在哈佛 沃頓 哥倫比亞 MBA創業熱正如火如荼

On their Kickstarter video, Columbia Business School MBA candidates Connor Wilson and Nolan Walsh stand in a room where a group of male and female models cavorts around a pile of boots and shoes as they shower dollar bills upon it. “Welcome to the world of fast fashion,” Walsh says. “Models, celebrities, and huge advertising budgets, all designed to sell us inferior products that wear out quickly.”

在衆籌網站Kickstarter上發佈的宣傳視頻中，哥倫比亞商學院MBA學生康納o威爾遜和諾蘭o沃爾什站在一個房間裏，一羣男女模特圍着一堆靴子和鞋子歡欣跳躍，而威爾遜和沃爾什則朝着那堆鞋子撒美鈔。沃爾什說：“歡迎來到快時尚的世界，模特、名人以及鉅額廣告預算都是爲了向我們兜售不耐穿的劣質產品。”

The Kickstarter campaign set a record for sales in the first 24 hours, and Wilson and Walsh have received more than $275,000 in orders for their $199 Thursday Boot Company boots. Production started about a few months ago.

這則視頻在24小時內帶來了一個銷售記錄，威爾遜和沃爾什的星期四靴業公司接到了超過27.5萬美元的訂單，購買他們199美元一雙的靴子。該產品已於數月前開始生產。

“I really like the idea of growing something small into something big,” says Wilson, a former investment analyst and portfolio manager for Thornburg Investment Management.

威爾遜之前是索恩伯格投資管理公司的一名分析師及投資組合經理，他表示：“我真的很喜歡這種將小業務做大的想法。”

The two Columbia MBAs are part of a striking trend among business school students toward entrepreneurship. MBA program officials are seeing dramatic growth in student demand—including, for example, annual increases of 20% to 30% at Harvard Business School—for entrepreneurship-related offerings. Increasingly, MBAs are rushing to apply their business skills to their own enterprises.

威爾遜和沃爾什兩人是商學院學生創業熱潮的真實縮影。MBA項目工作人員發現，學生對創業相關課程的需求顯著增加，比如說在哈佛商學院這一需求的年增幅爲20％-30％。越來越多地， MBA學生正迫不及待的將其商業技能應用於自有的企業。

The Graduate Management Admission Council’s recently released 2014 Alumni Perspectives Report reveals a significant rise in the number of business school graduates launching new businesses. From a survey of self-employed alumni who graduated from 1959 to 2013, GMAC has found that 45% of 2010-2013 grads started businesses directly after finishing B-school, while 80% of self-employed alumni from years past worked several years for an employer before embarking on entrepreneurial ventures.

美國管理專業研究生入學考試委員會新近發佈的2014年校友展望報告顯示，創辦新企業的商學院畢業生大大增多。該委員會對1959至2013年畢業的個體經營者校友調查顯示，45％的2010至2013屆畢業生，剛從商學院畢業就直接自行創辦企業。而往年畢業的個體經營者校友中，有80％的人是工作幾年後纔開始創業。

Wilson says he and Walsh, both 29 years old and interested in “fashion broadly and boots specifically,” identified a market gap between “precious,” costly boots sold at a high markup and “cheap, low-quality fashion brands.” They also saw an opportunity to combine the durability of work boots with a fashionable product, Wilson says.

威爾遜與沃爾什都年僅29歲，威爾遜表示，他們兩人都對“整個時尚產業特別是靴子”很感興趣，並且發現在標價過高的“高價”靴子與“廉價劣質的時尚品牌”間存在市場空白。威爾遜稱，他們還發現了將時尚性與工裝靴的耐用性相結合的商機。

Wilson say that he went to business school to become an entrepreneur, and he chose Columbia because of the quality of education, its focus on entrepreneurialism—Dean Glenn Hubbard has for more than a decade touted the school’s entrepreneurial offerings—and its location in New York City, now reported to be the nation’s second-largest startup ecosystem, behind Silicon Valley.

威爾遜稱，他讀商學院是爲了成爲一名企業家，而他之所以選擇哥倫比亞商學院，一是因爲該校教育質量卓越，且重視培養企業家精神——十多年來，哥倫比亞商學院院長格倫o哈伯德一直大肆宣傳該院的創業相關課程；二是因爲該校位於紐約，而紐約據報道目前是全美第二大創業基地，僅次於硅谷。

Columbia mentors, including 37 Angels founder Angela Lee, helped the two students, and they received assistance from the Columbia Startup Lab’s summer program, where they took advantage of office space, legal advice, and marketing expertise, Wilson says.

威爾遜表示，他和沃爾什獲得了包括37 Angels創始人安吉拉o李在內的哥倫比亞大學導師的幫助，並得到了哥倫比亞創業實驗室暑期項目的支持，後者向他們提供了辦公場地、法律諮詢以及市場營銷專業知識。

“That was where we hashed out the idea that became Thursday Boots,” Wilson says.

威爾遜說：“創辦星期四靴業的想法就誕生於此。”

Across the U.S., business schools are ramping up entrepreneurship programming, as students pursue dreams of lucrative innovation, and startup glory.

鑑於MBA學生紛紛追尋創業夢想，期望通過創新獲得豐厚利潤和輝煌成就，美國各地的商學院都在增設與創業相關的課程。

At the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School’s Goergen Entrepreneurial Management Program, lecturer Patrick FitzGerald has seen a tripling in the number of his students setting forth post-haste into entrepreneurial enterprises over the last four years. Now, 7% of Wharton students are starting companies right after graduation, a five-fold increase over 2007, FitzGerald says.

賓夕法尼亞大學沃頓商學院高爾根創業管理項目講師帕特里克o菲茨傑拉德看到，過去四年來，匆匆進入創業企業的學生數量增長了兩倍。菲茨傑拉德表示，如今，沃頓商學院有7％的學生畢業後立即自行創業，這一比例是2007年的5倍。

At the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School, some 40% of the class of 2015, 103 out of 280 students, are studying entrepreneurship—a “recent surge,” says Ted Zoller, director of the school’s Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.

北卡羅萊納大學凱南-弗拉格勒商學院創業研究中心負責人泰德o佐勒表示，該院2015屆學生學習創業課程的比例“近來激增”， 280名學生中有103人在學習此類課程，佔比約 40%。

“Entrepreneurship is entering the mainstream in the economy and therefore it’s starting to enter the mainstream in the business schools,” Zoller says. “You’re starting to see people increasingly seeking out high-growth venturing as a pathway for their professional success.”

佐勒表示：“創業正成爲經濟的中流砥柱，因此，它也開始成爲商學院的主流。越來越多的商學院學生正在尋找高增長性的創業機遇，作爲通往職業成功的途徑。”

The U.S. tech boom, expanding from the West Coast, has served as the primary impetus toward entrepreneurship, Zoller says.

佐勒稱，由美國西海岸蔓延開來的科技熱潮是創業熱的主要推動力。

“We’ve seen really the rebirth of Silicon Valley, and the most important companies that are making strides are the ones that have IPO’d in the last five years,” Zoller says. “Students are increasingly interested in these types of companies.”

佐勒說：“我們見證了硅谷的重生，那些正快速發展的大牌企業，很多都是在過去5年內上市的。學生們對此類企業的興趣日益濃厚。”

At the same time, technological advances and the availability of cheaper talent, such as skilled bachelor’s degree graduates, outside Silicon Valley have made it easier and far less expensive to start companies, FitzGerald says.

菲茨傑拉德表示，與此同時，技術發展以及在硅谷以外僱傭嫺熟的本科生的成本下降，使得創業更加容易，創業成本也大大降低。

“Where it used to cost $200,000, you can now build a company for half that,” FitzGerald says. “You can build something quite quickly and quite cheaply.”

菲茨傑拉德表示：“過去，創建一家公司需要花費 20萬美元，如今只需花一半的錢。現在，你可以實現迅速且低成本創業。”

As these tech-driven companies are spreading, highly ranked business schools are right on their heels, Zoller says. “Any top 20 business school needs to be relevant in every technology hotspot,” Zoller says. “You’re seeing all the major business schools focusing on New York, Chicago, Boston, Silicon Valley, and increasingly overseas: Shanghai, London.

佐勒表示，隨着這些科技驅動型公司不斷擴張，頂尖商學院正緊隨其後。佐勒說：“排名前20的商學院都需要佔據所有技術熱點地區。我們可以看到，美國各大商學院正聚焦紐約、芝加哥、波士頓、硅谷，並日益關注海外，比如上海、倫敦等地。”

“In tomorrow’s business market, business schools will need to be where the greatest growth is.”

“在未來的商學院教育市場上，商學院需要佔據增長最快的地區。”

Many schools are planning satellite operations in these tech hubs, and they are forging links with graduates already entrenched in them.

許多商學院正計劃在上述科技中心運作衛星項目。他們正與已經紮根上述地區的畢業生建立聯繫。

“Many of them have built the capacity to create a really cohesive cadre of alumni in each of these markets that helps their students get placed and become leaders in the given region,” Zoller says.

佐勒說：“許多商學院已經有能力在上述各市場建立真正具有凝聚力的校友網絡，幫助本院學生在特定地區落腳，併成爲地區領袖。”

Stanford’s Graduate School of Business saw a considerable jump in interest in entrepreneurship in the class of 2013, with 18% of grads starting businesses within a year, compared to 13% in 2012. The percentage didn’t change much in 2014 over 2013, but the types of startups did. Seventeen per cent of class of 2013 entrepreneurs went into finance, 13% into Internet services, and 11% into media and entertainment. In 2014, those who went into finance dropped to 11%, while Internet services and media and entertainment both plummeted to 2%; 9% went into each of three areas: energy and clean technology; health care; and software.

斯坦福大學商學院發現，該院2013屆畢業生對創業的興趣大增，18%的學生在畢業1年內創業，而2012年該比例爲13%。2014年與2013年相比，創業比例變化不大，但創業公司的類型發生了很大變化。2013屆畢業生中，17%的創業者選擇了金融行業，13%選擇了互聯網服務業，另有11%選擇了媒體和娛樂行業。2014年，進入金融業的創業者比例降至11%，選擇互聯網服務以及媒體和娛樂行業的比例雙雙跌至2%；而進入能源與環保技術、衛生保健和軟件這三個領域的創業者比例均達到9%。

This year, Kenan-Flagler started the Adams Apprenticeship program, selecting the top entrepreneurial prospects from its student body to work with UNC entrepreneur alumni for a year, with each participant committing to becoming an entrepreneur within five years of graduation.

今年，凱南-弗拉格勒商學院開啓了亞當斯學徒項目，從該院學生中選擇最具潛力的未來企業家，與北卡羅萊納大學企業家校友共事1年，所有參與者都致力於在畢業5年內成長爲企業家。

Demand for the Harvard Business School’s Rock Center for Entrepreneurship’s services has been surging in recent years, says director Meredith McPherron. The center’s New Venture Competition matches students with mentors and judges around the world as they develop and ultimately pitch their ventures.

哈佛商學院洛克創業中心負責人梅雷迪思o香農表示，近年來，對該中心服務的需求大漲。該中心的創業大賽在學生開發並最終推銷自身創業項目的過程中，將他們與導師和來自世界各地的裁判配對。

In the Rock Accelerator program, which receives more than 120 applications for 20 spaces, student founder teams receive $5,000 to $8,000 to work on business ideas, while student “Venture Partners” help select and support participant teams. In the Summer Fellowship program, students either work at an existing startup or work on their own startup, between their first and second years. “Over the last couple years, we’ve had enormous pickup in demand on that,” McPherron says.

在洛克加速器項目中，120多位申請者競爭20個席位，學生創始人團隊獲得5000-8000美元，用於實現其商業創意，而學生“創業夥伴”則幫助選擇並支持參賽團隊。在夏季獎學金項目中，學生在第一學年和第二學年之間，可在已有的新創企業中就職，或者自行創建新創企業。香農說：“過去幾年，對此項目的需求大大增加。”

Although HBS recruiting reports show that the number of students who didn’t seek employment because they were starting their own businesses hovered at 7% from 2012 to 2014, half of its graduates are entrepreneurs by 15 years after finishing school, according to HBS. Student debt is a main factor behind that timing, McPherron says. To help graduates jump into startups, HBS gives out 20 to 25 debt reductions per year, valued at $10,000 to $20,000 each. “You have to be a founder with an idea with traction, that has shown some merit,” McPherron says. Two years ago, responding to increased demand for the reductions, McPherron asked for and received more funding for the program, which pushed reduction amounts toward $20,000, McPherron says.

儘管哈佛商學院的招聘報告顯示，2012-2014年間，因自行創業而未求職的學生比例一直在7％左右徘徊，但據該院稱，畢業15年時，其半數畢業生都成了企業家。香農表示，哈佛畢業生創業時機選擇背後的一大因素是學生貸款。爲了幫助畢業生創業，哈佛商學院每年給出20到25個債務減免名額，各減免1萬-2萬美元。香農表示：“你必須是創始人，有一個具有吸引力且已經展現出價值的創意。”兩年前，鑑於對債務減免的需求增加，香農爲該項目申請並獲得了更多資金，將減免上限提升到2萬美元。

Among the top B-schools, there are stated divisions in what entrepreneurial roles they’re training their graduates to enter. Wharton, says FitzGerald, is chock full of MBA candidates champing at the bit to launch companies and replicate the achievements of Wharton alumni startups such as smartphone-based payment app developer Venmo; eyewear retailer Warby Parker; startup investor SeedInvest; and baby products company Quidsi, which was bought by Amazon for $545 million in 2010.

在頂級商學院中，對於將自家畢業生培養成哪種企業家，各家區別明顯。菲茨傑拉德稱，沃頓商學院到處都是急於創業，想要複製該院校友成功故事的MBA學生。該院校友大獲成功的初創企業包括基於智能手機的支付應用程序開發商Venmo；眼鏡零售商Warby Parker；初創企業投資公司SeedInvest；以及2010年被亞馬遜以5.45億美元收購的嬰兒用品公司Quidsi。

“They see the successes of those companies and realize that there’s a real possibility that [their] startup can do well,” FitzGerald says.

菲茨傑拉德表示：“他們看到了上述公司的成功，並認識到自己的初創企業也真的有可能獲得成功。”

At Kenan-Flagler, Zoller says they’re taking a different approach, combating the media’s “prototype of the successful entrepreneur being the maven, the Steve Jobs profile, the Larry Page,” Zoller says. “We are finding that entrepreneurs are more everyday entrepreneurs, people who run businesses that are making huge contributions but may not be necessarily brand names,” he says.

佐勒稱，在凱南-弗拉格勒商學院，他們正採取與衆不同的方式，對抗媒體千篇一律的將成功企業家描繪成史蒂夫o喬布斯和拉里o佩奇那樣的專家所形成的刻板印象。佐勒說：“我們發現，企業家其實大都是普通人，他們經營的企業做出巨大貢獻，但他們不見得都是社會名流。”

At some B-schools, entrepreneurs are romanticized and a degree of “hero worship” exists, says higher education consultant and Eduvantis founder Tim Westerbeck,. “I’ve spoken with several business school deans who privately express some concerns that celebrating the glorious side of a successful entrepreneur’s story, while it may be inspiring, does a potential injustice to students, because they don’t develop the skills they need to deal with the often terribly difficult dimensions of entrepreneurship: the financial hardships, the inevitable failures, health challenges, the family disruption and conflict, the isolation, extreme stress, and need for steely resilience for prolonged periods of time.”

高等教育顧問、Eduvantis創始人蒂姆o韋斯特貝克表示，在某些商學院，企業家被浪漫化，大家對企業家存在一定程度的“英雄崇拜”。 韋斯特貝克說：“我與幾位商學院院長有過交流，他們私下對大肆宣傳成功企業家的光輝事蹟表示擔憂，這些事蹟雖然鼓舞人心，但可能對學生並不公平，因爲這無益於他們培養面對創業重重困難所需的技能，這些困難包括資金困難、不可避免的失敗、健康問題、家庭破裂和衝突、孤立無援、極端壓力，以及長期需要鋼鐵般的意志。”

“These are the essential skills and competencies of entrepreneurs that are perhaps not being properly addressed in business schools.”

“這些都是企業家所需的基本技能和能力，但商學院對此的注重和培養可能並不夠。”

Not all schools are focusing on giving students tools to start their own enterprises. “We’ve decided not to be the best school for startups,” Kenan-Flagler’s Zoller says. “We’re going to be the best school for ‘grow-ups.’ We’re building a program that serves not only to support management training for large enterprises, but also high-growth enterprises.”

並非所有商學院都將重心放在培養學生的創業能力上。凱南-弗拉格勒商學院的佐勒表示：“我們決定，不做創業方面最厲害的商學院，而是在幫助企業成長方面做到最好。我們正在設計一個項目，不僅支持大企業的管理培訓，而且支持高成長性企業的管理培訓。”

Kenan-Flagler is putting an emphasis on preparing students to enter executive positions in high-growth companies, or becoming funders of entrepreneurial and expanding businesses, Zoller says. “There are many ways that you can participate in entrepreneurial ventures without being the founder.”

佐勒稱，凱南-弗拉格勒商學院將重點放在培養學生在高成長性企業擔任管理職位，或者成爲創業型以及成長型企業的出資人。佐勒說道：“不做創始人，你也有很多種方式參與創業企業。”

But at Wharton, such a focus would conflict with candidates’ ambition, FitzGerald says. “Wharton folks are certainly A-type personalities. They’re probably more inclined to go out and start their own company rather than bring that entrepreneurship talent in house.”

菲茨傑拉德則表示，上述理念與沃頓商學院學生的雄心壯志存在衝突。菲茨傑拉德說：“沃頓商學院的學生絕對是A型人格，他們可能更傾向於出去創辦自己的企業，而不是將創業能力用於爲僱主效力。”

While Wharton students may be inspired by alumni successes, that doesn’t mean Wharton is teaching hero worship, FitzGerald says. “Trying to follow iconoclasts’ models doesn’t really work,” FitzGerald says. “If you’re not true to your own business model and your own mission, you’ll fail really quickly.”

菲茨傑拉德稱，雖然沃頓商學院的學生可能會從校友的成功中得到啓發，但這並不意味着該院在鼓勵英雄崇拜。菲茨傑拉德說：“試圖照搬反傳統者的模式並不管用。如果你不忠於自身商業模式和使命，你很快就會失敗。”

Demographically speaking, it makes sense for B-school grads to take a leap into founding enterprises while they have the chance, FitzGerald says. “It’s actually more economically feasible to do your startup now when you’re 27 as opposed to at 33 when you may have a spouse and one or two kids,” FitzGerald says.

菲茨傑拉德表示，從人口統計學上講，商學院畢業生在有機會時創辦企業合情合理。菲茨傑拉德說：“事實上，就經濟角度而言，你27歲時就開辦新創企業，要比你等到33歲再創業更可行，因爲到時候你可能已經結婚，而且有了一兩個小孩。

However, Columbia Business School’s Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Center uses a slogan to encapsulate a definition of entrepreneurship that includes “intrapreneurship,” the buzzword description of entrepreneurship within existing companies. The slogan, “Think, Start, Grow,” is intended to represent the need for an entrepreneurial approach within any organization, regardless of size or time in business.

不過，哥倫比亞大學商學院的尤金郎創業中心用了一條標語來概括定義企業家精神，其中包含了“內部企業家精神”這個描述現有公司中企業家精神的流行詞。該標語——“思考、開始、成長”旨在表明，任何組織，不論其大小或歷史長短，都需要創業精神。

“The ‘think’ element is really for anybody, I don’t care where you go to work,” says Lang Center Director Vince Ponzo. “More and more, people need the ability to think entrepreneurially, just because of the rate of change.”

尤金郎創業中心負責人文斯o龐佐表示：“‘思考’適用於所有人，不論你在哪裏就職。當今世界瞬息萬變，人們日益需要能像企業家一樣思考。”

Columbia is seeing heightened interest in entrepreneurship, adding seats every year to entrepreneurship courses, and holding workshops, panels, and other events on topics such as red flags in the startup process and financing ventures. Two years ago, Columbia opened its Entrepreneurs in Residence program with six residents; this year, there are eight. The program was developed to give students educational and networking entry points into specific industries and regions, to complement the school’s Entrepreneurial Sounding Board, a mentoring program involving 30 alumni who mostly advise on tactics and operations, Ponzo says.

哥倫比亞大學商學院發現，學生對創業的興趣見長，該院將創業課程的座位數量逐年增加，並舉辦了研習會、專門小組以及其他活動，探討創業過程中的危險信號以及爲創業企業融資等主題。兩年前，哥倫比亞大學開創了駐校企業家項目，當時有6名駐校企業家，今年已經有8名企業家。龐佐稱，該項目旨在使學生獲得進入特定行業和地區的教育和人脈切入點，與該校的創業參謀項目互爲補充。龐佐介紹稱，創業參謀是一個指導項目，包括30名校友，主要就戰術和操作給出建議。

Harvard operates under the notion that entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship derive from the same mindset, of “breakthrough thinking,” McPherron says. “We’re teaching entrepreneurial management.”

香農稱，哈佛大學的理念是，創業和內部創業源自同樣的心態，即“突破思維定勢”的心態。香農表示：“我們教授的是創業管理。”

Westerbeck believes differences between stated goals on entrepreneurship or intrapreneurship in MBA programs can be chalked up to the need to address prospective students’ desire for success, whether they want to start companies or work in established businesses.

韋斯特貝克認爲，各MBA項目在創業或內部創業上的既定目標不同，可歸結爲需要滿足潛在學生對成功的渴望，不論他們是想創辦企業，還是想在老牌企業工作。

“Every school knows that entrepreneurship as a concept is in high reported demand by incoming student populations. They also know that the vast majority of their students will not ultimately become successful entrepreneurs and will eventually go to work within an organization established by someone else,” Westerbeck says. “In a sense, it is preparing would-be entrepreneurs with the skills they will also need to be engines of growth and high-value employees within established organizations, which can be equally rewarding, ultimately, and perhaps less painful then the entrepreneurial life.”

韋斯特貝克說：“每所學校都清楚，創業這個概念在新來的學生中很受追捧。它們同時也清楚，大部分學生最終不會成爲成功企業家，而是會在別人創辦的機構中就職。從某種意義上說，商學院在爲有志成爲企業家的人士培養老牌機構中增長火車頭以及高價值員工所需要的技能。在老牌機構就職，最終同樣可能獲得豐厚回報，而且或許比創業更輕鬆些。”（財富中文網）