Kevin is a first-generation Hispanic American from Latin America. He was a shy college kid who thought of himself as an outlier. He is older than the average college student and struggling to make something of himself. Kevin has an innovative idea that revolutionizes waste management; he was very passionate about it but didn’t know where and how to start.

Kevin joined our nascent entrepreneurship program, worked hard to build his prototype, collaborated with students whose expertise is outside his own, and took the plunge to pitch his idea to a college event in 2019. He froze in the middle of his pitch, stared at his brother in the audience, and then walked away.

In the fall of 2019, Hewlett Packard launched its US-wide Sustainability Challenge for community college students. I didn’t expect Kevin to join after the recent incident- it was still fresh. But he did. He prepared hard for it, but what is more apparent is that his self-confidence has greatly improved since the last pitch. He made it to the top five during the first round, got a scholarship to fly to LA, and joined a conference attended by more than 600 people. Kevin went up the stage and owned it! Kevin ruled the competition! He didn’t win 1st place, but we went back to San Francisco triumphant, knowing that our ‘secret sauce’ not only taught Kevin the practice and tools of entrepreneurship but the mindset that he developed that helped him conquer his fears and self-doubts!

There is no one size-fits-all recipe for entrepreneurial success. But on a practical level, here are my top three:

First, be clear on how you define success. I entered this space with a clear goal that my program’s success is not to be measured alone by the number of businesses or unicorns that it produced but primarily on how the tools and their newly honed entrepreneurial mindset will impact or transform students and community of learners in various aspects of their lives: professional and personal. I always remind my mentees that social impact is equally crucial as economic impact, which is often overlooked due to the non-quantitative nature of these results.

Second, think like an entrepreneur. Run your academic program as a startup. Academic programs and centers would benefit from borrowing from the business playbook. Businesses are on the cutting edge of innovation and technology and are always focused on the next big thing. Think like a disruptor!

Third, leverage partnerships and develop collaborators to co-create and avoid redundancies. Apple and Samsung are tough competitors, but they also are close collaborators. Break away from disciplines’ silos. Diversity of thoughts and ideas from educators and students from across disciplines will provide a more robust and engaging learning experience.

I am currently researching and experimenting with the emerging phenomenon, the Platform Business Model, which has emerged as a vital tool for delivering entrepreneurship education, providing students and aspiring entrepreneurs with an accessible, structured approach to experiential learning tailored to meet their needs wherever they are in their entrepreneurial journey. This model promotes a multi-sided platform that leverages technology, collaborations, and experiential learning pedagogy.

Our Center thrives because of the industry collaborations I forged throughout the years. It brings tremendous resources i.e., people, content, and technology tools beyond what we could imagine. Adopting a platform business model like Uber and Airbnb offers a lot of possibilities to get under-resourced institutions to remain relevant. This new business model will provide an agile pathway for entrepreneurial success.

With the rise of non-traditional providers like industry credentialing and apprenticeship programs, the declining student population in community colleges, and a growing skepticism on the value of college education, community colleges are on the brink of extinction that calls for radical strategies to reinvent and re-imagine entrepreneurship education.