You should, because they’re what makes our world go ’round — well, our economy, that’s for sure. I saw a stat this morning in a Flickr post of Steve Jurvetson’s from his talk at Stanford this weekend. More than 70% of college students today will start a company some time in their life. A remarkable stat, but it comes from the Kaufmann Foundation, so it must be true. [I guess I feel sorry for the other 30%.]
Here’s the lowdown on Entrepreneurship Week, which has Kaufmann all over it. [What an amazing organization, and right here in the Midwest, too, just down I-35 a piece in KC.] And here’s where you can see what’s going on in Minnesota relating to this week’s celebration. [Click the arrow under “Activities” to scroll through everything.]
I’m for sure going to catch the Angel Investing Panel on Wednesday afternoon (after all, I now write for The Angel Journal, so, I’d better). And an event on Tuesday afternoon in St.Paul, featuring Robert Stephens, the founder of Geek Squad, should be great.
Then, I’m also planning to drop in on a talk at the Carlson School by Scott Litman over lunchtime on Thursday, which will look at several things relating to Entrepreneurship in Minnesota. No doubt Scott will talk about the new web site for Minnesota entrepreneurs and small businesses being launched on Wednesday: GetGoMN, which I’ve had the pleasure of being involved with a bit. The StarTribune gave that a nice boost this morning, with a piece on the front page of the business section called Website Calling Business Angels.
Hope to see you at some of these events this week!
Oh, for you in the Bay Area, here’s what’s happening at Stanford for the week….
Speaking of which, you sure had to love that front page story in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal about Stanford President John Hennessy. Man, could we use some more university presidents like that guy sprinked about the country, huh?
By the way, am I the only guy that thinks he looks like Scoble?
70%…Wow, that sounds high…but what do I know 😉
You know a lot, PXLated, because you’ve been an entrepreneur most of your life. You could teach these young, unwashed hopefuls a thing or two! 🙂 The 70% figure, when you think about it (as the Stanford students discussed it on Jurvetson’s Flickr post), really isn’t all that hard to believe. Think about it — It’s pretty darn likely that a college student today, in his or her lifetime going forward, will end up somehow being in business for him/herself — even if it’s just in the way of offering consulting services of some kind, if not launching a full-fledged, mega-VC-funded startup. It’s all about entrepreneurship — “free-agent” status. Our economy just seems to be moving more and more in this direction as the years go by. Working for the man, as that “other” 30% has to look forward to, is just not the life most kids aspire to anymore.
I’m looking forward to the Angel Investing Panel, maybe I’ll see you there!
Great Blog!