A large sized private university in North India had only a traditional career path visible to most of its graduating students. The concept of entrepreneurship, innovation and incubation of student companies on campus was conspicuous by its absence. The University Management was keen to change that and decided to invite one of our Directors to mentor the students and faculty through the entire journey of creating awareness, enhancing engagement, starting a pre-incubator and setting up a government funded innovation and entrepreneurship development ecosystem. A strong team of young dreamers and resolute doers was also chosen to lead this movement, with mentoring coming from The Winning Mantra.
Objective:
The main objective of the initiative, spanning a few years, was to alter the mindset of students towards entrepreneurship, and to get them to think beyond industry jobs, which are often at the mercy of economic and business cycles. Given that Indian schools discourage their students from taking any risks, and do not impart practical skills of tinkering and prototyping, this was no small feat. The goal was to get at least 10% of the students to begin to consider having their own startups, thus creating jobs instead of just seeking them.
Planning:
Given the identified challenge and objective, a strategic road map was chalked out. This included identifying a small group of smart students and grooming them for organizing awareness building events on the campus. A merit-based, corporate style organizational set up was conceived and implemented in the shape of the Entrepreneurial Cell. This student run body was actively mentored, while some dynamic and popular faculty members were also identified as faculty mentors. The plan then moved to the Engagement phase, in which several events were held to involve students in competing to present business ideas and solve practical problems. Prize monies were made part of the budget, and engagement levels enhanced. Using the enthusiasm created through the Awareness and Engagement phases of the project, student startups were given space to operate from the campus. Application for government grants followed, with enough evidence of entrepreneurial energy among the students.
Design & Delivery Process:
Given the greenfield nature of the project, several new design elements had to be innovated in setting up the ecosystem. This involved making persuasive presentations to the university management about the latent benefits of the investments sought. The E-Cell was designed to mimic the processes of an innovative startup, with student stakeholders taking part in intense, late night deliberations to shape the future and craft the present. Meritocracy was promoted and diversity of discipline, age and gender ensured. The selection processes were also designed to be transparent and merit-based. This made the chosen students realize the importance of their position and they delivered passionately against identified functions and goals, with timely guidance from faculty mentors. The physical creation of a well-designed prototype development centre was another landmark that brought students streaming into it for tinkering around and bringing their plans and designs to fruition. Students learnt several key entrepreneurial skills such as business planning, market research, competitive analysis, negotiation skills, logistics and organizational excellence. The experienced senior students became mentors to the junior freshers and a well designed cycle of meritocracy was unleashed.
Outcome:
The university was able to set up an ecosystem that grew steadily to encompass over 5000 students over the years, giving them a better understanding of technology driven entrepreneurship, exposing them to over 150 role models visiting the campus for student organized E-Conclave and E-Summit events. Several new signature events emerged from the initiatives taken by successive Student Councils of the University E-Cell, further expanding the circle of influence. The number of prototypes built by students shot up to 150 and over 50 patents were created. The ecosystem was able to create or energize about 25 startups from within students and alumni. The plan and its smart execution was successful in creating new role models and changing the mindsets of the students, faculty and staff towards innovation and entrepreneurship.
