#THOMAS EDISON THINKING ROCK FREE#

When they first get going, there’s all the excitement, particularly the thrill of not having anyone above them.

And that’s perfectly normal, because in the incubator the rookies go through different phases. In fact I tell them a lot of things very early on, because afterwards I have no influence. That is what I explain to the new recruits at the first meeting I hold with them I talk to them about this curve, and about the dangers of taking into account 20 percent or 100 percent of the advice they’re given.Īt that first meeting, yes. The key thing is to know where you are on this curve, so you won’t be surprised at what comes next. Then a fall, followed by a phase Graham calls “the trough of sorrow.” Next, when you change your product or concept, you plummet even further, and it is there, when you have reached rock bottom, that you realise your ability to bounce back and start to recover. First, euphoria, which might come after the first article in the press, for example. It describes the psychological states that you go through when you found your start-up. The curve that I drew on my office window, which was designed by Paul Graham, founder of the US incubator Y Combinator, represents this state of mind. Discouragement and even failure inevitably lie in store somewhere along the road. There’s only one thing I’m sure of: the only truth for an entrepreneur is perseverance.

#THOMAS EDISON THINKING ROCK FREE#

They are free to choose from the advice they’re given, but they apply at least some of it. Those who succeed are somewhere in between. The second are too stubborn to realise that even if they want to change they world, they have to start with the world we’ve got. The first are not critical enough, and they haven’t understood that if there were a formula for success, everyone would follow it. Paradoxically, the incubated companies that run aground are usually the ones that either stick too closely to what we tell them, or apply less than 20 percent of the advice we give them. But while I can’t tell in advance which ones are headed for success, I know which start-ups are doomed to failure. Out of all the start-ups that have been through the incubator, a third died in the first six months, a third haven’t quite found their business model, and a third have become small businesses. It’s a luxury.ĭo you know in advance if a start-up is going to take off? It’s a little arbitrary, but that way Sciences Po gives companies the time to form and move forward. We set our incubation period at twelve months. Personally, I can’t imagine Thomas Edison thinking: “I’ve got three months to succeed, then I give up”. We are also willing to place real orders with some new start-ups so they can have Sciences Po as a client, and thereby get some practice and test their products.įinally, some incubators only give their start-ups three months to take off. We think it’s perfectly reasonable to put people in touch and we’re not afraid to get our feet wet. I know of incubators where start-ups are told, “I’m not here to be your sales rep”. Our ability to activate our faculty and alumni networks means that our start-up founders can meet the right person at the right time. Our incubator is strongly supported by Sciences Po and that is one of our strengths. That’s the objective of the programme we’ve developed. However, if any of our students do want to start a business, at whatever stage of their studies, we want them to find the support they need. So we weren’t going to create a specific Master’s programme. Nobody comes to Sciences Po to be an entrepreneur, that’s a given. How does the Sciences Po incubator differ from those of other universities?

Maxime Marzin, head of the Sciences Po business incubator, talked to us about the fantasies, setbacks and successes of the students he accompanies on the great adventure of entrepreneurship.

Thomas edison thinking rock