I was recently asked whether there is an ideal path that one should follow in school and university to prepare oneself for the world of entrepreneurship. My straight up answer for that is, no one path is better than another to help you become a successful entrepreneur, an inner drive to be one is a great boos however ! My major at university was Economics and I minored in an interesting elective which was, Technopreneurship (a lot to do with commercializing intellectual property). Both gave me a strong fundamental base in understanding market dynamics and getting your product/service to the market place effectively. The path I chose lacked the development of any technical expertise, and this is something that I look for when assessing potential partners.

Irrespective of the path that is taken, sacrifices will have to be made. One thing that I would advocate is, become extremely adept in one core skill set and continuously develop it. I have always enjoyed marketing and sales, and do my best to keep honing my skills in these domains. Having a core competency is of tremendous value when you enter the world of entrepreneurship. By not developing ourselves in a certain function or area, we limit our ability substantially to add value to the teams that we will either create or join.

In conclusion, if there is one piece of advice to those who are still studying, it is, actively develop yourself in a function or area that you are truly passionate about. This does not have to be your major or minor, it could be something that you could develop in parallel. There is no right or wrong path on the entrepreneurship route. It is however an ability to see and pin point particular niches where problems exist, and provide solutions to them in an effective manner. The key is to be able to identify these problems and areas, and come up with correct and winning solutions.