ROBGO.ORG

I was having dinner with Bijan on Thursday in Palo Alto and we were talking about the entrepreneurial environment in Boston.

It’s a topic that has been often discussed. There are lots of reasons why the environment in Boston isn’t more vibrant. I’m now on a mini-quest to dig into life at some of our top schools and try to understand what their strengths and drawbacks are in this regard. I think there are some creative things that venture capitalists and entrepreneurs can do to push things forward. But I need to learn more.

I had a related conversation yesterday that has really been bothering me. A professor at a top business school was advising a student about his summer plans (this professor taught a required entrepreneurship course). The student was considering a number of options – start-ups, operating roles at tech companies, VC, and consulting.

Shockingly, this professor convinced this student to eventually take a job at a top consulting firm. He gave a bunch of reasons like the usefulness of consulting frameworks, exposure to high-level issues at leading technology companies, etc.

I was a consultant myself in the past, but I just can’t believe that an entrepreneurship professor would ever suggest this. This student had a great resume, well rounded work experience, and should have been encouraged to “go for it” and do something entrepreneurial. Instead, he was advised to take the safe route and go learn some “frameworks”.

This is a problem.

I think I’m going to expound more in a couple future blog posts. Stay tuned.