Advice to future entrepreneurs
In the summer, I often teach Software Engineering in other countries. Since last year, I began to add an Entrepreneurships seminar in my regular Software course. I believe startup is a good solution to solve unemployment in developing countries and I want my students to learn more about it. I hope that some students will start their own company and contribute to their country’s economy. However students often told me: “Entrepreneurship work in the U.S. but not in my country. In the U.S. you can come up with an innovation, get someone to invest in your startup, and grow your company but it does not work here. There were speakers who came here to talk about entrepreneurship and startup, but nothing happen.”
I told them: “Since it had not happen does not mean it will not happen. We are in the Information Age and technology changes everything. There are opportunities that you could take advantage and start your own company. You need to learn how others are doing in their country then you can adapt it to your country. Although every country is different, every situation is different but you can still learn from others. Today you are consumers of technology not inventors of technology. But you have the knowledge and the skills, why not innovate? Why not develop products and start your own company? Why not control your own destiny? Why do you consider Bill Gates or Steve Jobs as heroes but not being a hero yourself? Who is stopping you? If you think that it cannot happen than it will never happen. You should change that negative attitude.”
“I know that entrepreneurship in developing countries does face difficulties, but it does not mean they cannot overcome. For example, getting people to invest in startup is difficult and Banks do not loan money to startups but technology startup is based on brain power not money. Steve Jobs started Apple with only a few thousand dollars; Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook with few hundred dollars. You do not need a lot of money to start a technology company. It is your innovation, it is your creativity, and it is your imagination that makes the difference.”
“As technology students, you learn that innovation is the process of discovering new ideas, make them happen and change the ways people live and work. Innovation has transformed the world into a global economy through the development of Information Technology (IT) such as mobile phones and the internet. These innovations have made it easier for companies to build, sell and market their products all over the world. They also drive economic growth by helping companies to increase efficiency and increase productivity. As companies become more productive, they can sell products at lower prices and compete more aggressively in the global market. Today technologies like personal computers and mobile devices allow people to connect with others across the world; with that, e-businesses are exploding where people can buy, sell products regardless of their location. Technology can help improve markets significantly. Few years ago when I taught in India, I saw that farmers would take their produces to the market, where sometimes there were few customers and they have to throw some produces out (Farming produces such as vegetables, fruits cannot stay long in the hot weather.) A professor told me that on average; about 15% to 30% of the produces were wasted. With smart phones, his students created a mobile app that listed produce demand and prices that are updated every day. Using that mobile app, farmers could find out what the price was in the market and only harvest what are in high demand; the result was they eliminate wasted produces.”
“The innovations that improve our lives do not have to be new inventions. They can be any ideas to improve businesses or different way of doing business that make them more productive and efficient. Today 45% of people are buying things from the Internet and companies are moving quickly to this new business where they operate websites that sell things all over the world. Twenty years ago, Jeff Bezos started Amazon with few thousand dollars as a website selling books and CDs. Today Amazon is the largest e-business selling everything to customers all over the world with millions of transaction every few minutes. Understand the advantage of technology and willing to innovate, Jeff Bezos is now one of the richest people on earth. The whole world is now connected and e-business is exploding with millions websites selling everything and the opportunity is endless. Last month, I had dinner at a house of a Korean friend. I told him that his “Kimchi” was so good. He laughed: “Kimchi made in the U.S is not good so I order that from Korea. It only takes one day to get here.” He told me that there were websites that selling authentic Korean foods, they ship via airplane so people who are fond of eating like him can get almost anything from home in a matter of days.”
“To be an entrepreneur, you need a vision and a strategy. Though you may change your execution plan when you realize that you can only do so much but you need to keep your vision as it is the beacon that guides you in your entrepreneurship journey. You need to understand what makes people to buy your product. Focusing on the ‘why’ can motivate you to accomplish things you have never done before and help you pursue your goals. Of course, you also need to identify your competitors. Having competitors is a signal of a good market as more people are doing it. Knowing the competition will help you to assess where your company stands and what you need to do. If needed, you should learn to ask for help from other successful individuals. Most people feel that asking for help is a sign of weakness. That is a mistake! Successful people always want to help young people, especially when you are still college students. As student, you do not know what you do not know, so you need someone to guide you. My advice is to find some successful people from industries to advise you. You are not asking them for money, you are not asking them to invest but only some advice so you can get your startup running. You need to show them your plans, your goals, your products, your progress, and your accomplishments. Having someone who is experience will help you to know about the business and what you do not know.”
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
