Jan
18
Discovering Entrepreneurship First Admitted Class
January 18, 2008 |
Wow, today’s class was absolutely amazing. Kimber was the only one there there again (Vivian was on Snow Trip last time - not sure this time), but she did an amazing job. Most of the class today focused on a presentation/discussion featuring Tom Byers, and we would have had a greater group discussion afterwards, but Jason and I had to leave for our Snow Trip.
Are Entrepreneur’s Born or Made?
One of the first things Kimber handed out was a form that asked us a series of questions to “gauge” whether or not we could be entrepreneurs. You know the form that asks, “What’s your risk tolerance level?” and other such questions? Well, Kimber had us fill that out and then she collected it. Then she did something that surprised us all. She picked them up, ripped them in half, and look at each of us and said, “All of you are entrepreneurs!” Wow! That was very powerful stuff and I can’t think of a better way she could have started the class!
Tom Byers
Working as a professor at Stanford University, Mr. Byers focuses on technology entrepreneurship education. He is one of the biggest reasons why Stanford’s entrepreneurship program is as great as it is, and he’s been the recipient of many awards related to entrepreneurship education. He received all of his degrees (BS in Industrial Engineering, MBA, and PhD in Business Administration) from Berkeley and occasionally teaches at the school across the bay.
Interesting Fields in the Next 20 Years
While Mr. Byers was in our class, he gave a presentation discussing his thoughts on entrepreneurship. One of his slides detailed a list of very interesting fields over the next 20 years. These fields include Information Technology and Photonics (intersection of the two), nanotechnology, the environment and energy, and bioengineering and life science. One thing I found particularly interesting is that he said he would love to trade places with us and “grow up” during this exciting time… Makes me excited about what’s to come!
Entrepreneurship is Like Jeopardy
If you’ve ever watched Jeopardy, you know that it’s a pretty fast paced game in which people are given the answer to a question and then the contestants have to buzz in and answer by saying/asking the question. Professor Byers correlates that to entrepreneurship in the regard that entrepreneurs are willing to “push the button” before they know the answer. To clarify the analogy, entrepreneurs are individuals that are willing to take on a problem before they know the steps towards an effective solution. They dive in head first without knowing how they’re going to do it, they’ve simply decided they’re going to do it.
Honesty is the Best Policy
One thing Prof. Byers looks for when talking with entrepreneurs is honesty. If an individual’s primary goal when getting involved in a startup is to make lots of money, he would rather the entrepreneur be flat out honest than make up some fancy answer that everyone can see right through. While he’s not saying that your primary reason should be to make money - rather it should have some higher purpose or goal - he is highlighting the fact that if you are dishonest from the get-go, you will have a hard time developing an effective relationship with whoever you’re trying to communicate with.
Why is Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Growing?
- The first one discussed is the skill development that occurs for the individual. From thinking outside the box and being versatile to developing effective teams and utilizing individual strengths, developing these highly transferrable skills is extremely valuable.
- Not only are these skills valuable to the individual, but they are also extremely valuable to employers, coworkers, the industry work in, etc.
- From a state/government perspective, the skills are valuable because they result in regional economic growth. Silicon Valley is the perfect example of this occurring year after year.
- While this may be just a speculation, and Professor Byers acknowledges it as such, it could be a key to solving the world’s biggest problems.
Skills Effective Entrepreneurs Possess
- Creativity and opportunity evaluation
- Real time strategy and decision making capabilities
- Comfort with change and chaos
- Teamwork
- Selling, negotiating, and motivation via forces of influence and persuasion
- Oral and written communication
- Business basics including venture finance, accounting, etc.
Conclusion
This class was definitely one of the most inspirational and motivational experiences for me at Stanford thus far. We discussed a small amount of almost every aspect of entrepreneurship, and Professor Byer’s level of passion and enthusiasm is quite contagious. I look forward to hearing from him some more in the future, and I also think I’m going to take a class or two or twelve with him sometime in the future… 
Comments
1 Comment so far
[...] question was posed in one of my previous posts, which can be found here, and the only reason I want to discuss it is because he gave the exact opposite response of my [...]