Globally, the increasing rate of change to the way we live and work is a scenario made for entrepreneurial minds. The World Economic Forum predicts that for today’s graduates, they can expect 7+ career changes and on average 17+ different jobs, which highlights the high levels of uncertainty about what jobs will look like in a post-AI world.
For some, this might seem like a strange opening for an article on entrepreneurship. Shouldn’t I be championing the rise of deep-tech ventures or the need for better access to finance to ignite Europe’s innovation economy? Or perhaps I should be emphasizing the potential for startups uprising from university graduates eager to create companies?
Yet, my own research on student entrepreneurship shows a consistent pattern: as GDP rises and secure career paths become more accessible, students’ interest in founding a business declines, so I am not going to hold my breath waiting.
To truly spark an entrepreneurial revolution in Europe, we need to evolve our thinking with regards to entrepreneurship. Rather than being solely focused on creating a few sparks of entrepreneurial activity, there is a need to create the conditions upon which those sparks can turn into sustained flames.
At universities, this means balancing our attention between the 10–15% of students who might eventually launch a company to the 100% who would benefit from being able to think and act like an entrepreneur. This would mean that (A) we don’t just focus on developing student’s skills and knowledge for creating a company, but also (B) their entrepreneurial interest, confidence and capabilities that help them to behave entrepreneurially. My experience creating multiple entrepreneurship programs across universities globally has shown me that if you focus on the latter, you tend to also get more of the former.
This wider perspective produces far richer outcomes: graduates who thrive in startups, drive innovation within SMEs or large firms, transform public institutions (as Mariana Mazzucato argues in The Entrepreneurial State), or lead social innovation.
Stanford may be famous for its startup successes, but importantly, it measures itself on the number of entrepreneurs it develops—not only the companies created.
Having spent seven years collaborating with i²c, I have been consistently impressed by their understanding of these multiple entrepreneurial pathways and their dual commitment to developing entrepreneurs and supporting research-driven startups and spinouts. Their carefully curated workshops, master classes, and events do more than teach processes—they build confidence, capability, enthusiasm and belief.
Germany’s comprehensive ‚Startup Factory‘ model at UnternehmerTUM is exemplary, but it is also fuelled by tens of millions from a generous donor. This is not to diminish this model at all. It is an exemplar for what you can do if you have a substantial budget to draw upon. But what do you do if you do not have endless funds?
What makes i²c remarkable is the impact they have achieved through an entrepreneurial “bootstrapping” approach—iterative improvement, strategic use of limited resources, and a relentless commitment to delivering value.
The evidence of i²c’s success speak for themselves: career trajectories shaped, high-quality companies created, and an enduring influence on the Austrian startup landscape. The footprint of i²c’s presence stretches far beyond those wanting to create startup or spinout companies, it is in the lives that they have changed, skills they have strengthened, and the communities they have built.
So whenever i²c calls to ask if I will be involved, my answer is invariably the same: Ja, ich freue mich darauf!
