Why A Gap?

While some may figure out what they will do while they are in high school and college, I am finally figuring out what problems I will solve in the world.  Most young people simply don't understand the options for careers until they've been in the world for some time.  However, there are ways to decrease the time it takes to figure it out.  

In learning to counsel my own 3 children in the career decision process, I've read books such as Creating Innovators, spent many hours with Duke students and high school students, and spoken with other parents and education leaders.  One decision I've made is to high encourage my children to pursue a Gap Year.  

Here's why:

• Better Choice of Majors - Why did I choose information systems as a major?  I think someone told me I could get a job there and I wanted a job when I graduated.  If young people spend a year in the world before college, they will make a more educated decision on their major.  
• Higher Probability of Right Career - Imagine reaching the peak of the mountain and realizing you just climbed the wrong mountain.  This reminds me of a conversation I had with an attorney that was switching careers.  I think he would agree that he wishes he would have spent more time investigating the details of the mountains before he reached the peak of the wrong one.
• Be Student Leader as a 1st Year - Recently I spent time with several 1st year students at Duke and I was so impressed with what they had experienced even before college.  Experiences such as harvesting plants to make fuel and building water filters in Cambodia.  These will be the leaders at Duke in a couple years.
• Get More Out of Classes - A lot of grad schools require students to have work experience before they come mainly so they can both add to the class discussions and get better handle on the material presented.  What would happen if a student who had worked a year in marketing then went to school and sat in a marketing class?  

There are many Gap Programs that are valuable.  Here's one I am launching in the Fall:  Startup High GAP Program.  

How did Richard Brodhead become President Brodhead?

This morning was my first opportunity to chat with Richard Brodhead (President of Duke University) when we ran into each other at the StudentU breakfast.  We only had a few minutes together, but I came away with a feeling that this man cares deeply about students and that he has learned how to handle people.

As the President of Duke you deal with 14,000 students, 3,000 professors, 8,000 staff, and many more thousands of alumni who donate generously to make the university work.  Despite all those, he quickly asked me a very specific question about one InCube student, Fabio Berger, who took a year off to pursue a startup.  Here's our exchange:

• President Brodhead:  Did that guy Fabio ever come back (to Duke)?  
• Me:  Yes, he did.  
• President Brodhead:  I didn't think he would (smiling).  
• Me:  It's great, because he is now the grey haired guy that students go to for advice on their startups.

This exchange resonated since I am reading How to Win Friends and Influence People and one of the chapter focuses on remembering names.  Obviously President Brodhead has excelled in the academic world but most would agree that his success (and ours) comes from the ability to work with people.

Ecosystems Create People, Not Companies

When I first started at InCube, our success metrics were how many companies we create and how much revenue those companies produce.  The more companies and more money, the louder we could blow our horn (with data).  Donald could have been our spokesman.

Now that I've been at Duke a few months, I beginning to finalize a path the entrepreneurial minded student might take.  Recently it dawned on me that our ecosystem is not about creating companies.  It's about creating "entrepreneurial mind people that will solve the world's problems."

Incorporating Self Education in Traditional Education

At Duke University, I spend time with top quality students who are attempting to launch their own ventures, many of which are technology based and require complicated programming.  Did they learn these programming skills in their classes?  Not usually.  Some simple web searches can result in many educational aids to turn you into a programmer just like these students.

If you think this trend is only at the high ed level, consider this exchange I had at my daughter's elementary school.  It was Wax Museum day and I was asking "James Madison" a question.

Me:  "How did James Madison affect our world for good?"

3rd Grader:  "I'll need to go search that on the internet."  

What to do?
Spend more time exposing young people to the real world of career options including entrepreneurship.  When the young people are exposed to something of interest they will latch on and educate themselves.  Plus the skill of acquiring new knowledge on their own will serve them as the skills they need will be outdated soon after they graduate.  

I wanted to launch a scalable startup but....

"Think BIG" is a familiar phrase in the startup world.  This usually translates to launching a scalable startup software company.  I tried that for a little while but shifted when I found the actual problem I was tackling.

The secondary education system in our country needs help.  This is a problem that can't be solved with software so I finally accepted the fact that I was not following the footsteps of Joe at Bronto, Aaron at iContact, Jess at Sharefile, etc.

Startup High is all about lighting fires in our young people by exposing them to inspiring people such as entrepreneurs.  We will be in 3 cities next summer and will slowly assist in solving the secondary education problem.

Creatives: The Ultimate Entrepeneurs

I've recently spent time with new friends who work at one of, if not the best, independent advertising agency in the world, McKinney.  As I've learned how they operate, it dawned on me that these individuals are the ultimate entrepreneurs since they must continually come up with ideas and execute.  While typical entrepreneurs do have to iterate, they usually only have to come up with one idea and execute really well.  The pressure to produce day in, day out is weighty and I'm in awe of those who hit home run after home run.    

You've likely already seen SPENT.  If not, it will change you for the good.

Growing Entrepreneurial Thinking on a College Campus

If a university wants to produce students who have the ability to think like an entrepreneur and solve big problems in the world, they could take a three tiered approach to starting the fire:

Sparks

This is the top of the funnel and includes all the events, classes, and interest groups that may cause a student to scratch her head and say, "I think I want to get more involved in entrepreneurship."  A campus probably can't have too many of these though they must balance these with the next two tiers.


The Fan
Internships, summer programs, and intensive projects with local companies is the next step students can take when they want to get more engaged.  The stage is crucial to help the student get a better sense of problems in the world.  Too often college students are only exposed to campus problems that may not be big enough.




Gasoline
OK.  Now you are ready to really go for it and sacrafice social time, showers, and ut oh....possibly a B in a class.  One way I've seen this done is through residential entrepreneurship.  I've spent every Saturday afternoon the past few months at InCube on the campus of Duke University.  It's been great and I'm now a huge advocate of very driven students living together and committed to launching a venture.  They are the real deal and I'm excited to see the results.