Entrepreneurship Training, American Style

Sylvie Lecherbonnier, Translated by Nina Fink Publié le
Entrepreneurship Training, American Style
UC Berkeley - Etats-Unis - octobre 2014 // ©  Sylvie Lecherbonnier
Renowned Silicon Valley universities Stanford and University of California Berkeley do not content themselves with reaping the fruit of their unique entrepreneurial ecosystem. They constantly update their teaching methods with an eye to hatching the next generation of entrepreneurs. As a result, these schools are always ahead of the pack.

Describing the entrepreneurial spirit that reigns on Silicon Valley university campuses, Stanford School of Engineering Associate Professor Mike Lyons says, "It's in the air here. It's like a virus." Google, Yahoo and LinkedIn were all born here. Many students strolling across the Stanford and UC Berkeley campuses will tell you that they have an idea for a startup.

These universities are proactive. They have started entire centers to boost startup training and research. For example, the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP) seeks to "accelerate entrepreneurship education at Stanford and around the world." In addition to offering classes, training teachers and carrying out research, STVP has also launched eCorner, a website with 3,000 free entrepreneurship videos and podcasts. Rebecca Edwards, STVP Global Programs Manager, explains, "We want to help students remove any mental barriers and acquire the skills, attitude and knowledge they need to transform problems into opportunities."

Over in the East Bay, UC Berkeley is not resting on its laurels. David Charron, Executive Director of the Berkeley Entrepreneurship Laboratory, says, "Over the last five years, we have made major changes to the way we teach entrepreneurship." Now UC Berkeley and Stanford both offer a Lean LaunchPad class inspired by the Lean Startup method. Rather than starting with tired old topics like how to build a business plan, these classes focus on the client's needs.

Over the last five years, we have made major changes to the way we teach entrepreneurship.
(David Charron - UC Berkeley)

Incubators are also undergoing a major transformation. Increasingly they are rebranding themselves as accelerators. Stanford's accelerator StartX provides university-affiliated entrepreneurs with mentorship and informal meetings with both peers and investors, all in an effort to accelerate the incubation process. As StartX Innovator in Residence Andrew Scheuermann explains, "Communication technology startups only need three months with us before they can stand on their own two feet." In Silicon Valley, time is most definitely money.

Read the article (in french)

Sylvie Lecherbonnier, Translated by Nina Fink | Publié le