopkeepers are? Employees of mother earth? If they are not entrepreneurs, then what are they?
In this post, i will use the word ‘entrepreneur’ only to maintain order and not confuse people. Besides im bashing entrepreneurship curriculums, so i guess i need to use the word atleast :-)
2. Entrepreneurship is about managing chaos. When you start a company, there are some basic truisms - you WILL fail, the VC is NOT going to give you money, the customer is NOT going to buy your product, the competition will CRUSH you like a bug, everyone is going to LEAVE you, and you will DIE alone. How you are going to overcome these challenges is the essence of entrepreneurship. A packaged course is NOT a magic pill.
3. The curriculum does not have a ‘Have fun and learn to smile’ module. Its the most basic tenet of entrepreneurship, the one factor that will determine the quality of your journey.
4. The best part about Entrepreneurship is that its a personalized curriculum about life - its about developing a free spirit, and discovering oneself - your limitations, strengths, passion etc. There is so much more to gain from life by starting up a company than just money.
5. I read somewhere (dont remember the author but ill never forget this line)
Entrepreneurs jump off the cliff, and build a plane on the way down.
You learn in adversity, you learn by making mistakes, you learn when you have no choice. Not in a classroom where you can take a snooze sitting in the last bench.
6. There are far too many wannapreneurs. All the industry meets are filled with people asking theoretical questions like ‘How do you raise VC money’ without having an idea or product in hand. From close observation of these trends and people, i have also mentally concluded that they will probably never take the leap. And they are back in the next conference asking the same questions. Everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, and they want to learn. But taking the leap is a wholly different chapter. Since there is evidently a hunger to learn, Full points to a course on entrepreneurship. But zero marks to the entrepreneurship ecosystem.
7. You learn the pros and cons up front. Thats always a deterrent, more than a catalyst.
After 5 years of bootstrapping and failure and failure and failure and some success and some recognition and some more failure and then a little more failure, and some money on the side - if i had known it would be such an arduous climb - i may have never jumped.
8. One thing that has rung true for me everyday - YOU are always the hindrance. Start, bring in smart people, get the hell out of their way. The course has - ‘Human resource management for Startups’? What HR? What people? How will you afford them?
There is no process for hiring with startups. It cannot be taught. Did anyone teach you how to find your circle of friends? Its about finding people your wavelength so that you can all dream together, and work your asses off on making shit happen.
In small lean teams of startups, your challenge is to stay alive, not design ‘team building exercises in resorts’? Once your startup starts doing well, you can hire a kickass HR manager or outsource the entire function even.
Entrepreneurship means learning the art of hiring awesome people that you can delegate to. Does Ratan Tata screw on the bolts of the Nano? Or do maintenance for banking software?
9. Ive spoken to many a million dollar company CEO, and they acknowledge that Intrapreneurship never works. Because of the cushion the company provides, it makes for a little complacency - and a derisked version of entrepreneurship.
My point is - there is so much risk - you cannot teach people to take risks in life.
And my other (more subtle) point is - theres a great market in fleecing big companies by promising them courses on Intrapreneurship. Go forth bro, suck them dry.
10. In the entrepreneurial world - there are no rules. You can break rules, make your own rules - whatever helps you sleep at night. You can do everything wrong, and still make it. And the most successful companies that have been built - have violated normal ways of doing things. Thats what makes them innovative, successful, different, and entrepreneurial.
Sigh. Dont teach entrepreneurs rules or frameworks of ways of doing things. Dont make cookie cutter zombies. Thats just morally wrong. Sigh.
11. My personal problem is that it goes against the madness - its conditioning people.
Stop trying to institutionalize the last free thing in the world - Starting your own company.
(This is just my personal rant, because im an disillusioned old coot - dont take it to heart :-) )
12. Rs.25,000 - That sum would make a great seed investment.
It could get you a Logo + website + biz cards + petrol + food for you to get the fuck out of your house, and go build a bloody business.
Cheers entrepreneurs!
Rock hard, ride free!
