What can I teach MBA students about entrepreneurship?

I had the opportunity during the first week of January to be a guest lecturer for an intersession class at the University of Connecticut Business School, Stanford Campus. I met the professor, Brian Brady, when I worked with a client of mine, QBank Group, along with a team of MBA students. He asked if I might be willing to chat with his class about my experience as an entrepreneur, to give them some sense of what it’s like to go out and raise money, what sources you can utilize and what dynamics you might encounter in the process. He mentioned that the 36 members of the class would be sitting on my every breath. All I could say was “Oh, my goodness.”

To help me talk about my experiences, I put together a deck of slides. I talked about how someone knows whether they want to be an entrepreneur or not. It sounds good on paper, but it’s one of those things that’s not for everybody. I gave them a resource to read that was given to me, a book called “Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude,” by Napoleon Hill & W. Clement Stone. The message was, “Hey, if you read this book and you are jazzed, then you probably should consider being an entrepreneur. If you read it and it terrifies you, then you probably should stick with your day job.”

I did the corporate thing in real estate for more than 20 years, but along the way I always thought I wanted my own firm. Two to four years before leaving, I started the process: I decided on my branding, what my expertise was, and really took what I’ve learned and transitioned into it. This way, when I departed corporate America, I was ready, versus not having stopped to think about what I wanted to do. Receiving that book, in that time frame, helped me focus on what I was getting into. After almost four years, I’ve gotten into my regular routine of being an entrepreneur, which everybody thinks is a normal sequence.

I also talked about how important networking is: I said that, “As an entrepreneur, you’re going to network everyday, on an ongoing basis. Sometimes it will be formal, where you’re arranging meetings with folks you’ve met through networking groups like Gotham (which I explained a bit about). Other networking opportunities will be folks you meet along the way. You never know if there will be a connection.”

I gave them another resource, a book called “The 29% Solution” by Dr. Ivan Misner, PhD., which talks about 52 weekly strategies for becoming a better networker. It includes a self-assessment. A lot of students said they weren’t sure they would network, or that they didn’t like it or were afraid of it. I told the class that I started out feeling the same.

Networking is a skill, you learn it all the time. I’ve gotten better at it, though I’m still refining my elevator speech to make it more compelling: For example, to tell others that I worked on the redevelopment of Grand Central Terminal (which is something everybody can recognize). Networking isn’t all about you; it’s about the person you’re meeting and how you can help them. Thus, what goes around comes around. It’s better to give than to receive.

As an entrepreneur, you will constantly have a need for new financing and/or investors to help your enterprise reach the heights you have in mind. Networking becomes a critical element to finding these folks who are positively inclined to hear your story & join your journey. I encourage you to set aside time on a weekly basis to connect with friends & colleagues from the past, as an easy starting point. Drop me a line on how it’s going & how I might be able to help.

Curtis C. Battles