Dreaming in nine digits
There are only two ways to becoming a billionaire. The first option, of course, is inheritance. But if we are not born into money the only option left to us is to earn it ourselves. The problem with this second option, however, is that no job will ever pay enough for us to earn in the billions – unless of course, we are the Tiger Woods of this world.
So how does an LSE genius pursue this dream of his? The answer is simple: he doesn’t. The average student at the LSE does not dream of becoming an entrepreneur. And even if he does, he does not dream in billions.
The road to ultimate wealth is in fact pretty tough. Statistics will tell you that the majority of businesses fail within their first year. If that is not a blow to your confidence, then the fact that the ones that remain are more than likely to perish in their next 5 years might be. Even when you start to think to yourself that you might be the one who makes it through the first 5 years, the prospects are still not bright, as the great majority do not make it big, but stay relatively small, many employing no more than 10 people.
Entrepreneurs are a peculiar breed of people; some admire them and some laugh at them. Some doubt their abilities while others try to copy them. More, still, just watch them. The LSESU Entrepreneurs Society hosts one of the most exciting events to do with starting a new business. Pitch it! has been modelled along the lines of the popular BBC TV program ‘Dragon’s Den’ and now it attracts some of the brightest entrepreneurial spirits from the LSE. The competition is made up of three stages, and in the final stage the winners of each category (commercial and social) are revealed in front of a full audience of critical students, who come to judge the business ideas. It gets really hot as hard hours of long work get ripped apart by the dragons and critics in minutes. This year Julie Meyer and RBS, amongst others, will be on the judging panel. The competition is intense because the winners can gain the crucial seed funding they might need as long as they impress the judges. If, however, they do not manage to secure the funding they can still win over £3000 worth of cash prizes, as well as the most coveted award; the audience prize
LSE, unlike other top universities, is not very entrepreneurial; very few LSE graduates go on to create new businesses like Unimaid (student laundry), Nicube (careers oriented website) or 1eat (food club). Is this merely because we do not hear about such businesses, or is it that we are so engulfed in the race to secure top jobs that we don’t try to listen? Rumour has it that it is the university itself that tries to encourage students to search for jobs, rather than to unnecessarily gamble with starting up their own businesses, which statistically works out to be the worse option. Even in a course such as Management, which is meant to be the most entrepreneurial course at the University, we are taught all about the negative side to entrepreneurship, rather than being encouraged to take advantage a market full of opportunities.
It is almost as though the LSE is pressing us into deciding what to do with our lives; most of us will work in a firm for a few years and then, after gaining the necessary experience, will leave the payroll and start up on their own. Many of us will always stay in employment and, in a manner of speaking, live happily ever after. While some of us will take our ideas and try to persuade the world to accept them. Some will make it, some will not. Which one will you be?
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