This post was made by one of my linkedin connections (Ramesh Kumar).
#1 The reason students lack focus is that they are not threatened by the lack of not doing the startup. They can very well think of it as a failure rather than fighting an uphill battle. Another reason for lack of focus is there is no continuous gamified benchmark ratings for a startup. I think giving stars to startups based on benchmarks agreed upon by the e-cells and startups would enable the student startups be more productive.(Hey, are you a 2 star startup or 3 star startup?)
#2 Lack of time is very real. Some allowance in attendance should be given for project work.
#3 I think proper brainstorming sessions which not only revolve around the novelty of idea but practical things like amount of time required, amount of money required, and importance of generating proper numbers in terms of deliverables from a startup need to be taken into account. A proper document should be created and updated on weekly basis.
#4 I think a long term platform of communication between colleges and companies should exist(instead of speaker sessions), where professors, CEOs and students can share their opinion. (dedicated college site). If that is too hard to accomplish, maybe a group of students can list down all the events pertaining to specific niche that are happening in country and forward it to students that are interested in that niche.
#5 When work comes into picture, glamour shits itself.
Enclosing,I think it is very important to have introduction of X vs time graph for every startup. The X should change according to time but a progress needs to updated by the startup and the direction they are heading.
Transcript of that post:-
"""
Startups by Engineering Students I am glad to see so many Engineering students getting interested in having their startups while studying. And every University has an Entrepreneur wing! There is huge interest, which is good. But, I do not see many startups coming into existence! Why?
#1. Focus - They seem to lack focus. They get one 'great' idea today and even before they do something on this, they get 'another greater' idea. And it is a loop.
#2. lack of time - They are students and are expected to attend classes, prepare for exams, practicals etc. They may find it difficult to spend more time on their venture. They knew this and can not give this as excuse for shutting down the project.
#3. Unrealistic Projects- If they see and experience the pain point of some one and if they find a solution, they are likely to succeed. Many times they seem to identify projects which they can not complete!
#4. Lack of Industry Support - Few companies are investing in the talent in the colleges to get their projects done by students along with the Professors
#5. Glamour - 'Entrepreneurship' seems to be a glamour word for most of them. They seem to enjoy living in that glamour for a short time and then get back to fun life!
"""
I found this assessment super accurate and hence this post got me thinking what can be done to solve these issues and have more students pursue entrepreneurship. Here are the solutions that I think are feasible.#1 The reason students lack focus is that they are not threatened by the lack of not doing the startup. They can very well think of it as a failure rather than fighting an uphill battle. Another reason for lack of focus is there is no continuous gamified benchmark ratings for a startup. I think giving stars to startups based on benchmarks agreed upon by the e-cells and startups would enable the student startups be more productive.(Hey, are you a 2 star startup or 3 star startup?)
#2 Lack of time is very real. Some allowance in attendance should be given for project work.
#3 I think proper brainstorming sessions which not only revolve around the novelty of idea but practical things like amount of time required, amount of money required, and importance of generating proper numbers in terms of deliverables from a startup need to be taken into account. A proper document should be created and updated on weekly basis.
#4 I think a long term platform of communication between colleges and companies should exist(instead of speaker sessions), where professors, CEOs and students can share their opinion. (dedicated college site). If that is too hard to accomplish, maybe a group of students can list down all the events pertaining to specific niche that are happening in country and forward it to students that are interested in that niche.
#5 When work comes into picture, glamour shits itself.
Enclosing,I think it is very important to have introduction of X vs time graph for every startup. The X should change according to time but a progress needs to updated by the startup and the direction they are heading.
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