Why should you study entrepreneurship?

Why entrepreneurship? Here at La Salle in Barcelona, we have been asking this question of ourselves, and looking for successful models that we can apply to foster innovation and entrepreneurship among our students at the undergraduate, master, and doctoral levels. The goal is to provide an alternative to working for a big company, opportunities that seem increasingly scarce. First of all, how important is entrepreneurship in business? First, we see the tremendous success of some exemplar technology start-up companies like Apple, HP, Google, Facebook, etc. These inspiring success stories are not limited to the U.S. either: Skype and Spotify (both founded in Sweden) have become household names. Easyjet and Ryanair have disrupted the airline industry in Europe, following the path blazed by Southwest in the U.S.  Richard Branson's Virgin has challenged industry rules in music, air travel, telecommunications and more. Here in Spain we have some great success stories too: Privalia and BuyVIP have shaken up the fashion retail sector, while Ferran Adriá through his restaurant El Bulli has brought a level of creativity and precision to Catalan cuisine which has made it world-famous. Fame and fortune, and the opportunity to change the world are definitely attractions, but the other side of the coin is that most startups fail. We're told this over and over, and you hear something like 90% of startups fail. This aspect is scary, and anyone who has worked in a startup can tell you how difficult it is. I'll never forget the first startup where I spent a year of my life working 7 days a week and countless hours to build our vision of a multimedia, try-it-before-you-buy-it kiosk in record stores (that's what we used to call them), only to have the Internet smash our business model while we burned through $20 million in funding. Internet start-ups had some amazing years, but the stock market devastated many of those efforts when the bubble burst in 2001.  In the end, I still wouldn't trade the experience for anything, and afterward you find yourself looking for another chance to change the world. More recent modest successes are great, but you're always stuck wondering about the "one that got away". Policy-makers worldwide see tremendous value in startups as a way to drive economic growth.