There have been a flood of reminders in the past week of how the region’s universities are developing entrepreneurship programs, each staking out a distinct turf.
Dalhousie and St. Mary’s both held demo-days for student startup teams last week. The Genesis Centre at Memorial University of Newfoundland held a graduation party for SubC Imaging, a tenant company that makes imaging products for underwater remotely operated vehicles. There was a seminar on Big Data at Acadia and a business idea competition winner was announced at University of New Brunswick.
Most of the startup-related programs are only a few years old, and they will continue to evolve in coming years. How they evolve is a matter of huge importance for the whole startup community, because universities boast the most fertile soil for growing startups in the region. (Disclaimer: several universities advertise in and/or sponsor Entrevestor.)
So here are three thoughts on how the academic side of entrepreneurship can, may or should develop in the next few years:
1. Quality will count in the future.
The Atlantic Canadian startup community is becoming divided into two tiers. Startups in the first tier are producing innovative products that are finding market demand; those in the second are receiving well-intentioned encouragement, but not the sales or funding they’re hoping for.
The universities that gain attention in the future will be those that produce the greatest number of startups in the top tier. They will undoubtedly be the institutions that do the best job of marrying the skills of researchers (in engineering, computer science, medicine, etc.) with entrepreneurship students. The thing that is distinguishing the A-teams these days is the originality and adaptability of their technology.
2. There’s a huge opportunity in technology sales.
Virtually every startup – especially IT companies, but others as well – needs computer programmers. Luckily, universities are producing them. But the need for sales talent is almost as acute, yet there are no dedicated programs for technology sales.
There are marketing courses, but a tech sales program would be more focused. It would teach students a fundamental understanding about modern technology, and the skill set needed to sell it. These would include developing sales leads, engaging clients, understanding client pain and learning how to close a deal. Such a course would also deal with sales strategy and business development.
Any university offering a tech sales program would draw immediate interest from Atlantic Canada and beyond.
3. There’s a market for computer science for non-geeks.
Computer science enrollment is rising -- but not enough to meet the massive demand for developers. There’s a need for an institution – and it could be a community college – that can attract people into computer science, and nurture them through the steep learning curve at the outset.
In particular, some institution -- possibly a community college -- should do a marketing assessment of what female students interested in tech would like to see in a course, and structure a program accordingly. One of the difficulties in getting started in computer science is that rookies find themselves in a class with die-hard tech aficionados who have already taught themselves first-year university material in their spare time.
It’s difficult for someone new to technology to make the initial first steps. It’s doubly difficult for female students in a male-dominated world like IT.
Disclaimer: Entrevestor receives financial support from government agencies that support startup companies in Atlantic Canada. The sponsoring agencies play no role in determining which companies and individuals are featured in this column, nor do they review columns before they are published.
