Continues from Part 2
Kallen: I definitely want to talk about what you’re seeing as Wharton School of Business lecturer. You teach a lot of their executive programs.
Nowadays, these business publications have these stories of people dropping out of college to start a business. Or the others that say “I am not even going to college. It is probably going to be a waste of my time. I’m going to start a business.”
Do you think a new entrepreneur can be just as successful without the business school experience?
Or do you think that is very pertinent that the aspiring entrepreneur goes at business school because ultimately it would develop them to be a better entrepreneur?
Derek: Yeah. I would have to say in a very self-serving way. Yes, absolutely. The business school education helps but I will give a more nuanced answer.
First of all, I understand the entrepreneurship bug. A lot of young people young millennials have it these days. Many of my own Wharton students had the idea of going into finance and investment banking or management consulting.
Many of them are now looking to Silicon Valley and looking to the different forms of entrepreneurship as their ideal model for what they’re what they do with their careers. So, I understand that’s gotten a lot more popular.
And lots of students think that Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg didn’t finished college. Can’t I do the same thing?
As we were saying a little bit earlier, we need to rethink the model. I think that a college education is fantastic. There are lots of things that the four year college education offers. I do think we need to rethink this model of every single person needs to have this very specific bachelor’s degree to be able to ascend to the middle class and find the right jobs. But at the same time, it offers a couple of things.
Number one. A broad based education does give you tools that will make you more likely to be successful as an entrepreneur.
The second thing, I would say is remember that small businesses have a very high failure rate. So, even if you have a great idea, most startups fail.
And what you get with a college degree is other options, right? You can put that seal of approval on your resumé that will open the door to other opportunities, if your startup fails.
The third thing, I would say is there’s not just an academic education in the four year university model, but a social education where you are on-campus with lots of other people around your age and you develop relationships with them, a social network.
The relationships you build are really a primary determinant of your success. And college is just a great way to meet lots of people to build a network that will carry you throughout your career, offer you future job opportunities, or sources of funding if you want to start a business.
I agree the current model might need to adjust it a little bit, but it does offer lots of benefits and there’s a reason it’s so powerful and that it stuck around for so long.
This is a snippet transcription of Reaching The Finish Line episode 94.
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