Which Grad School Field Will Best Prepare Me to Start a Company?

[Searcher83]

Hello,dear colleagues!

I'm 28 years old guy from Europe.Currently I'm working as Instrument Engineer but thinking much about getting PhD in the US 'cause I want to change my career path,to get PhD in interesting and perspective discipline,dip into R&D work and if I succeed in that I'm going to start up my own company in Silicon Valley or somewhere like that.

Being an amateur I have a wide spectrum of interests:physics,electronics and electrical engineering,robotics,math,alternative energetics;less interesting(just hobbies):computer science(Java programming,networks),aeronautics and rocketry,Earth and natural science.I like to develop myself in these areas on my own both practically(making different experiments) and theoretically(doing calculations and studying special literature).But I realize that I need to focus on one priority-oriented field and to put my efforts on professional level as my final purpose after grad school is to use the results of my PhD work in order to start up my own company.That's why I need to take into account not only my interests but also perspectives of different fields and future cutting edge technologies.So,the questions are:

-How do you think,which fields(areas) will become extra required high tech in the nearest future?

-Considering previous question along with my interests and background,which field would you advise me for studying at grad school?

-Does a rank of grad school you've graduated from matter much for future start up of company?I mean,if it should be a top grad school like MIT,Caltech,etc or it doesn't matter?

Please,share your opinions.Any comments and opinions are highly appreciated.Thanks a lot.

 

[raam86]

Hello,dear colleagues!

I have nothing to contribute execpt from my belief that with enough ambition you can achieve anything.

I just wanted to point out that Europeans love the word "colleague" every where I go especially east Europe this word dominates any kind of relationship! instead of friend, co-worker, fellow,buddy etc'

Just coco for colleague!

 

[chiro]

Hello,dear colleagues!

I'm 28 years old guy from Europe.Currently I'm working as Instrument Engineer but thinking much about getting PhD in the US 'cause I want to change my career path,to get PhD in interesting and perspective discipline,dip into R&D work and if I succeed in that I'm going to start up my own company in Silicon Valley or somewhere like that.

Being an amateur I have a wide spectrum of interests:physics,electronics and electrical engineering,robotics,math,alternative energetics;less interesting(just hobbies):computer science(Java programming,networks),aeronautics and rocketry,Earth and natural science.I like to develop myself in these areas on my own both practically(making different experiments) and theoretically(doing calculations and studying special literature).But I realize that I need to focus on one priority-oriented field and to put my efforts on professional level as my final purpose after grad school is to use the results of my PhD work in order to start up my own company.That's why I need to take into account not only my interests but also perspectives of different fields and future cutting edge technologies.So,the questions are:

-How do you think,which fields(areas) will become extra required high tech in the nearest future?

-Considering previous question along with my interests and background,which field would you advise me for studying at grad school?

-Does a rank of grad school you've graduated from matter much for future start up of company?I mean,if it should be a top grad school like MIT,Caltech,etc or it doesn't matter?

Please,share your opinions.Any comments and opinions are highly appreciated.Thanks a lot.

Hey searcher and welcome to the forums.

One piece of advice I would give to you is to try and get some experience with someone that's a bit more established.

If you do this you should get exposure to the business in many areas that aren't just technical and also that aren't just business but both. If you are the right kind of person you should hopefully get in and rotated around the various areas of the company which should give you a greater sense of what you'll be doing, what you'll need to know, and most importantly elements of what the business is like.

Also another pointer if you want to start your own business, I've been reading from your posts that you have a zillion interests. It's good to be motivated, but as a business person (especially a startup) you can't have your hand in every honey pot. You need to find a specialization that you the best at: that is you need to find a niche and develop it into a workable business. If you do something that already exists, you are competing with people who have more experience than you at that particular something and for most scenarios I guarantee you won't survive.

Another thing you should do while you work for an established company is to network. I don't advise to tell people your idea about your business to other employees, but I would advise you to get to know the people in the industry your in, find out what makes them tick and get a sense of what you think will be happening to the industry in the future.

Also if you're not much of a salesman, either become one or find someone that is/can be one for your business.

A final thing I want to point out: you want to get a PhD and most of the fields you talk about are technical fields in a way that due to the nature of it, new products or services being developed require high level of expertise in different areas as compared to say other businesses like say a corner store or a small cafe.

One thing that sticks out is the law, especially Intellectual Property Law. If you are going to invent something you will most likely be wanting to patent it. Not only is this complex and requires a lot of time, but it also requires a lot of money.

When you take into account paying for your input labor like your IP, your scientists and so on, it means that you will need a lot of capital and if you go to a VC asking for money one thing they should emphasize is to ask what the members of your team are and their reputation and experience. The experience before your first venture will be in the industry which is why I pointed out getting experience from another employer, networking, and also using the time to really think about and refine your idea to something more precise.

 

[Kawakaze]

I just wanted to point out that Europeans love the word "colleague" every where I go especially east Europe this word dominates any kind of relationship! instead of friend, co-worker, fellow,buddy etc'

Id go as far to say, that's because eastern europeans arent speaking English as a first language. In my experience of being born a western european, colleague is a pretty formal term. A workmate or buddy is just that, a mate, however a colleague is just there to talk shop.

Sorry for going off topic, but I can't really help the OP with his question. :)

 

[Searcher83]

OK,chiro,thanks to you for the valuable remarks about general approach to startup,I'll keep them in mind.

Thanks also to those 2 guys who have written comments about my English.I'll bear it in mind,too;-)

Anyway,I'll change my questions.

-Generally,which fields or areas(perhaps,infant or not even born yet),in your opinion,are going to become perspective in the nearest future?

Well,another thing I'd like to ask.What would you advise a man who's more interested in technical,scientific and research things than in a sales stuff,who wants to do research as a main job but herewith being a wealthy man?Let's suppose that the man can become sales-oriented and make sales but sales stuff is not as much exciting for him as research work.

I guess,there are different ways in this case,like say,patenting inventions and selling patents to companies,or startup with sharing responsibilities with sales-oriented persons(or becoming a sales guy by yourself),or something else.Of course,we consider that the man succeeds with his results,otherwise there's no reason to talk about patents and all these things.So,what would you say on this?

Pardon me,if questions seem to be silly,but almost any information can be useful if it's properly interpreted.

Thanks,guys.

 

[chiro]

OK,chiro,thanks to you for the valuable remarks about general approach to startup,I'll keep them in mind.

Well,another thing I'd like to ask.What would you advise a man who's more interested in technical,scientific and research things than in a sales stuff,who wants to do research as a main job but herewith being a wealthy man?Let's suppose that the man can become sales-oriented and make sales but sales stuff is not as much exciting for him as research work.

If you want to have a business you need to sell things. Businesses fail simply because they fail to sell things. You can have a pretty mediocre product technically that sells like hotcakes and you can have a great product but bad salespeople. I think you know which scenario is going to survive.

Personally I think that if you put your heart and soul (and time and money and so on) into your product then it should be a lot easier than you think for you to sell it. If you, the vision behind your product can't get enough enthusiasm to sell your own product then that's probably a sign that its not the right thing. You need to be excited about what you're doing and you also need others whether they are employees or your customers to also have a high level of enthusiasm about what you're doing.

If you need someone to complement your skills that's fair enough, but remember selling stuff is #1 priority when you have a business.

Also I want to make this very clear: make sure you get feedback from other people (read potential customers) about your products/services. You might think you have the best thing since sliced bread, but maybe its been done and maybe its been done better than what you have. Some time in the industry with a strong company should give you that kind of knowledge and its very important.

I guess,there are different ways in this case,like say,patenting inventions and selling patents to companies,or startup with sharing responsibilities with sales-oriented persons(or becoming a sales guy by yourself),or something else.Of course,we consider that the man succeeds with his results,otherwise there's no reason to talk about patents and all these things.So,what would you say on this?

Pardon me,if questions seem to be silly,but almost any information can be useful if it's properly interpreted.

Thanks,guys.

Patents cost money: a lot of it. They also take up a huge amount of time to get them (I'm talking up to half a decade). They also (and this is the big one) take a lot of resources to "manage" and when I mean manage I mean protect. If someone breaches the patent (i.e uses your invention without your permission) it takes a lot of money to go to court. Average cost of upholding patents in infringement cases run into the millions (I'm not kidding). You need to think long and hard on whether whatever you come up with is worth the resources you have at your disposal.

That being said, if you come up with something that is worthwhile and you have a good team (your lawyer, accountant, etc) then it allows you to play with the big boys and the legal system protects you from the big guys taking you out if the patent was well designed and drafted in terms of the claims.

If you go to work with a mid-large sized company as a technical guru, the company will probably have some kind of course dealing with patents and if you get the opportunity, take the offer.

If you're looking for the next big thing, it's probably not a good idea to go into business. You need to find something you would pursue for the long term. Fads will come and go and sometimes people get it wrong when it comes to predicting success with fad trends.

You want to have long term goals and ideas about specifically what you want to accomplish and you need to stick to that overall idea of where you want to go. If you are just looking for the next big thing you'll be chopping and changing and you will be all over the place without any real direction and if you need investors they'll see right through you as someone who is all over the place with no real idea.

Its good to be ambitious, but get some experience in whatever you want and immerse yourself in the field. You'll get a better feeling about what area/niche that you like and. then you'll narrow things down specifically and you'll become aware of the problems in your field and that is where you'll start to get ideas for things: the problems are the opportunities and there are plenty of them if your willing.

 

[twofish-quant]

The "rank" of the graduate school doesn't matter much. It does help a lot to go to a graduate school where you often meet people that have started their business so that you know what it looks like.

One thing that I've been told by pretty much everyone that has started a company is don't do it for the money. You will make more money with less effort if you work for someone else.

You can join the MIT Enterprise Forum http://enterpriseforum.mit.edu/

The other thing is don't get too caught up with the technology. There are a lot of businesses that don't require much hi-tech. Also, the make sure that you can write a business plan and figure out how much money you really need to make the business work.

That being said, if you come up with something that is worthwhile and you have a good team (your lawyer, accountant, etc) then it allows you to play with the big boys and the legal system protects you from the big guys taking you out if the patent was well designed and drafted in terms of the claims.

The problem is that the "big boys" are likely to have more and better lawyers and accountants that you do, and for every patent you claim they have infringed on, it's likely that you have accidentally infringed on half a dozen of theirs.

Usually fields in which patents are important are extremely hostile to small inventors.

 

[Astronuc]

Hello,dear colleagues!

I'm 28 years old guy from Europe.Currently I'm working as Instrument Engineer but thinking much about getting PhD in the US 'cause I want to change my career path,to get PhD in interesting and perspective discipline,dip into R&D work and if I succeed in that I'm going to start up my own company in Silicon Valley or somewhere like that.

Being an amateur I have a wide spectrum of interests:physics,electronics and electrical engineering,robotics,math,alternative energetics;less interesting(just hobbies):computer science(Java programming,networks),aeronautics and rocketry,Earth and natural science.I like to develop myself in these areas on my own both practically(making different experiments) and theoretically(doing calculations and studying special literature).But I realize that I need to focus on one priority-oriented field and to put my efforts on professional level as my final purpose after grad school is to use the results of my PhD work in order to start up my own company.That's why I need to take into account not only my interests but also perspectives of different fields and future cutting edge technologies.So,the questions are:

-How do you think,which fields(areas) will become extra required high tech in the nearest future?

-Considering previous question along with my interests and background,which field would you advise me for studying at grad school?

-Does a rank of grad school you've graduated from matter much for future start up of company?I mean,if it should be a top grad school like MIT,Caltech,etc or it doesn't matter?

Please,share your opinions.Any comments and opinions are highly appreciated.Thanks a lot.

I know of several companies, some highly successful engineering firms, that were started by PhDs. CH2M Hill and SGH are two such companies.

I live and work in the US, and I use the term 'colleague' quite often in reference to peers from industry. I have colleagues with who I interact only on a professional level, some who are acquaintances due to frequency of contact, and some who are friends.

MIT and Stanford are two of the major examples of universities with entrepreneurial programs. There are many others, including many state universities.

 

[chiro]

The problem is that the "big boys" are likely to have more and better lawyers and accountants that you do, and for every patent you claim they have infringed on, it's likely that you have accidentally infringed on half a dozen of theirs.

Usually fields in which patents are important are extremely hostile to small inventors.

Absolutely agree which is why I emphasized having good team especially a legal team to draft the claims such that you get the maximum protection you can. I should have mentioned it goes the other way with the big guys using their muscle against the small guy when comes to infringement of their claims which is probably more important since they have the resources to take it all the way (ie to court) and quite probably a better chance of getting their way.

Patents were invented to encourage innovation but I guess like many things some of the original motivations for that have been swept by.

 

[TMFKAN64]

If you want to have a business you need to sell things. Businesses fail simply because they fail to sell things. You can have a pretty mediocre product technically that sells like hotcakes and you can have a great product but bad salespeople. I think you know which scenario is going to survive.

I just wanted to underline this paragraph and retype it in capital letters.

I'm not saying that people with Ph.D.s can't start very successful companies... but if they do, they either have marketing and sales talent as well, or partners with these skills. The technical end of the business is usually the least important.

(Oh, and it doesn't really matter where you went to school, only the quality of your powerpoint presentation to the VCs.)