A Science Careers story on scientists getting The Entrepreneurial Bug two weeks ago tells about three academic researchers who started their own businesses, and includes advice to academics thinking about making the same career move. Today's Wall Street Journal provides a few more pointers for budding businesspeople from the academic world.
Brent Eastwood, an adjunct political science professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, who started a political consulting company, tells the Journal's Alexandra Levit that academics should expect to encounter a mindset in the business world very different from the one they're used to on the university campus. "I've seen academics pitching to investors at venture-capital conferences get eaten alive," Brentwood says. "Professors aren't used to needing such a thick skin, and they have to develop it if they want to work in business."
The three researchers interviewed by Science Careers started their businesses early, as postdocs or junior faculty. Eastwood, however, recommends that university faculty time their entrepreneurial ambitions for the second half of their academic careers, after they have established their research, teaching, and publication credentials. Otherwise, if faculty members want to combine their academic and business careers -- as two of the researchers interviewed by Science Careers have done -- Eastwood advises "not to spread yourself too thin, or you risk getting passed over for tenure."
Faculty members considering a career with an already established business rather than starting their own should expect a different set of expectations and requirements. Cyndi Laurin, a business author and consultant, and a former faculty member in the College of Business at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, reminds academics that businesses have limited resources, particularly in tough times like these. In seeking out industry jobs, says Laurin, you have to show a record of results, particularly financial results. "Although your education, research, and publications are the high points of an academic résumé," Laurin says, "the business world wants to see how you've made a monetary difference to past employers."
Science Careers Tooling Up columnist Dave Jensen offers advice each month to researchers considering business careers. Jensen's August 2009 column explores several misconceptions about industry often found among academics.
Brent Eastwood, an adjunct political science professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, who started a political consulting company, tells the Journal's Alexandra Levit that academics should expect to encounter a mindset in the business world very different from the one they're used to on the university campus. "I've seen academics pitching to investors at venture-capital conferences get eaten alive," Brentwood says. "Professors aren't used to needing such a thick skin, and they have to develop it if they want to work in business."
The three researchers interviewed by Science Careers started their businesses early, as postdocs or junior faculty. Eastwood, however, recommends that university faculty time their entrepreneurial ambitions for the second half of their academic careers, after they have established their research, teaching, and publication credentials. Otherwise, if faculty members want to combine their academic and business careers -- as two of the researchers interviewed by Science Careers have done -- Eastwood advises "not to spread yourself too thin, or you risk getting passed over for tenure."
Faculty members considering a career with an already established business rather than starting their own should expect a different set of expectations and requirements. Cyndi Laurin, a business author and consultant, and a former faculty member in the College of Business at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, reminds academics that businesses have limited resources, particularly in tough times like these. In seeking out industry jobs, says Laurin, you have to show a record of results, particularly financial results. "Although your education, research, and publications are the high points of an academic résumé," Laurin says, "the business world wants to see how you've made a monetary difference to past employers."
Science Careers Tooling Up columnist Dave Jensen offers advice each month to researchers considering business careers. Jensen's August 2009 column explores several misconceptions about industry often found among academics.
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