Entrepreneurship

 SMU holds the 11th Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition

In 2021, SMU welcomed its largest cohort of early-stage start-ups into its Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE) Business Innovations Generator (BIG) programme.

Raising funds, building a team, designing a breakthrough product, and taking that proof-of-concept to market are some of the many hurdles startup founders have to overcome in their nascent entrepreneurial journey. With such a daunting list of tasks to tackle, it comes as no surprise that building an independent board of directors is seldom a priority for multitasking bosses.

From Mark Zuckerberg to Bill Gates, from Steve Jobs to Oprah Winfrey, the myth of the successful college dropout is a potent one. If you have the creativity and vision to be an entrepreneur, the logic goes, why go to university when you can learn by doing?

Far from the legend of the college dropout, a business school education can help entrepreneurs succeed, whether their enterprise is brand new or generations old. From Mark Zuckerberg to Bill Gates, from Steve Jobs to Oprah Winfrey, the myth of the successful college dropout is a potent one. If you have the creativity and vision to be an entrepreneur, the logic goes, why go to university when you can learn by doing?