Entrepreneurship Alliance students do much of their learning outside the classroom—sometimes way outside.
There seems to be a trend among a select group of entrepreneurship students at the University of Missouri. When a student graduates from or participates in the Entrepreneurship Alliance program at MU, a new business often follows.
Influence & Co., Trade Serve and Igniting Business—all based in Columbia—were founded by university entrepreneurship students, to name a few, and even more are working at local innovative companies like Veteran’s United.
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It wasn’t like this three years ago when Greg Bier, a business professor and intrapreneur himself, was helping lead the university’s entrepreneurship group, called the Flegel Academy for Aspiring Entrepreneurs, which primarily brought in speakers to a group of scholarship students.
In 2011, with sponsorship from David and Suzie Spence, the Entrepreneurship Alliance grew out of its predecessor to help students not only learn about entrepreneurship, but gain entrepreneurship experience by doing. Bier (left) became the director of the program.
“Most entrepreneurship programs involve coursework on business planning, product development, marketing, etc.,” according to the program’s mission statement online. “The EA took this approach to another level based on the fact that many students finished these programs but still lacked the skills and personality traits to execute an idea.”
Students across all disciplines—from journalism to business—are not only executing ideas through this Alliance, but staying in Columbia.
“When a good student graduates, we want them to stay here in Columbia and use the network they have become a part of to start a business,” Bier said. “Therefore, it is very important to me that we get students engaged in the community.”
This semester’s 28 new students will complete the program with community experience and join 20 to 30 other program alumni. Students pursuing an entrepreneurship minor through the Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business apply and then complete a competitive interview process to join the program. If accepted, students first take Experimental Entrepreneurship, a class taught by Bier.
As part of the unconventional class, EA students participate in Startup Weekend Columbia, compete in Columbia’s #BOOM Bounce Pitch Competition, complete team building exercises at Venture Out, take acting seminars and create business plans. Outside of the class, they complete internships and capstones while benefiting from business luncheons and a network of business speakers and professionals.
The students first and foremost learn by doing.
“Those things you just don’t learn in a classroom,” Bier said. “So we’ve got classes on business planning, and those are great. But the problem is, students graduate understanding feasibility studies and business, but often times they just don’t have the guts to do it. Mizzou’s Entrepreneurship Alliance works to build those intangible skills such as leadership, team building, giving a great pitch … building a tolerance for risk, gaining self-confidence. We are creating entrepreneurs with the guts needed to get started.”
It’s an entrepreneurship education for the twenty-frst century, and Bier couldn’t be happier.
“I get to see them grow right in front of my eyes,” he said.
Journalism students in the Entrepreneurship Alliance made a video to show off the program:
Credits: Photo from Entrepreneurship Alliance website. Video from MU Business School on YouTube.
