What Every Student Entrepreneur Needs to Know to Succeed (3) Know Something!

This is part of my Series on University Entrepreneurship.

In the previous posts in this Series we established the mindset and awareness required as well as the immersion you need to initiate in your local startup ecosystem in order to greatly increase your chances of success as an entrepreneur.

In this post we are focused-on developing subject-matter expertise. So let's elaborate on what I mean by this.

If you're an undergrad perhaps you've already declared your major/minor, etc. and if you're in grad school you're already something of a specialist. So there's no question you're developing some serious knowledge. But that's simply not enough and you should refuse to rest on the laurels academia might bestow on you. It means close to zilch in the business world and often leads to insane disconnects when the two worlds collide. This cultural divide only deepens over time and believe me, I've seen it over and over again. Don't ever let it get to this. With some extra effort you can "change the game" completely.

If the sort of businesses you're thinking about launching one day happens to spring from the subject matter you're studying in school, that's definitely a "leg-up" so to speak, but don't be lulled into complacency by thinking you've got the space figured out. I meet plenty of grad students who are deeply intimate with a field of research, but this simply doesn't come close to knowing what they need to know.

If you can become intimate with the following matters as well, you're really on your way:

• Who are all the established companies and startups in this space (historically and now) and what happened to them and why?
• What were and are their business models?
• Who are all the successful entrepreneurs/teams in this space? How did they achieve what they achieved? Where are they now?
• Who are the entrepreneurs & teams that failed and why?
• What is the customer base in this space like? How is it segmented?
• Who are the key investors in this space and what are they looking for?
• Where is the industry moving? Where are the white spaces, the unsolved problems?
• Who are the best writers/bloggers/journos giving the most unique insights into the space? 
• What are the best events/gatherings/conferences in the field where everyone gathers?

I guarantee you that if you master all of the items above you will be absolutely unique among your peers. Amazingly very few people actually even know to do this in the first place but even if they do they usually don't pursue it for whatever reason.

If you are one of the few that develops this subject matter expertise you will have achieved fluency in a new language and everyone in the business world you encounter will immediately recognize this.

Now You'll have Subject Matter Expertise!

For Part Four in this Series click here

What Every Student Entrepreneur Needs to Know to Succeed (6) Relationships w/Investors

This is part of my Series on University Entrepreneurship.

In the previous posts in this Series we established the mindset and awareness required as well as the immersion you need to initiate in your local startup ecosystem, what you need to do to acquire subject matter expertise, how to develop a social media presence and the importance of finding a mentor, all with the objective of greatly increasing your chances of success as an entrepreneur.  

In the second post in this series I encouraged you to immerse yourself in your local startup ecosystem so as to get out of that "school bubble" and into the action.  I am going to elaborate here, specifically with regard to cultivating relationships with angel and venture capital investors.

**Before I continue, however, remember- overall your goal should be to form real and lasting relationships with quality people in your city's ecosystem and beyond. You're not just meeting people to transact with them! You'd be amazed how many people do this.**

OK, so with that caveat in mind, one layer of the ecosystem is of course comprised of investors and they are an important one. Whether your startup ends up requiring friends & family money, angel money or VC money is immaterial. Rest assured it will require some money and having real relationships with investors will be crucial whether you try to raise money from them in the future or not.

So how do you get to know investors in a natural way?

• First, you need to identify them. One way to start is by checking the various profiles of the various angels and VC's (who invest in your space). Today Angellist is the best source of all.
• Second, you should begin to familiarize yourself with their portfolio companies, their investment philosophy via their blogs and twitter streams and through this process identify a handful that you think you would have a natural rapport with.
• You can then start commenting on their blogs (not pitching them mind you!) and start participating naturally in the dialogue. Share and learn!
• Next you should identify where they are going to be speaking or what events they will be attending. Be there. 
• Since you've been interacting with them on their blogs and twitter, etc., you'll have a natural way of saying hello and you can simply continue the virtual conversation you've been having in person.

So now you'll be developing real relationships with angels and VC's in your area. Remember, you are not pitching them. They are real people like you and often have a lot of experience and can be great sources of advice. It also just so happens that they invest in lines, not dots as Mark Suster likes to say. Get to know each other!

With this approach you'll be connected in no time. Let me know how it goes! 

For Part Seven of this Series click here

What Every Student Entrepreneur Needs to Know to Succeed (7) Grants & Competitions

This is part of my Series on University Entrepreneurship.

In the previous posts in this Series we established the mindset and awareness required as well as the immersion you need to initiate in your local startup ecosystem, what you need to do to acquire subject matter expertise, how to develop a social media presence the importance of finding a mentor, and how to cultivate lasting ties with investors, all with the objective of greatly increasing your chances of success as an entrepreneur. 

In this installment, I'm going to highlight the fact that among the many awesome advantages you have as a student entrepreneur, (your sheer youth, the spare time you have, your .edu address, the willingness of most people to help you, your freedom to operate, etc.) is the fact that you can apply for a staggering array of competitions and grants geared specifically to student entrepreneurs like yourself!

The opportunity is so remarkable I thought it deserved its own special category in this Series as I see it as separate and apart from raising capital & investors. You see- what we're talking about in this post is non-dilutive capital! Another more colloquial term for it is of course, "Free Money"!

Over the years I've seen the student entrepreneurs with the most hustle consistently figure out ways to enter into a plethora of competitions and apply for student grants while they are still in school.  Oftentimes the money and in-kind services they receive for winning such competitions and grants are actually the critical funding they needed to achieve proof-of-concept or product-market fit for their businesses. It would have been very tough for them to raise angel or VC money at the stages they were in, but that $25k or $50k they won made all the difference. In fact, a number of great businesses got their start this way, including mammoth venture-backed companies like Comixology, LearnVest, Warby Parker and Pinterest.  

So do not hesitate to avail yourself of the myriad of resources, competitions and ignition grants available at your university and beyond.

In the meantime, I wish you lots of luck- hope you pull down some wins here. Go out and get-em!