I'm a Female Entrepreneur - Do I need a college degree?!

By Giadha Aguirre De Carcer

I recently came across "10 Famous CEOs Who Think You Should Skip College", an article kindly shared by a fellow blogger, and could not help but question whether I would have done anything differently had I had this advice when I decided to go to college.  My story may or may not be common, but it does provide some valid reasons why women should strongly consider attending college, whether they intend to take on the entrepreneurial journey or not.

I started my first business at the age of 19 shortly after coming into the US.  Because I had only recently learned English and had barely been able to graduate High School, I found myself unable to score a sufficiently high SAT score for admittance into most four-year colleges.  I was hired to sell ocean-front investment properties in Miami Beach to foreign investors because I spoke five languages, and in the process met my first business partner.  

We launched First Federal Transportation (FFT) to provide non-emergency transportation services to elderly and handicapped individuals, a booming market in Miami due to the large retiree population. I knew nothing about managing a business, the transportation services sector, or any of the taxing, licensing, and insurance requirements associated with running such an enterprise.  That said, I worked hard and learned what I needed to know in order to get all of the necessary loans, certifications, and ultimately clients.  My attempt to start a business was consequently successful without a college degrees, a fact supporting the article mentioned earlier.  However, FFT ultimately failed short of one year from its inception once I found myself abysmally ill-equipped to run and grow a business.

It was an eye-opening experience. I had had a good business proposition, had capital, licenses, and clients, and yet I had failed.  While I had at least half a dozen other business ideas, I decided that if I was to  sustain and scale up an operation, I needed additional tools.  I enrolled at my local community college and successfully completed every business administration, finance, management, marketing, accounting and economics course available.  Equipped with more tangible knowledge, and an much better understanding of what a business plan should look like, I came across a brilliant technology solution I knew would be able to launch me forward.  Alas, while the idea was solid, and I know it was because Progressive Insurance eventually launched the solution under the name 'Snapshot', the verbal support and acknowledgement I received from industry experts and professionals in the sector, never translated into seed funding.

Most individuals who expressed an interest in the technology wanted to have someone else run with it, someone with the required accreditations and type of background, professional and academic, to inspire confidence.  Being a young foreign woman, I found it extremely difficult to have investors and potential clients alike take me seriously, regardless of how potentially profitable my business proposition may have been. I  needed a college degree.  It seemed a degree woud however only get me up-to-speed with other aspiring entrepreneurs, and I needed to leg up.  Because I spoke with an accent, looked 'cute', and had no financial backing whatsoever, I determined the degree should be from an institution that screamed 'impressive', and would give me that additional edge I was looking for.   

I transfered to the University of Pennsylvania, and not to make a long story longer, I ended up being invited to join the JPMorganChase Management Training program upon graduating, which I was certain would further add to my target 'credentials'.  9/11 happened, my office shut down, and I was ready to jump back on the proverbial horse.  That said, I lacked any good ideas, so while I searched for my next venture, I took on a job that would hopefully give me access to the type of community most likely to lead me to the next big thing. It did not work.

I consulted for the defense sector and rubbed elbows with very successful and seasoned business individuals. I worked diligently and gained my peers' and clients' respect as I created innovative strategic approaches for business growth and new product development.  Unfortunately, that respect did not translate into upward movement within the firm, nor did it seem to get me anywhere when discussing possible new business ideas with older male seasoned entrepreneurs (elas there were not that many female entrepreneurs at the time).  I could wait like many of my peers and work for another five to ten years until I reached that senior level, or I could expedite matters somehow.  Most of my peers in the entrepreneurial world had Masters, and so I too needed to pursue one.   

Upon graduating from Georgetown University, I felt there was absolutely nothing stopping me from giving my dream another try.  In 2007 I drafted a business plan and began shopping for seed capital to launch GNI International.  My first attempts failed and most of my emails, phone calls, and in-person pitches led to crickets and tumble weeds.  I had a crisp executive summary of my business plan, an excellent revenue model, and the market data was both promising and based on sourced hard data.  I filed myself giving the pitch, and short of the accent, it was clear, concise, and well articulated.  What was missing!?  I had the degrees, the idea, and a ripe market, was it me?

I changed my pitch and powerpoint to begin with my academic and professional background, rather than having them in my Appendix. This may seem a 'duh' to some, as it is now standard practice to begin presentations with a short blurb on the individuals in question, but I guess I was slow to the uptake.  I sent the executive summary and decks to the same set of individuals, as well as some new ones, and to my great surprise, I began getting responses and expressions of interest.

I am certain to this day that every investor I brought on board would not have agreed to take me on had I not included a short bio, which did include big names both professionally and academically.  2007 was around the beginning of the economic crisis, and most investors had become risk-averse. They were hesitant to entertain any young entrepreneur, male of female, but the reality was that seeing a young female entrepreneur-wanna-be walk though the door was especially distressing, more so in the technology and financial sectors.  What was ultimately reassuring is that I had proven to be determined and bright enough to have gotten to their door and that I had what 'they' perceived to be sufficient knowledge to give me a fighting chance.  

I know times are changing whereby investors and the entrepreneurial community as a whole is finally awakening to the fact that women can be as successful as men if given a chance to.  I also understand that many men are indeed succeeding without a college education; point in question, nine of the ten CEO's listed in the above-referenced article are men.  However, just because there are some men who are succeeding without a degree and very few women to do the same, it certainly does not mean that we should all skip college to jump into the 'real world'.

The real world is one in which almost all successful women do have a college degree, and one in which almost all successful men also have a college degree.  I play the lotto once in a while because there is at least one chance I may win if I purchase a ticket, but that does not man that I am going to quit my job banking on the millions of dollars I will make once I hit the jackpot.

A college degree provides the knowledge-base and tools necessary to, if nothing else, manage a business once it is launched.  I agree many can have a good idea, but a good idea is by no means a business.  A business requires funding, a strategic plan, and a client willing and able to pay for the service or product offered.  As a woman, a college degree not only ensures said knowledge and tools, but it also adds to that 'credibility' society has yet to give us naturally.  I am sincerely sorry I have to disagree with the article mentioned above, at least at this time, but an education is absolutely necessary to increase the odds of success for any woman, entrepreneur or not, and arguably for most men as well.

As the old saying goes -

"Success is where preparation meets opportunity."

- so be prepared.