It is a place that nothing distinguishes from the others, except that teachers are replaced by coaches, mentors and other serial entrepreneurs coming to incubate young shoots. Welcome to an incubator, a space dedicated to the germination of projects. It has become a must in business and engineering schools.
"Some students have an idea as early as their first year. We are here to welcome them and exchange views," explains Thierry Suchet, who heads the EDC Paris school, a school that has made entrepreneurship one of its trademarks. Faced with the bubbling of ideas, he details his approach: "The first challenge is to structure the project, to show how it is coherent and then to learn how to defend it in front of a jury". If approved, the student begins a long journey, called pre-incubation, then incubation.
Kingdom of resourcefulness
If schools value business creations so much, it is because they teach a lot to the students who carry them. "Here, it's the realm of resourcefulness and a great accelerator of skills. Starting a business means touching all areas. You quickly become a Swiss army knife," laughs Thierry Suchet. Accepted projects are subject to tailor-made support with dedicated people to advise, coach and question in all its dimensions. "The number 1 problem for many entrepreneurs is feeling alone. Here, this concern is dismissed, "he summarizes.
Essential mutual assistance
Some incubators advocate mixing with other students from different disciplines or with former graduates, the entrepreneurial trigger often occurring after a few years of experience. This is the case of the Institut Mines-Télécom, which benefits from its membership of a campus populated by engineering students. "Many projects include a digital dimension and our young people at the Business School are very happy to find their fellow engineers to assist them with the technical part," says Sébastien Cauwet, director of the IMT Starter incubator.
Among the major trends in the sectors that motivate our students: education, health are in good place followed by e-commerce in all its dimensions, gastronomy, up to cutting-edge sectors such as blockchain and cryptocurrencies. But this is far from exhaustive!
When they work in an incubator, students find all the resources to carry out their project (coaching, launch strategy, pitch work, funding opportunity). "All the better if there is a result and all the work comes to fruition. But if not, they will have learned a lot... And they will surely continue to launch projects thereafter, "pleads Sébastien Cauwet. "Test, plant, relaunch, that's the path to success!" agrees Thierry Suchet.