My column in the May issue of the Entrepreneur magazine:
An Institute for Entrepreneurs, Anyone?
I argue that if we have Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Management, then why not Indian Institutes of Entrepreneurship? Isn’t Entrepreneurship a deep, important and complex subject that needs studying?
Now, let me set your expectations right. I am an ‘M.Com pass’ guy who began working since he was 16 years old. So, I don’t have a degree to boast about and neither am I tendering this argument based on academic experience. Instead, my ‘tukka’ (shot) is based on my entrepreneurial invitation visits to the IITs/IIMs and by juxtaposing the degree of ‘real life experience’ that I have earned over the years.
The Case for IIEs:
1. Entrepreneurs create Entrepreneurs
In regular colleges, teachers teach and students learn. Only a few students go on to become teachers. Most of them embrace professional careers and submit themselves to the big bad corporate world.
In the case of entrepreneurship, I firmly believe that only entrepreneurs can teach entrepreneurs. Not teachers.
You may ask ‘why’? Well, the reason is simple. There is a distance greater than the distance between the earth and the moon when it comes to academia understanding what entrepreneurship means.
There are no theories, models or diktats to follow in entrepreneurship. Newton’s laws will probably never change and just need to be learnt; in entrepreneurship there are no laws and the ones that exist need to be changed! Only entrepreneurs have the experience to make other aspiring entrepreneurs ‘get it’ and this can best happen in a formalized institution.
2. Teaching what’s taboo!
Imagine entering the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship and then deciding on the subjects that you would like to major in. I would expect the curriculum to include courses such as ‘Failure’, ‘Bankruptcy’, ‘Venture Capital Terror Tactics’, ‘Nervous & Financial Breakdowns’, ‘Firing Yourself’, ‘How to Become Redundant’, etc.
If you think this sounds like that a comedy Bollywood movie that has college as a theme, you are wrong. These are real subjects that all entrepreneurs have to practically learn and there is no place on earth that teaches these things!
Just last night I spoke to a good friend and first-round entrepreneur who is facing mutiny (by his co-founders) in the Company he worked so hard to build. He is emotionally destroyed and could not think of anyone to call but me, since I had gone through the same issues in my previous company. This strengthens my belief that certain topics that are ‘taboo’ are actually PhD subject material for the IIEs!!
3. Learning the Art of Unlearning
Think of the IIEs as underground bunkers, training business commandos. A place where students don’t wear shirts or skirts or blazers to look formal on special days. These are men and women who don’t care what they wear or how they look – because they are only interested in learning the Art of Survival.
The IIEs could be the place where a textbook is burnt every evening in a bonfire, just to drive home the point that to be an entrepreneur, you must learn the Art of Unlearning.
Take for instance the case of Zara and its suppliers or Facebook and Zynga when they started up. I have read that these companies did not sign contracts but just began to work with each other on faith, in order to get started without wasting any time!
Which formal institute in India would teach you that? Only an IIE!
4. Changing the direction of the ladder
If you have seen a documentary or a movie based on mountain climbing (watch ‘Into Thin Air’), you would have noted that a ladder is used in two situations. Usually it’s used by the mountaineers to climb up the mountain rock walls wherever possible, but more often than that, it is also used sideways to walk across chasms and crevices that appear on mountainous plateaus.
The typical Indian Institute is all about teaching you to climb the ladder pointing UP. It’s structured to make you fight for each rung of the ladder and beat the other guy while getting to the top.
The IIE will actually be about teaching you how to use the ladder SIDEWAYS. The premise of entrepreneurship is that you have to successfully get a bunch of people across with you over many business hurdles, chasms and crevices. Only a specialist institute that does not focus on ‘climbing up’ can achieve this.
5. Making Gladiators out of Pussycats
I routinely visit many IITs and IIMs each year, either as a guest speaker, jury member to judge business competitions or as part of a panel on entrepreneurship. In over 50+ such interactions over the years, I have never faced a severe argument, intense debate or a plain, “I think you are wrong” view being tossed at me. All the students appear as pussycats, simply agreeing (or pretending to agree) with the invited speakers!
This is stupidity! No businessperson or entrepreneur will find such rosy agreements in the world. In fact, the big bad world is very punishing for startups, where customers routinely poke fun, insult and completely dismiss new business ideas being pitched to them!
Example – after I started a Company called contests2win.com in 1998, in one phone call to an MNC (Fortune 500 brand), the lady I had called just kept making fun of my Company’s name! I still remember her even covering the mouthpiece and telling her colleagues, “I can’t believe the stupidity of some people! This guy on the phone actually has a Company called contests2win! How silly!”
Real life cases like this one take a lot of thick skin and bravado to handle. It’s very easy to get discouraged and very difficult to keep the faith. At the IIE, one would ‘simulate’ the harshness of the world in the institute itself and try and make gladiators out of our pussycat students!
I can visualize a large presentation hall, shaped like a coliseum, in which the entrepreneur pitches her business, standing in the center, while ‘disbelievers’ and ‘naysayers’ call her names and ridicule her business while sitting in the stands! And yes, if you missed the fine point, I believe that business gladiators should be women as well as men!
6. The end goal
Most top-level learning institutions of the world are very expensive and encourage their students to finance their course fees with loans and borrowings that can only be paid over a long-term period. This almost traps the students into signing up for ‘jobs that pay the best’ and nothing else. A job seeker typically becomes a job doer for the rest of his life.
My belief is that the IIE would be financed liberally by successful entrepreneurs and would not charge a curriculum fee. That’s right – fees will be free and the selection process will not be DRACONIAN, but based on the INTENT of the applicant, to become an entrepreneur. Most entrepreneurs like me, would gladly donate generous amounts by way of grants to IIEs if they sounded legit. This would mean that there would be no burden on the graduating entrepreneurs to pay back anything to anyone.
The end goal of the IIEs would be to encourage its students to go out there and CREATE value via enterprises and not earn some opportunistic moneys for themselves.
The focus would be to shift the center of gravity from earning to value creating.
In addition to the examples above, if I had unlimited space, I could go one forever.
But if you ask me, the most powerful reason to create the IIEs is this: In the near future, Jobs and Careers are not going to be the ones that you FIND, but instead the ones that you MAKE for yourself. And no one other than an Entrepreneur can do that. So let’s equip people to become Entrepreneurs!
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I first mentioned the idea of creating IIEs at the India Today Conclave.
You can watch the video here.
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Read ALL my other articles published in Entrepreneur mag HERE.
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Aman Jha
Hi Alok,
Liked the article and thoughts a lot, hv so much to say in addition to your post but words fall short.
Once u decide to become entrepreneur and u take step towards it, life eventually becomes for you an IIE, and Entrepreneurs dont need a graduating certificate too… But I do agree having a formal Institute will help provided Indian Education system don’t destroy it like other courses. So no one else but only Entrepreneur can setup such an institute, govt will never do so.
Why not Rodinhood become an IIE?
Rodinhood has more than 3000 entrepreneurs, who can teach, who can donate, who can create! Have poll at Rodinhood whether Rodinhood can become an IIE? I bet result will be a huge yes!
Regards,
Aman Jha
9892621090
Murtaza Amin
bro. if they come up with a institute for entrepreneurs, they will come up with an admission procedure where whoever solves 120 most no. multiple choice questions in 60 minutes gets the admission.
Aman Jha
lolz… you forgot to mention abt reservation and management quota!
Tejas Vishnu Nimbargi
haha reservation….
But on a serious note. What would be or should be the criteria for admissions?
I mean Interview sounds good. but you need to filter out large number of students to select few.
CAT? or any other option?
Aman Jha
Large no. of people dont apply. See, trend in India is the course and the college which guarantee you jobs and higher pay from corporates are the one’s where everyone go, like people know if they pass out of IIM they hv a job waiting for them for sure, so large no. of people apply making it more competitive.
At IIE, it will be like people will be taught how to struggle and once they graduate a giant struggle would be waiting for them. So only quality people will turn up for this course and apply wherein they already know no jobs will be available aftr completion of course!
Vinay Chhoda
Alok,
You don’t have to look very far, we already have TheRodinhoods 🙂
You can always rename the OHs to TheRodinhoods Institute of Entrepreneurship or TRIE, somewhat similar to Rodinhood Venture Partners.
Divyesh Panchal
Selection criteria to entrepreneurship school reminds me of Steve Jobs’ two questions: Have you lost your virginity yet and have you tried LSD.
Agreed to the points: Only entrepreneurs can teach entrepreneurship!
How about having no classrooms, teaching in the open environment. Like unlearning we teach through un-technology. No computers, only a plain white board like a canvas – paints your ideas the way you want, no rules no regulations. Un-technology reminds me of first TEDx gateway that happened in Mumbai in 2009. One of the speakers for the event was an employee from Dabbawalas and coincidentally while he was just about to present, the projector and video stopped working for at least 10 mins. Smart chap commented “this is what happens when you depend too much on technology”. Meet us, we use ZERO technology for running our business!
Regards,
Divyesh Panchal
9619 32 33 34
Aneja Raj
Agree with Vinay’s comment below. Start a section offering Master degree / certification on Entrepreneurship. I think there will be a lot of takers.
karthik.c
I would happily send my future generations to the IIE’s Alok!
Nithya Prabu
Entrepreneurs are lifelong learners and I hope every entrepreneur would agree with me on this. We learn from various medium say books, the Internet, interviews, via direct meeting, networking etc. We always look for avenues to keep ourselves updated. If there is an institution or a place that could share, impart the wisdom (especially the journey) by those people who have been there, seen that and done it successfully – why not? It’s a very interesting concept and it will solve a lot of doubts, misconceptions, questions that would arise in all the phases of an entrepreneurial journey.
Alok ji, thank you for this 🙂
Looking forward to hearing more from you.
Vipin Khandelwal
Entrepreneurs need one thing more than anything else and that is the “mind” to be one.
You nailed it with this.
“Jobs and Careers are not going to be the ones that you FIND, but instead the ones that you MAKE for yourself. And no one other than an Entrepreneur can do that.”
Perzen Darukhanawalla
Such a fantastic read. Definately think that there is a need for such an institute in India – one that teaches how to cope with real life situations rather than basing it on stupid agility tests.
William
Had recently attended a seminar where such courses are being offered:
https://www.icreate.org.in/index.html
Maybe this is just the beginning and more will follow.
Neerja Singh
Siiiiiiiigh, I am in love. With this platform and its content, with all the brilliant sharing and learning that happens here – but most of all with your mind, Alok. Today I have read a lot of your older posts, and honestly, I am usually never at a loss for words – but what can one say in response to perfection!
🙂
In my experience, what business teaches us is what life itself teaches us. The point is are we prepared to be students? To unlearn, to constantly adapt to a changing world, to be flexible, to lose the ego, chain the temper, to be persistent and patient, to believe, to be passionate, to free the inner child yet have a mature point of view. There are many qualities needed for entrepreneurs to succeed – and some give up mid-way while others learn to change themselves. On the face of it, an institute sounds like a fabulous idea – but there appear to be many practical issues:
How would you choose the right people? Is there a magic formula for knowing who among us will persist, who will adapt, who will successfully inspire his/her team to great accomplishments?
How long would you train for before the students were considered ‘graduates’? So many of us go through an entire lifetime, doggedly doing things the way they ‘have always been done’; so many who treat staff like a disposable commodity; who do not see the need for transparency; who cannot inspire their own children, let alone complete strangers – yet make enough money to consider themselves successful. How would we tell when people had learned enough to go out into the world and make bigger successes of themselves than these flukes? Are we aiming to deliver capability to achieve, or are we aiming for a qualitative shift of mindset?
I believe this platform is a perfect place for the true seeker, it’s an ideal IIE. There is tons of learning to be had for those who truly want to absorb something; the teachers are successful people who readily share their own knowledge and help others; there is no government regulation limiting the number of students or reservations for categories by meaningless demographic divisions; there is no need for an aptitude test to join here and we can learn at our own pace; there is no graduation time because really if we ever consider ourselves as having arrived or knowing it all – our goose is cooked.
So just carry on the fantastic work. This IS the IIE and may it spread its wings far and wide.
Amen
Swapnil
the basic qualities that we need to be successful in life are the same for everyone like handling pressure and stress having patience having strong moral and ethical values so the bigger need is reformation in education at school level the focus should be more towards character building so by the time you are 17-18 you are really mature and equipped to handle your life the ancient indian education system is the answer to all problems altough IIE is still a good idea . what about a summer time 6 week course ??
Sarvesh R
we do have EDII in india. Frankly these institutes take the fun out of everything. entrance exams and again the rat race for seats. Some unconventional and open source of platform is necessary.
Darshan Bhambiru
Absolutely on the MARK !!
Though many of the IIM’s nowadays are starting up with some Entrepreneurial Courses or Family Business models as well.
This looks Fresh and Desirable.
Though the Entrepreneur is Never Complete in all senses and we all are always Learning something new or the other from other Entrepreneurs experiences. Life’s Teachings and the Sharpening of the Experience making it Rich and understandable in Layman terms.
Sharing Resources within the Students and the TEACHERS a never before seen thing in the current System of Knowledge transfer.
Though what needs to be looked apart from TheRodinhoods becoming a Start point as I see it already, with the Majority of the Required things in place,
Since the Entrepreneur would not be Applying for a JOB after this Course completion, Would a Goverment Affiliation or Authorization be required ? Not sure about that though in the Indian Education System or whether this would be given its due place as an Education Platform like the other Regular criterion of available Education streams.
Since this is not a One person or Company thing as suggested, it looks like a Community driven Venture in its True sense.
Just the Location (a Colosseum, Bunker or an Open Ground) and the Founders are required to Fill up and give the the GO Signal!!!
Entrepreneurs have Minimal desires to get up and go, which we have sen and felt in the many Meetups till date as well and the discussions which follow later too.
Like the existing real world where Commercial and Open source exist together the IIT, IIM and the IIE could also exist on a similar Symbiotic note which would benefit all involved in various ways still unexplored and maybe the New way of Business would see the light in the future.
Liked “The end goal” which says it all in a nutshell.
Three Cheers!! Hip Hip Hurrah!!!
We can always TRIE (TheRodinhoods Institute of Entrepreneurship) 🙂
Sridhar V
Hi Alok the idea is good, but I hope interested candidates dont have to score 90%+ from their 10th, 12th to graduation, ec. to join since it is still an Indian Institute of ……………. .
I’m not sure if its a good idea to offer it free, instead there should be a nominal fee, which can be further discounted for poor or deserving candidates (with lower incomes). A nominal fee will ensure some commitment and seriousness in the minds of candidates/students as well as faculty and others to maintain quality and service delivery standards. This is open for debate but needs to be carefully executed.
If there is an institute I’m willing to join. I would not be able to quit my current job or assignment, but I can join and draw up a 2-3 year roadmop to leave my current assignment to explore Entrepreneurship.
Kunal Shah
These two articles again brought me back to this article today. The first one highlights the plight of a promising student of IIM Indore (I call him promisng since he survived IIT which I certainly cannot, no offence) quit out of frustration due to Politics
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/iim-indore-s…
The second one about how it seems that doing business in India is a Crime (A POV that I connect to but do not completely agree to)
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/editorial/is-it-a-crime-to-do-business-in-india/articleshow/24212748.cms
Both these articles highlight the really URGENT and REAL need of IIE’s today. One Important Subject can be handling the government, the bureaucrats, the politicians and the corruption…
Ananta Kumar Roy
Hello Alok Sir,
I feel the moment in every entrepreneur’s life is in trying out things he never would have and walking down a path he never would have. May seem very philosphical and hollow (especially from a guy who hasn’t had his way even a mile ahead), but isn’t the experience in itself a journey in itself. Why rob the entrepreneur of this “enter”surprise and all the good and bad things which make him a tougher person?
Arjuman Amjad
Alok… Have you come across Draper University? They do REAL entrepreneurship training. Could connect very well to the points mentioned in this post considering my experience working at Kyron Global Accelerator that trained first time founders to become real entrepreneurs. Link – https://draperuniversity.com/