William and Joyce Cummings Professor of Entrepreneurship and Business
In your class, do you have to divest some hopeful entrepreneurs
of a few illusions?
Yes. One thing I try to get across
right at the very beginning is that the course load is
probably the most work they will do in any course they
have at Tufts.
That scares off a number. I tell them the class is going to be some of the most
fun they will have. And finally, if they think that I’m going to make them
into entrepreneurs, they’re wrong. I can help them to see what is and what
is not an effective entrepreneurial opportunity. But the idea that anyone can
turn out guaranteed entrepreneurs is ridiculous.
Tell me a little bit about the
I give a series of lectures, usually about ten; that’s
about a third of the course. The idea is to set the scene in terms of what
how to create an entrepreneurial venture, the type of things that will make
for a successful venture. Some of the nitty-gritty. That is all scene-setting
trying to give the students a framework within which they can then operate.
rest is essentially done by the students. I place them into groups of four
or five, and each group is then allocated a case study. The intent is
the cases to highlight some of the principles that have been developed
in my part of the course, and also to give the students
some kind of hands-on
with looking at companies, analyzing data, trying to make sense of them.
kind of questions do they ask?
The idea of each case is to ask: What is the entrepreneurial
opportunity? How has the company exploited it? How is the company protecting
its position? How good an opportunity does it appear to be? What are the
threats that the company might face? Does it seem to be adopting the correct
Do the students have to come up with their own ideas
I also have the students developing a business plan for a new company. This
is the last and most challenging part of the course: coming up with an idea
developing it. Once they have settled on a concept, they have to develop the
business plan. They have to research the opportunity, research the market,
research the competition, and finally, present the plan to the class.
Have you had some amusing ones over the years?
One last year was—perhaps, in some sense,
it was the least adventurous—but
it was in many ways also one of the most interesting. The group decided
that they would actually set up a Subway franchise. What they did then
Subway to get all the information on what was required to set up a franchise.
And they managed to get even further. Subway was tremendously helpful,
inviting the students to come along to one of their franchise meetings
was advising potential partners on exactly what they look for in a franchisee.
the students sat in and had a great experience. They even found a market
opportunity for Subway that the company thought might actually work.
So that one was particularly
Any characteristics you see in the successful students?
They’re willing to take risks. I have always been impressed by the intelligence
of students at Tufts, their drive, their recognition that if they are going to
expect to succeed then they have got to put the effort in. What I do is try to
set up the basic principles that have the potential for making a successful entrepreneurial
venture. But in the end, success or otherwise comes down to the individuals involved
and what they put into it. To an extent it’s luck, but there’s no
question that the more work you put in, the luckier you’re likely to be.
Careful planning is essential, as is an honest recognition of what the risks
are. If you get all that right, then there’s the chance that your
venture will be successful.