Revolutionary approach to finance education: Schools introduce innovative tactics to nurture entrepreneurial spirit!

When Martim Gois enrolled in his masters in finance, he might have expected a career in banking or bonds, not bugs. But last year, Valpas, the company he co-founded, raised €1.6 million in seed capital to expand its business to provide a technology-based, pesticide-free solution to fighting bedbugs.

“Managing cash, so you don’t run out of money, is a crucial function in a start-up and the masters in finance have helped us develop and expand into more than 30 destinations, and grow 100% year over year during the ‘running profitable operations,” says Gois, who met most of his leadership team while studying at Aalto University School of Business in Helsinki.

“But,” he adds, “it would have been really helpful to have had more hands-on help with fundraising and bootstrapping — and maybe bring in, as practice professors, some entrepreneurs who have exited or even failed!”

Many Masters of Finance (MiF) graduates enjoy successful careers working for large financial firms, but some seek a more entrepreneurial path. Some are inspired by the success of startups like Band AND Revolution and, while there has been a slowdown in fintech investment in recent months, global fintech funding exceeded $75 billion in 2022, according to CB Insights.

The recent financial recessions and the Covid pandemic have also prompted many finance graduates to rethink their career plans, says Professor Sami Attaoui, head of the finance department at Neoma Business School in France.

“Since these crises, some graduates have shifted their interest from banking careers to risk management and investment funds,” he adds. “But others have also been drawn to careers in digitally disruptive small- and medium-sized companies.”

The Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, which offers expertise and support to entrepreneurial students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, reports a 50% increase since 2020 in finance-related student start-ups applying to its capstone accelerator, MIT delta v. The executive director, Paul Cheek, says fintech companies launched with his support include Sigma Ratings, Posh Technologies, Almond FinTech, Zumma and CashEx.

Most business school incubators will welcome start-ups founded by MiF students. TO Grenoble Ecole de ManagementFor example, its incubator has helped a graduate start a business making reusable menstrual pants and another to set up a business that helps village mayors access public funding. “Fifteen years ago, our graduates launched businesses to make money – today, they often launch them to build a more sustainable world,” says Stéphanie Boyer, program director for the Master’s in Finance at Grenoble Ecole de Management.

Schools have also added entrepreneurship modules to their MiF programmes. In the UK, Durham University School of CommerceThe New Venture Creation module helps students develop some of the skills needed to start a business, exploring entrepreneurial finance, managing growth strategies, execution intelligence and exit strategies. Program director Saadat Saeed says students are encouraged to develop initiatives based on ethical, sustainable and responsible business practices.

But, for Alexandre Prot, co-founder of the French challenger bank Qonto and MiF graduate HEC Paris, entrepreneurship should be a fully integrated part of the courses. “There are many ways these courses could encourage an entrepreneurial mindset,” she suggests, “from entrepreneurship contests and campus meetups to conferences for interacting with successful entrepreneurs who might share their stories and experiences.”

Hubert Pellerin, co-founder of flexible working platform Parents on Board, says his MiF is based in Paris Iéseg School of Management it provided him with “a breadth of in-depth knowledge and hard and soft skills essential for running a business”.

“But,” he adds, “it might be a good idea to have theoretical and practical courses that address the key financial issues start-ups face during their early years – and maybe involve a business angel who can explain their vision and points of attention”.

There should be more courses on how finance is evolving, says Sylvain Pages, a MiF graduate Edhec Business School which launched corporate finance firm AltfinPartners and software as a service (SaaS) Altgency. “Edhec has a brand that is well respected by banks and investment funds in France and we have managed to recruit a third of our staff from the school.

“But finance is also about building a new world based on more environmentally friendly assets, on companies with new governance models, on new financial relationships based on trust and transparency. This world needs to be imagined, carefully planned and shared in order to develop the financial structure that will sustain it”.

It’s a view shared by Audencia MiF graduate Jean-David Bar, co-founder of the royalty-based crowdinvesting platform We Do Good. “In the last couple of years, revenue-based finance has become a global trend, blockchain technology is practically mainstream, and environmental issues are leading to environmental footprint accounting. Future financial leaders need a broader view than they might have now.”

This is a wish list for business schools to consider. “Entrepreneurship and finance-related ventures often require interdisciplinary skills,” says Durham’s Saeed, “and finding faculty members with academic degrees and relevant industry experience can be a challenge.”

Madeleine Bjørnestad Røed, who studied for her MiF at NHH Norwegian School of Economicspoints out that a career in “big finance” can itself be the place to incubate a business idea.

“Yes, a start-up fundraising course and more contact with venture capitalists and accelerators during my studies probably could have helped me,” says Røed, who co-founded social media and investment platform Stack by .me after working in investment banking . “But I would never have worked eight years in finance without my finance masters, and therefore never would have had this idea — or the expertise to execute it.”