Forgotten Genius #2: Essential Skills You Might Have Missed

In Response to a Community Insight

Following my article "Forgotten Genius: The Tragic End of University Projects in Sri Lanka," a reader commented: "Well said! ???? But I believe the students also have a role in learning how to pitch to investors. If they can approach the right person and show how a good ROI is achieved then nothing is impossible."

Inspired by this insight, I have crafted this article from my personal experiences transitioning from a university student to a startup founder. Herein, I explore six essential skills ranging from leadership to adaptability that are crucial for any aspiring entrepreneur seeking to navigate the challenging leap from academic projects to the competitive startup arena. This article distills the critical skills I've learned and continues to apply as I develop my startup.

1. Soft Skills: Leadership, Teamwork, and Communication

A successful startup hinges on more than just a great idea, it requires a great team. Investors often bank more on the team, especially when a full-fledged product isn’t in play. Thus, soft skills like leadership, teamwork, and communication are indispensable. Pitching is an art vastly different from academic presentations; it requires practice, feedback, and refinement. There are ample resources available to learn these skills, such as the Raw Startup channel on YouTube, which offers insights into crafting compelling pitches. Your pitch deck, in particular, should be perfectly simple yet captivating and brief. Remember, the initial pitches are primarily for learning and refining your approach. It's not uncommon to pitch over 50 times, experiencing many rejections, to perfect your delivery.

2. Legal and Regulatory Knowledge

A critical oversight for many undergraduates is the rush to publish their innovative work immediately after project completion, which can severely limit commercial prospects. Understanding intellectual property and the patent process is vital from the project's inception. While obtaining a patent can be costly, numerous grants and financial support options exist to secure your innovations. It is paramount to protect your ideas as they can be easily stolen if they are publicly disclosed without protection.

3. Business Acumen

Business acumen is essential for translating a technical project into a successful startup. Many engineering students bypass courses in Accounting, Business Management, and Human Resources, deeming them irrelevant. However, these subjects are crucial for understanding how to manage a business, attract investors, and navigate financial rounds. It is often necessary for students to self-educate on these topics to build a solid foundation for their future ventures.

4. Technical Skills and R&D

Turning a concept into a commercially viable product requires strong technical and research and development skills. This includes understanding the steps from prototype development to a market-ready product, involving various testing phases and, for medical products, regulatory approvals, and clinical trials. These aspects are seldom covered in university courses, necessitating that ambitious students seek out this knowledge independently or consult with experts.

5. Project Management

Project management is crucial, particularly time and resource management. Post-graduation is a pivotal time as startup enthusiasts often forego immediate job opportunities to develop their ventures without a stable income. Effective management of time, resources, and relationships with co-founders and advisors is essential for maintaining momentum and steering the startup toward success.

6. Continual Learning and Adaptability

Finally, the ability to continually learn and adapt is crucial. The startup journey is laden with risks and uncertainties, and fostering a growth mindset is indispensable. Thinking outside the box, taking calculated risks, and learning from each setback is part of the process. As I often say, "Do what scares you," because it is through tackling our fears that we grow most significantly.

Conclusion: A Call to Cultivate Startup Culture in Academia

These insights stem from my journey with BCan and are shared not as an expert's dictum but from one learner to another, aiming to empower undergraduates with aspirations to innovate. Let us transform our potential into impactful ventures.

Stay tuned as I explore each of these skills in more depth in future articles. Your entrepreneurial journey begins now embrace it with zeal and a commitment to continuous learning.