| |19 DECEMBER 2025HIGHERReviewprojects where students craft business plans, test ideas with real customers; mentorship from founders and angel investors; and immersion in an incubation environment where risk, failure, and iteration are normalized learning tools. Assessment also needs transformation in terms of evaluating a student's skills based on prototype progress, investor pitch, rapid cycle feedback, and evidence of customer validation.The urgency of this integration is apparent. We now live in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world, and are moving towards a brittle, anxious, non-linear, and incomprehensible era. Graduates who only know how to join a company and climb a ladder may find themselves ill-equipped for the reality of jobs that change every few years, or for labor markets dominated by gig work or project-based assignments. Thus, equipping students with entrepreneurial skills, problem identification, opportunity evaluation, experimentation, resourcefulness, and resilience broadens their horizons regardless of whether they launch their own venture or work within an organization, where they become innovators and intra-preneurs.However, integrating entrepreneurship into main-stream business education is a complex yet rewarding en-deavor. While the enthusiasm is high, robust education systems, mentorship, and practical support are needed to channel that interest into action, which can limit the prac-tical depth of startup-focused pedagogy. Moreover, tradi-tional accreditation frameworks often prioritize academic rigor over experiential learning, making it challenging to embed flexible, venture-oriented curricula. Building and sustaining incubators also requires long-term finan-cial and human investment, and consistent engagement from industry mentors and alumni. On the student side, it's not hesitation but rather a pragmatic concern. MBA graduates express interest in entrepreneurship, yet many delay launching ventures due to concerns around financial risk and initial market access. These are not deterrents but signposts that signal where support systems such as structured incubation, early-stage funding access, and mentorship need to be strengthened.Building Strong Industry Connections & launching Student VenturesWith the right environment, these perceived challenges become opportunities for learning, resilience-building, and long-term success. B-school need to build strong industry connections to bring in experienced start-up practitioners as adjunct faculty and mentors. Tie-ups with investors and incubators can help launch student ventures and ease market entry. Workshops on lean start-up methodology, agile decision making, legal and IP basics, and fundraising can reduce knowledge gaps. Peer-to-peer start-up clubs, co-founder matching platforms, internal seed grants, and pitch competitions create a supportive environment. Most importantly, resilience training and risk normalization help students embrace the possibility of failure and learn to iterate.This virtuous cycle of current students, alumni, and investors can help build sustainable entrepreneurial growth, supported by real-time domain guidance and capital inflows.Beyond infrastructure, B-school must regularly revisit their offerings. Landing metrics to track include the number of active start-ups incubated, average funds raised per venture, student-driven job creation, revenue generated by alumni ventures, long-term survival rates, and student satisfaction. Feedback loops from graduates who started businesses should guide improvements in curriculum, mentorship, and infrastructure, ensuring continued relevance and effectiveness.As India seeks to further position itself as a global startup hub, with government programmes like Startup India, greater digital penetration, and an expanding middle class, the hungry search for innovation across sectors will only intensify. In this scenario, B schools have both a duty and an opportunity. They must craft systems that nurture entrepreneurial capabilities; from teaching, mentoring, funding, and ecosystem interface, to ensure graduates are not only employment-ready but venture-ready. Students, too, must learn that failure is a mentor, not an end. The time has come for every B-schools to become, in effect, a launchpad; for startups, for ideas, for future leaders.
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