Guest Contributor Dr. Gregory M. Pickett is associate dean for Clemson’s College of Business and Behavioral Science and director of the Arthur M. Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership. He was recently named Innovator of the Year by Business Black Box Magazine.
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Most people recognize that startup companies have a huge impact on economic development, including being the main driver in new job creation. The dataset from the U.S. government called the Business Dynamics Statistics (BDS) (Haltiwanger, Jarmin, and Miranda, 2008) presents summary data showing that firms in their first year of existence add 3 million jobs per year.
In addition, Tim Kaine’s observations in the July 2010 Kauffman Foundation of Entrepreneurship Research Series Report entitled “The Importance of Startups in Job Creation and Job Destruction” duly capture the importance and sense of urgency around fostering entrepreneurial innovation and leadership. The report and its references confirm that “startups aren’t everything when it comes to job growth. They’re the only thing!”
The Clemson University Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership supports developing entrepreneurial innovators and leaders both on and off campus. Spiro embraces collaborative efforts of all types, including the technology certificate which is available to all Clemson students seeking advanced knowledge managing emerging technologies, a joint graduate degree between the bioengineering and MBA in Entrepreneurship & Innovation (MBAe) programs, and our ongoing partnerships with successful entrepreneurs and community leaders who share their insights in forums such as Entrepreneur in the Round, the First Friday Speaker Series, and the soon-to-be-launched Master Entrepreneur Speaker Series. Spiro is committed to encouraging the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem and promoting entrepreneurial culture in S.C.
A core belief of the Spiro Institute is that entrepreneurship and innovation are not constrained to a single discipline or philosophy. I am often struck by the stories of entrepreneurs who visit Greenville ONE to speak with our students and how often their stories tell of how their unique backgrounds and skill sets melded to create a successful enterprise. While we’re all familiar with the success of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs creating international technology empires, the truth is entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes with varied backgrounds and experiences.
I am proud that Clemson’s MBAe, now in its second year, has attracted students from a wide range of undergraduate academic backgrounds including engineering, political science, health care, fine arts, computer science and law. In 2013 the first class of 21 students graduated the program, and nine of them have launched and are running startup businesses. The current class – which will graduate in August – has already incorporated five businesses, with more to come.
These startups include such diverse ideas as a line of clothing for residents of assisted-living facilities, mobile apps targeted at creating a more seamless way for college students to meet one another, a Web-based handyman service now operating in four cities, and the cultivation and culturing of local yeast strains for craft breweries, to name just a few. These startups will have a lasting impact on our local, regional and state economy.
The MBAe is just one of many Spiro initiatives. The Institute also hosts the Upstate LaunchPad SC competition and offers the eight-week SEED (Sustainable Entrepreneurs & Economic Development) program with McNair Law for budding entrepreneurs. On Clemson’s main campus we have launched a variety of new initiatives which are tailor-made to be targeted and scalable for the different colleges and departments, and also to be part of creating a thriving Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem.
These efforts have been Spiro-sponsored but “student-powered” to create an authentic I&E community as well as support a “virtual accelerator” to generate, enrich and refine new ideas. Many of these programs are very action-oriented, and we have begun to refer to them as “Impact Labs.”
We have not only created programming to promote entrepreneurial excitement and ideas beyond the classroom, but we have also piloted programs to provide support in developing those ideas. For example, this year we have been piloting Pitch Spiro, a weekly venue where students get other students to help them with their ideas. This help may include assistance in applying to the LaunchPad competitions, Think Tanks to enrich ideas, Creative Jam Sessions to help with marketing their ideas, and Entrepreneurial Round Tables to refine those ideas.
These sessions usually involve bringing together top I&E students with creative types, analytically strong students, subject matter experts and experienced business professional entrepreneurs. Students are able to receive this help for a standalone project or in conjunction with enriching their class work.
These new initiatives emphasize the importance of education beyond that which is provided by classroom instruction.
There has never been a better time to embrace these initiatives and launch your own business.
