Faculty of ArtDuring our panel discussion event on November 21, a group of graduate and undergraduate students from last year’s Entrepreneurship Workshop Series cohorts came together to reflect on their experiences—how they came to the workshops, what they learned, and what has happened in the year since. Among the undergraduates, there was the usual youthful sense of energy and gumption to try out their own ideas: designing custom jewelry, baking the next viral cookie, making cute character keychains. On the graduate student side, there was perhaps a bit more jadedness regarding Humanities research and academia and a desire to locate other venues in which to exercise our scholastic skill sets. It was wonderful hearing their ideas for products and services I could absolutely see myself using, purchasing, and probably collecting. But honestly, what resonated most was that all of them have had to pause their momentum from the workshop or otherwise completely let go of their ideas to pursue other things (and finish school). A couple epiphanies: 1) it is totally okay to stop committing to a bit when it stops working; 2) if you have the time to go on side quests, go on ones where you learn a new skill even if it does not immediately become useful or practical; 3) many other people have capacities similar to mine and 4) trying something out (even without “succeeding”) is hustling.
In November’s newsletter, I alluded to a certain “ick” that could be associated with entrepreneurship. Now, to unpack what “ick” means in this context, studies have shown there is an entire menu of bad feelings inspired by entrepreneurship. I swear, this is not just me being a hater (usually the case). When scrolling through various credible forums (LinkedIn, Reddit, Quora…proper authorities of knowledge as you know), plenty of users can be found bemoaning the various bad feelings plaguing them around entrepreneurship, to a chorus of sympathetic voices. Cringe, either contemptuous (the cringe we feel towards the Silicon Valley dudebro feeding into the capitalist hellscape through venture) or empathetic (the knowing cringe we feel towards fully believing in and committing to one’s own idea and inevitably becoming a tryhard), is my own contribution here—shout/out to my friend who reminded me of ContraPoints’s video essay on the subject and the meme; but there is also plenty of fear (of failure), guilt (over not doing enough), and envy (for those more successful) to go around. Surely, as graduate students, we can see the Venn diagram of entrepreneurship and graduate study inching ever more closely towards becoming circle.
It should be obvious I am definitely not trying to peddle some kind of Cruel Optimism (TM) or demand we rehabilitate from what are very necessary and warranted bad feelings. Although we may have been trained out of this general worldview through the travails of academia, it is actually okay to move past, give up on, or even half-ass most ventures into anything. Any attempt to Do the Thing comes with a lot of learning—and can sometimes still end up as a line on your CV.
So, as we drag ourselves across the finish line of winter break, see if the Entrepreneurship for Arts Grad Students 2025 workshop series might fit into your schedule next term. Come with your half-to-fully-baked idea. Learn some of the approaches and transferrable skills common in the world of building business and ventures. Cringe a little bit. You might end up discovering new tasks or ways of thinking that call out to you—and where these feelings, good or bad, end up taking you.
For some more coherent reading on bad feelings in entrepreneurship:
- Arreola, Fernanda. “I am scared to my bones to… become an entrepreneur.” The Conversation, 29 October 2018. https://theconversation.com/i-am-scared-to-my-bones-to-become-an-entrepreneur-105922
- Bacq, Sophie, Madeline Toubiana, Ifeoma Ajunwa, Jarrod Ormiston, and Trish Ruebottom. “Stigma entrepreneurship: exploring stigma as a source of entrepreneurial motivations.” Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research (2018).
- Bacq, Sophie, et.al. “Entrepreneurship out of shame: Entrepreneurial pathways at the intersection of necessity, emancipation, and social change.” Organization Theory 4, no. 1 (2023): 26317877231153185.
- Huang, Karen, Alison Wood Brooks, Ryan W. Buell, Brian J. Hall, and Laura Huang. Mitigating malicious envy: Why successful individuals should reveal their failures. 2018.
- Morgan, John, and Dana Sisak. “Aspiring to succeed: A model of entrepreneurship and fear of failure.” Journal of Business Venturing 31, no. 1 (2016): 1-21.
- Simmons, Sharon A., Johan Wiklund, and Jonathan Levie. “Stigma and business failure: implications for entrepreneurs’ career choices.” Small business economics 42 (2014): 485-505.
- Thompson, Neil A., Marco Van Gelderen, and Laura Keppler. “No need to worry? Anxiety and coping in the entrepreneurship process.” Frontiers in psychology 11 (2020): 398.
Written by Ying Han, Master’s student in Asian Studies, Curriculum Development and Communications Assistant at the Arts Amplifier.
Published 5 December 2024.