Has anyone had experience starting up a company from scratch?

[theholygideons]

In the future, after i graduate from my degree in university, i'm thinking of starting a company from scratch, entrepreneurship, that is. This event is still several years away and i'm still contemplating how i'm going to acquire the funds. Aside from that, I'm wondering if any of you guys have had any experience starting up new business ventures, and in the trials and tribulations involved?  I could do with some advice as to how to approach this endeavor and to perhaps get a head start... Does one have to get a business degree of some sort to understand the dynamics and logistics involved in running an enterprise? 

[faulty_damper]

I'll give you a really big hint: don't wait to graduate from university; the money you spend on your degree may hold you back for years while you pay off the student loans.  If you try and fail, do it while you're young.  The risks are far smaller the younger you are because the financial consequences won't affect you as much.

Those were general statements.  Specific statements can't be had until we know what kind of company you are thinking about.  Is it a product or a service?  But in general, you must start small and start simply.  The simple things MUST be of significant value since these will be the bread and butter.  Salt and pepper adds diversity and spice, but are not essential to your bottom line.

[j_menz]

Starting a company is pretty easy in most countries. But it actually has to have a purpose and do something in order to be a useful endeavour. It seems to me you have left that bit out of your planning.

[theholygideons]

I'll give you a really big hint: don't wait to graduate from university; the money you spend on your degree may hold you back for years while you pay off the student loans.  If you try and fail, do it while you're young.  The risks are far smaller the younger you are because the financial consequences won't affect you as much.

Those were general statements.  Specific statements can't be had until we know what kind of company you are thinking about.  Is it a product or a service?  But in general, you must start small and start simply.  The simple things MUST be of significant value since these will be the bread and butter.  Salt and pepper adds diversity and spice, but are not essential to your bottom line.

Well, currently i'm studying a science degree in university and am planning to enter into the pharmaceutical industry, in which the tangible core product would be in the form of medicine. The problem with manufacturing drugs from scratch, is that they're all multibillion dollar ventures, because of the amount of filtering and clinical testing involved. Clearly, entering such a business is challenge, where the risk and rewards are both astronomically huge.

[faulty_damper]

I don't know very much about pharma, but I had a professor who worked for a biotech company.  She said that if you have a start-up company that makes a product that is worthwhile that could potentially threaten big companies, big biotech companies will try to buy you out.  In most cases, these startups are looking to be bought out simply because they can quickly turn a huge profit just a couple of years into business.  Also, they may not even have a fully working product when they get bought out.

Anyway, from what it sounds like, you're more idealistic than realistic.  You're focused on the end goal and not the actual product.  You'll likely never succeed because it takes hundreds of millions of dollars to get a drug onto market, assuming it passes clinical trials which assume it passes lab trials. But...

If you're like me, I'd do all of the testing myself if possible.  I like to get my hands dirty with rat sweat, tears, and blood.  (Rats don't sweat, btw.)  But really, I'd bypass animal testing and go straight to human trial. Me. 

[theholygideons]

Anyway, from what it sounds like, you're more idealistic than realistic.  You're focused on the end goal and not the actual product.  You'll likely never succeed because it takes hundreds of millions of dollars to get a drug onto market, assuming it passes clinical trials which assume it passes lab trials. But...

If you're like me, I'd do all of the testing myself if possible.  I like to get my hands dirty with rat sweat, tears, and blood.  (Rats don't sweat, btw.)  But really, I'd bypass animal testing and go straight to human trial. Me. 

steroids to play the piano... x_x.
At this stage, I'm only at the beginning of my degree. I think it's realistic to start off doing research with together with other like-minded people, and then receiving funding from venture capitalists or major corporations or governments later on.

[g_s_223]

Do it while young is good.

A big complication is that rarely does one person have all the skills to make an enterprise viable. These days you most likely need strong capabilities in product, marketing, finance, and law even. This most likely implies finding partners with complementary know-how who can work together through good and bad times.

And, who aren't about to sell each other out: have you seen The Social Network?...

[faulty_damper]

steroids to play the piano... x_x.
At this stage, I'm only at the beginning of my degree. I think it's realistic to start off doing research with together with other like-minded people, and then receiving funding from venture capitalists or major corporations or governments later on.

Out of curiosity, are you the kind of person who voraciously devours information that you find classes mind-numbingly boring?  That you'd rather be home doing experiments on your own instead of in the mandatory lab classes?  Or, are you just taking everything in stride and letting the school system take care of you?  I ask because the former will most likely do something great.  The latter works for someone who does something great.  

[theholygideons]

Out of curiosity, are you the kind of person who voraciously devours information that you find classes mind-numbingly boring?  That you'd rather be home doing experiments on your own instead of in the mandatory lab classes?  Or, are you just taking everything in stride and letting the school system take care of you?  I ask because the former will most likely do something great.  The latter works for someone who does something great. 

I think right now i'm letting the school system take care of me, but later on, when i have a more clear direction to take, i'm more of an independently motivated worker. Not sure what you meant about the two things you said at the end though...

[faulty_damper]

What I mean is that the school system will take you for a ride and not give you as much as you paid to get in.  The ones who don't get taken for a ride reach their destination a lot sooner and a lot richer because they didn't have to pay the toll.

I majored in music, and for the most part, I assumed that a college education was a stepping stone for something else so I tried to enjoy it.  Most of my classmates thought the same.  It was only until our final year that we started to worry because reality was right in front of us and we knew we couldn't deny reality.  That's when we scrambled to figure out what we were going to do with a stupid music degree.  It's functionally useless.  My point is that you need to seriously take time to consider reality.  The sooner you do this, the better off you'll be compared to your peers because you'll be the one who's prepared.  Schooling won't prepare you for that.

[theholygideons]

What I mean is that the school system will take you for a ride and not give you as much as you paid to get in.  The ones who don't get taken for a ride reach their destination a lot sooner and a lot richer because they didn't have to pay the toll.

I majored in music, and for the most part, I assumed that a college education was a stepping stone for something else so I tried to enjoy it.  Most of my classmates thought the same.  It was only until our final year that we started to worry because reality was right in front of us and we knew we couldn't deny reality.  That's when we scrambled to figure out what we were going to do with a stupid music degree.  It's functionally useless.  My point is that you need to seriously take time to consider reality.  The sooner you do this, the better off you'll be compared to your peers because you'll be the one who's prepared.  Schooling won't prepare you for that.

ahh yes... don't want to end up like another grumpy professor at an institution who couldn't escape the system.