Career aspects of having a startup as a student

1. Student Startup !1
Career Aspects of Having a Startup as a Student
Onindo Ahmed
onindo.ahmed@gmail.com
April 13, 2017

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work is dedicated to Seema Nawreen, my mother, who taught me how to dream
and turn those dreams into reality. My heartiest gratitude to Mr Nurul Anwar, my course
instructor and mentor, I would never be able to finish this work without his kind support and
guidance. Special thanks to my younger brother Oritro Ahmed, who motivates me to stay
focused and set examples instead of just thinking or talking about things.

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ABSTRACT
The main objective of my research paper “Career Aspects of Having a Startup as a
Student” is to discuss student having innovative businesses and its impacts on their career.
This research intends to explore the possibilities of being a student entrepreneur, to know
what students think and know about startups and how having startups can help them to
acquire important life skills that can help them to prepare themselves for the rapid career
changes in near future. This study examined the awareness among students about the startup
scenario in Bangladesh, future prospects of students being interested to have their own
startups, how maintaining a part time business can help them become more successful as
leaders, managers and team players. The study revealed that the number of students interested
to have their own startups is rising. Many of them are considering it seriously, many of them
maintaining their businesses successfully and while some other learnt important lessons from
their previous failed attempts. However, having a startup has some risk factors but this is
something that worths investing money, time and energy for. The study uncovered the future
prospects of being student entrepreneur and the perception of students about having startups.

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INDEX
INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………..5
BACKGROUND ………………………………………………………………7
RESEARCH QUESTIONS ……………………………………………………8
HYPOTHESIS …………………………………………………………………9
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ……………………………………………..10
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS …………………………………..11
SUMMARY OF RESEARCH FINDINGS ……………………………………20
RECOMMENDATIONS ………………………………………………………21
REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………23

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INTRODUCTION
A start up is a small business that intends to solve an existing problem of our society
with an innovative approach. It does not necessarily need any scalable business model or
serious profit making structure, the primary focus of a start up is to address an issue and
introducing a new solution in order to contribute to the development of the society. As
student life is the most energetic, creative and productive period of human life, it is
considered to be the best time to think about giving back to the society. Working on an idea to
bring some positive changes can help young people achieve the real life experiences and
skills that schools can not teach them. It can help them stand out as more compassionate,
courageous and competent individuals with entrepreneurial mindsets, empathy and
leadership. It can also help them acquire the necessary relevant experiences and skills they
need before they apply for their first full time job.
The focus of my research will be on how having a start up as a student can benefit an
individual’s career. Bangladesh has a high number of educated unemployed youth- which is a
very pressing issue. The problem is only good academic records are not enough to compete
with the finest candidates for a job. Jobs require specific set of skills, leadership abilities,
related experiences and adaptive mindset that can not be achieved without any previous
history of working on a real project. Having a start up as a student can actually help
somebody to brainstorm about solving a particular problem thus enhancing their critical
reasoning ability, work with a team, create networks, apply their theoretical knowledge on a
real problem and realizing the value of time thus learning the professionalism they need to
work at a big organization in the long run. Through my research work, I want to find out how

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many of the students feel the necessity of working on a start up, how many of them have start
ups, did they feel any change in them or not while working on their projects, which are the
skills that can be enhanced through working on a start up. I hope to find all the answers to
these questions through my research work so that more students can understand the value of
having a start up as a student.
Talking about startups is a dire need now as the way we think about jobs is going to
come to an end soon. According to the World Economic Forum (2016), soon there will be a
4th Industrial Revolution that will bring a lot of possibilities and a lot of destruction along
with it. Because many jobs that we have today will be completely irrelevant after the 4IR.
Only the people with adaptability and problem solving attitude will sustain at that time. So
entrepreneurial mindset will become an exclusive feature of a human being that will keep
them relevant even after the rise of machines, extensive use of internet of things and artificial
intelligence. Innovative business structures are needed for the future sustainability, as many
jobs of humans are going to be replaced by more efficient robots and machines.
So the necessity of self-employment and nurturing future oriented skills is immensely
felt. Innovative business models should be developed in order to keep pace with the rapid
changes of near future.

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BACKGROUND
A startup named Apple was founded on 1976, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and
Ronald Wayne in a garage as a startup. Jobs was convinced that all future computers would
use a graphical user interface (GUI), and development of a GUI. On December 12, 1980,
Apple went public at $22 per share, generating more capital than any IPO since Ford Motor
Company in 1956 and instantly creating more millionaires (about 300) than any company in
history. Startups have the power to shape the future. Without that tiny startup with a crazy
idea in a garage we would not see the world as we see it today. [1]
We are now standing on the brink of a technological revolution that will change the
way we live. In its scale, scope, and complexity, the transformation will be unlike anything
the world has ever seen before. The first Industrial Revolution used water and steam power to
mechanize production. The Second used electric power to create mass production. The Third
used electronics and information technology to automate production. Now a Fourth Industrial
Revolution is going to start which will be characterized by a fusion of technologies that is
blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres. When compared with
previous industrial revolutions, it’s bigger and faster. The possibilities of billions of people
connected by mobile devices, with unprecedented processing power, storage capacity, and
access to knowledge, are unlimited. And these possibilities will be multiplied by emerging
technology breakthroughs in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of
Things, autonomous vehicles, 3-D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, materials
science, energy storage, and quantum computing. So we need to think beyond traditional job
market to keep pace with the ever changing world. [2]

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RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Everything that concerns startups and student life should be analyzed very carefully.
Founding a startup can be a challenging thing to do for a student as it involves money, time,
energy, resources and even reputation or image. So I decided to investigate the reasons
students should pursue self employment or the reasons the project may fail so that they can
understand the whole scenario and try to find solutions for a better risk management. I
preferred human centered approach while designing this research questionnaire- it was
designed in a way that the questions do not look too serious but still the answers will lead to
the desired findings. Both open and close ended questions were there for the primary
research, the research was conducted on students of age ranging from 13 to 25 and above on
equal number of male and female candidates. Some of those questions include-
• How much familiar are the students with the term ‘startup’?
• Do or did they have a startup?
• Do they know any student entrepreneur?
• Their perception about student entrepreneurs-
Are they better leaders?
Are they better at financial management?
Are they better at doing jobs?
• Do they create their own career opportunities?
• Whether they have given up on their startups or not, if yes then what is the reason?

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HYPOTHESIS
Having a start up as a student can be helpful but can also have side effects. From my
research I expected to find that students have learnt to manage their priorities while working
on their start ups. Since most students become frustrated about the fact that they need
experiences and different skills to have a job, I hoped to see being a student entrepreneur as a
solution to this problem. I expected to see a good number of students setting up their own
start ups as it indicates this generation has the compassion and courage to start something on
their own. I also expected to see it affecting their career in a good way, enabling them to
contribute to the society more successfully.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
For my primary research I conducted a survey on the students or fresh graduates of
Bangladesh, especially those who are the full-time students and are successfully managing
their start ups and those who had start ups when they were students to find out the effects of
being a student entrepreneur and how it can help being better at pursuing one’s career. I want
ed to find out how much change they have felt in themselves while working on their start ups.
To get these answers I designed a questionnaire with different types of multiple choice
questions or open ended questions. The answers will be definite, so I can generate
information and actual numbers which will help me to validate my initial assumptions.
For my secondary research, I used the resources of library to study the examples from
history of people with successful career who were previously student entrepreneurs. I studied
some biographies, magazines, journals and articles by prominent scholars. I also browsed the
internet and used standard search engines like Google.

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DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
In order to collect sufficient contextual data about the career aspects of having a
startup as a student I conducted a primary research on 20 college and university students, I
approached to equal number of male and female candidates to determine the participation and
influence of both the genders in our startup scenario. The findings are represented through
visual elements below-
Q 1. Are you familiar with the term ‘startup’?
Male
10%
90%
Yes No
Female
30%
70%
Yes No
Male
Female
0 2.25 4.5 6.75 9
Yes No

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Many students are well aware of the startup revolution in Bangladesh but still there
are some who are not familiar with the idea. From both the bar graph and the pie chart we can
clearly see that female candidates are less aware of the phenomena, 30% of them do not
know the term ‘startup’ and its meaning while 10% of the male candidates are unaware of
this. However, the bright side is that the majority of both male and female students know
about startups which means that self-employment is a popular idea now-a-days.
Q 2. Do or did you have a startup?
Male
40%
60%
Yes No
Female
60%
40%
Yes No
Male
Female
0 1.5 3 4.5 6
Yes No

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The number of people who are taking risk of having their own businesses are rising.
Surprisingly, most of the people who are familiar with the idea of startups have or had their
own startups. As we can see from the bar graph and the pie charts above, 60% of the male
candidates already have or had their own startups while the percentage of female candidates
having startups is 40%, which is less than the male candidates but it also shows that female
students are also participating in financial activities in their student life.
Q 3. If you do not have a startup then do you know any student entrepreneur?
Male
40%
60%
Yes No
Female
60%
40%
Yes No
Male
Female
0 1 2 3 4
Yes No

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This question was asked to only the candidates who said no in the previous question.
Female candidates showed more positive responses. 60% of the female candidates knew
other student entrepreneurs while 40% of the male candidates knew them. The more number
of female candidates not having startups can be one contributing factor, but it’s good to see
that a good percentage of female students know other student entrepreneurs. This is the sign
that female candidates have better company than the male candidates.
Q 4. Are the student entrepreneurs better as leaders?
Male
40%
60%
Yes Other
Female
60%
40%
Yes Other
0
1.5
3
4.5
6
Yes No Maybe I don't know
Male Female

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The objective of this question was to observe the perception students have towards the
startup owners. Nobody disagreed that the startup owners are better leaders, 60% from male
and 40% of the female candidates directly said yes to this question, while some remained
neutral or were unsure. It shows that owning a startup can make oneself look more competent
and they are known as better leaders to the other people. This is another factor that can be
considered before starting your own company.
Q 5. Are they better at financial management?
Male
40%
60%
Yes Other
Female
60%
40%
Yes Other
0
1.5
3
4.5
6
Yes No Maybe I don't know
Male Female

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When we were talking about financial management, many people were unsure because first
time entrepreneurs often do not understand the financial priorities and they are more emotion
driven at times. But business is a financial activity and starting a business can teach
somebody how to manage financial transactions, how to negotiate and where to invest. 60%
of the male candidates think startup owners are better financial managers whereas 40% of the
female candidates are positive about this.
Q 6. They are better at doing jobs-
Male
30%
70%
Positive Neutral Negative
Female
50% 50%
Positive Neutral Negative
0
1.5
3
4.5
6
Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree
Male Female

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General perception about startup is that the people who are not competitive enough to get
jobs are more serious about having their own startups. But surprisingly, most people think
having a startup can enhance the life skills of a person and can make him a better candidate
for a job. Also it may help them acquire their first hand experiences immediately after the
graduation. As we can see from the above infographics, nobody disagreed that startup owners
are better at doing jobs. 70% of the male and 50% of the female candidates showed positive
responses and the rest remained neutral.
Q 7. They create their own career opportunities-
Male
10%
90%
Positive Neutral Negative
Female
20%
80%
Positive Neutral Negative
0
1.25
2.5
3.75
5
Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree
Male Female

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Career opportunities are not miracles, they are created by the person who pursue them.
Understanding the career path, its possibilities, challenges and the ways to tackle them can be
tricky. Having your own startup can give you the right kind of experiences to understand
these things better. This can be the reason nobody disagreed to the statement that student
entrepreneurs create their own career opportunities.
Only 10% of the male candidates and 20% of the female candidates remained neutral.
The rest showed strong or moderate agreement to the statement. As we can see from the
above bar graph, equal number of male and female candidates showed strong support for the
statement and more male candidates agreed. This can be an interesting insight, as female
candidates seem to understand what they are saying and doing and they are more cautious
while responding to each questions.
Q 8. Have you given up on your startup?
0
1.5
3
4.5
6
I don't have a startup Yes No
Male Female

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It is a positive news that the number of startup dropouts is not that alarming as I assumed
before the survey. Despite all the challenges, many people are motivated enough to hold onto
their commitments. Among the people who have start ups, only 2 candidates, 1 from male
and 1 from female gender, said that they have given up on their startups. The rest showed
dedication and hopefulness to keep things up as long as they can. So our final and only open
ended question was as follows-
Q 9. What are the reasons for you to give up on your startup?
Total Responses: 2 (1 Male Participant, 1 Female Participant)
The reasons are-
1. Inefficient employees, lack of vision among the partners
2. Lack of investment and unity
So from the responses the frustrations of the student entrepreneurs are clearly shown.
The founders are often not on the same page, they may have different expectations from their
startup. Not having enough investment can be another reason for not being able to make
things work. Unity is a crucial part of starting a business as well. Infant, it is considered to be
the key to all the other problems mentioned above.

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SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH FINDINGS
My collected data and my initial hypothesis actually matches each other. Because I
initially thought that the idea of startups is getting popular day by day and the findings
suggest that too. I thought female candidates will be less aware of this and I was right.
Though I was surprised to see that the female participants are not as ignorant as I though they
would be. I am glad to see them getting stronger. I hoped to see startups helping students
getting the necessary skills and experiences and I am pleased to see it actually happening.
To summarize the answers of all the sections from the questionnaire, now-a-days
startup is a popular concept among the students. Most of the people knew about startups and
showed interest. Though the female candidates were less aware of the situation but those who
knew about this were more actively participating than the male candidates. Female candidates
proved to have better networks, they were more cautious while answering the questions
because they seem to know what their priorities should be. People have good perception
about startup owners, most of the candidates think student entrepreneurs are better leaders,
financial managers and more competent for the job market. Also the startup owners do not
easily give up on their startups, most of them stuck to their startups no matter how hard it is
and those who gave up on their startups have very good reasons for doing so. Lack of
investment, unity and vision are some key reasons that made them quit.

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CONCLUSION
The world economy, job market and skills needed to compete are rapidly changing.
We need to get ready for that. So more innovative ideas aligned to the future prospects of
business should be encouraged and student life is the best period to start something new. So
having startup as a student is something that should be promoted and helped. Important life
skills like leadership, negotiation and problem solving can be achieved by starting a business
so big organizations also should encourage young minds to work on their projects.
The world will not remain the same as we are seeing it today and the change will be
brought by this generation. So startups should not be underestimated or discouraged. Being a
student entrepreneur helps an individual to be a better careerist, a professional equipped with
actual experiences. Being successful is not necessary, because failure can also teach the
student entrepreneurs important life lessons that they can apply later on their professional
field. It can be considered as an experiment to learn new things.

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RECOMMENDATIONS
This research was conducted only on 20 people. So the findings might not represent
the whole scenario as it lacks diversity. However, a survey of a bigger scale on a more
diversified group should be conducted to explore more about this topic. Only one open ended
question can be limited. So I recommend more open ended questions to include on the survey
as well. More the secondary research I relied on free online journals and library books but the
results can be better with the help of interviews of some scholars and experts on this field.
Access to the databases of the news archives and university student profiles can come to help.
From the collected data and the findings it is evident that startups play a key role to
help students understand their field of study more and prepare themselves more for the job
market and create their own career path. So it is necessary for the authority to look more into
it and conduct bigger researches to provide the young entrepreneurs with the tools they need
to grow more and do more. If they can take their initiatives to the next level with the financial
help, proper monitorship and assistance, they can create more job opportunities for others as
well. A sustainable career structure can be created this way.

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REFERENCES
1. Weinberger, M. (March 12, 2017). 33 photos of the rise and fall of Apple in its
earliest days. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-
apple-in-photos-2017-3/#apple-was-cofounded-on-april-1-1976-by-steve-jobs-and-steve-
wozniak-in-los-altos-california-1
2. World Economic Forum. (2016). Global Agenda. The Fourth Industrial Revolution:
what it means, how to respond. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/
the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/