It’s odd that so many people think college students can’t start kickass companies: they can and they have!

What even cooler is this:

Universities are now starting to actively promote and encourage entrepreneurship in its students!

If you’re a college student, the number of free resources available to you is second to none.  Maybe you don’t know about them because you listen to your professors talk all day long about brushing up your resume to get some stupid corporate job…

…but they’re out there, just ripe for the picking, just waiting for you to find them.

Here’s some specs on 5 awesome resources available to university entrepreneurs. Even if you go to a state university (like I did), they will probably have some of these resources.

I wish I knew about these when I was in college, and seriously, if you don’t take advantage of these and then complain later (“there’s no resources to help me become an entrepreneur! waaaah!”), I will come over there and annihilate you:

1. University incubators and accelerators

Universities all over the nation are offering extremely kickass resources to student entrepreneurs, including funding, incubators and accelerators.

For example, my alma mater Arizona State University has an entire office space (SkySong) devoted to student entrepreneurship, and offers funding and mentorship to student startups through its Innovation Challenge and Edson program (up to $25,000 in grants), and free office space for a year through the Edson program.

Even universities that don’t have infrastucture this extensive probably have a business plan competition where you can get a nice bucket o’ cash for your business idea.

Beware, though, that universities help you out, in part, to gain ownership of intellectual property you develop using university resources (it’s called technology transfer, and it’s something you should be intimately familiar with and ask about before accepting funding or services from a university: see the Edson Program’s FAQ #13, and more information from the University of Arizona’s technology transfer office).

2. University business consulting

What if you could get industry experts to give you thousands of dollars worth of advice for free or for a huge discount?

Easy, my friend!

For example, The University of Connecticut does free business consulting through the Connecticut Center for Education and Innovation (CCEI), and offers free patent help through the IP Law Clinic.

3. Meetup groups

You know how 98% of people just give you a weird look when you say you want to pursue entrepreneurship?

Well, Meetup.com is a great way to connect with the other 2% of people that get you, man!

There’s tons of startup Meetup groups, too (even in small cities!). Just go to Meetup.com, sign up, and search “entrepreneurship <your city>” or “startup <your city>”.

From my experience, not many college students go to these; this means you have a chance to be unique and have all of the cool people to yourself!

4. Professors who actually care about entrepreneurship

Not all professors are old fuddy-duddies: Some of them are a goldmine of information and expertise you can use to help you as you start your company; and, they make excellent mentors too.

At ASU, I met a professor who had already made bank starting companies who taught just to enjoy a semi-retirement lifestyle.  I’m sure few students went to his office to ask for help in starting a company, but for those that did, they would find his time and help to be extremely valuable.

How to find professors who actually care about entrepreneurship:

• Go talk to the dean/ someone important in your school’s Management Department (also search to see if they have a separate entrepreneurship department) and just ask!  It’s really just that easy.
• Note that some professors just research entrepreneurship and don’t have actual startup experience.  Clearly, your goal is to find the ones that have the actual experience.

Mark my words, you’ll be amazed how much progress you can make by just asking!

5. Computer science clubs and classes; and university software development programs

Looking for a programmer? College is the easiest and cheapest place to find awesome programming talent, either as a co-founder or as an employee.

How do you find them?

Of course, there’s the obvious option of going to CS clubs and student orgs and pitching them. You can also put fliers in the hallways of the CS dorms! (That’s how my brother, a CS major who is a complete genius at anything web-based, almost got picked up by a student web startup).

But there’s other ways, too:

Often, computer science students are required to complete a capstone senior design project class…that means that the school accepts industry projects, and has the students work on it for credit.

If you can find a way to get in on this…I know Arizona State University and the University of Connecticut have it, for example…it’s essentially a goldmine of free (or inexpensive) programmers. For schools that do charge, it’s always $8,000 (and they often don’t charge students even if they do charge outsiders)….$8,000 for hundreds or thousands of hours of programming is a pretty sweet deal.

The great thing about the senior design project is that it’s monitored for quality and progress by the students’ professors, which makes using the SDP a lot less shadier than getting a random freelancer.

Find out about this by going to your school’s computer science department and ask about the senior design project, or any other program where students get credit for doing programming.

Do they say “startups have to pay a fee”?

Bullocks. Everything is negotiable, especially if you’re a university student.

NOTE: The senior design project usually only happens at the beginning of the semester or school year…in other words, you can’t approach them in October or March with a new project…you have to do it when classes start.

Have you had any experience with these college resources? Any that I left out?

Let me know in the comments below!

And no more “I don’t have time to be an entrepreneur” or “it’s too risky”.

Success in life is about action: about working hard and working slowly towards accomplishing great goals.  The sooner you understand that, the sooner you can work towards getting rid of your stuck-up corporate job and start making money doing something you love.

To help you, I’ve compiled five resources you can use right now to be an entrepreneur.  In the comments below, let me know how these helped you, and what else you still need to start embracing entrepreneurship:

1.      Go to entrepreneurship Meetup groups

Meetup.com is God’s gift to entrepreneurs, verteran entrepreneur and new ones alike.  Simply join Meetup.com, and search startup groups in your area.  Here, you’ll meet all sorts of entrepreneur-types that would be hard to locate otherwise.

Prominent examples of Meetup groups include the NYC Tech Meetup and the Silicon Valley Tech Meetup.  Unless you live in the tiniest city on the planet, I guarantee you there’s going to be something around where you live.  For example, I live in Hartford—a relatively small city—and there’s a ton of entrepreneur groups within driving distance.

Starting to meet other like-minded people is the best way to become an entrepreneur.

Action Item: sign up for Meetup.com and join 5 entrepreneurship Meetup groups around you.  Attend a meeting for each in the next month.

2.      Go to Startup Weekend

What if there was a way you could go through the entire process of developing and validating a business idea—all with the help of trained mentors and over the course of one weekend…all for only ~$75?

That, ladies and gentlemen, is Startup Weekend.

Startup Weekend is an entrepreneurship-demystifying event that happens usually once-per-year in localities all over the world.  People show up, pitch business ideas, form teams, and validate the idea all on the fly.

At the end of 2 grueling days, the teams give presentations.  The top 2 teams win tons of prizes, ranging from free legal services to press coverage…and most importantly, an awesome platform to launch a business.

Startup Weekend teaches entrepreneurs stuff that would take you a year to figure out on your own in just 2 days.

Why not give yourself a jumpstart?

Action Item: Figure out when Startup Weekend is going on in your area, and sign up now!

3.      Use local university or chamber of commerce resources

Municipalities, chambers of commerce, and universities are practically begging people to become entrepreneurs.

Free classes and resources run rampant in even smaller cities…for example, in Phoenix, AZ, Arizona State University actively encourages entrepreneurship amongst its students and the public.  In Hartford, CT, the University of Hartford offers classes for entrepreneurs.  And nationally, the Small Business Association offers resources for entrepreneurs to use, including loans and classes.  Some universities even have their students do programming for entrepreneurs as part of their student’s class projects.

I have met a wealth of talent at local universities and chambers of commerce.  Folks I’ve met there have been instrumental to the success of my ventures.  Why not take some of that for yourself?

Action Item: Check every university in your area and see what resources they offer entrepreneurs.  Check all of the chambers of commerce and do the same.  Do a Google search of “entrepreneurship <your city>” and see what other organizations offer resources for entrepreneurs.

4.      Read awesome pro-entrepreneur blogs (ones that contain actually useful info)

Believe it or not, there are some excellent blogs about entrepreneurship out there.  The advantage of hooking onto a high-quality blog is learning from proven experts, usually for free (no cost for the blog’s content).  A couple I frequent and find especially useful:

1. I Will Teach You To Be Rich

Teaches young professionals how to manage their money, make $ on the side, and negotiate.

1. Mixergy

Interviews with proven entrepreneurs.

1. Leaving Work Behind

Writer who successfully went into freelancing fulltime.  Very open about his failures and successes, and what he learned the hard way.

Action Item: Spend an hour a day this week researching blogs about entrepreneurship.  Take the ones I listed above as a starting point.  Find 3-5 that you particularly enjoy, and get involved with the community there.  Use these blogs to learn faster.

5.      Crush your excuses

Still got latent worries or excuses floating around in that brain of yours?  Never fear.  At my site Decoding Startups, I compiled 8 of the most common excuses people make for not pursuing entrepreneurship, and wrote a fact-based refutation of each.

Go check it out here, crush your excuse, and come out a new, bolder man!  (or woman!).

Action Item: Check it out champ!  The Excuse Crusher.

R.C. Thornton teaches would-be entrepreneurs how to go from excuses to launch at his blog, Decoding Startups.  He is currently working on 2 startups; one for academic research, and the other developing a smart phone accessory.

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