When we hear the word entrepreneur, we tend to imagine someone in a hoodie pitching a startup to venture capitalists. Someone building the next big app, launching a product, or creating a scalable business model from scratch. We don’t tend to think of PhDs.
But, perhaps we should.
If you’re a doctoral student or a recovering academic like me, chances are you’ve spent years working independently, solving complex problems, persuading skeptics, securing funding, and bringing long-term projects to life—without job security, without clear metrics, and often without institutional support. Sound familiar?
That’s not just scholarship. That’s entrepreneurship.
Academic Training Is Already Entrepreneurial
When I started at ESSEC, I had to update the school’s “SPOCs” (basically large, internal online courses that all students had to take. One was on the basics of entrepreneurial thinking, and the tldr version is this: Entrepreneurship isn’t who you are; it’s what you do.
Let’s be honest: pursuing a PhD is a massive entrepreneurial risk. You spend 5 to 10 years working on something no one asked you to do, hoping it will resonate with the right people at the right time. You pitch ideas to skeptical audiences, navigate failure and rejection, and pivot when your initial hypothesis doesn’t hold up.
You write grant applications (fundraising), present at conferences (marketing), and design entire curricula (product development). And you do it all with no guarantee of return on investment. If that’s not entrepreneurial, I don’t know what is.
My Accidental Entrepreneurial Journey
I didn’t set out to be an entrepreneur. But during the final years of my PhD, I realized that the academic path wasn’t going to be enough—for me financially, creatively, or professionally.
So I began taking on small consulting gigs. First it was language instruction with VIPKid. Then it was content writing with Transparent Language, academic advising with ViaX, mentoring at the Writing Center. One project led to another. Suddenly, I found myself juggling contracts across different time zones, sectors, and industries. I was a business owner, whether I called myself that or not (and I certainly wouldn’t have used that term at the time).
In the years since, I’ve worked with EdTech startups, universities, nonprofit programs, and multinational banks. I’ve delivered workshops, built online modules, trained faculty, and sold multi-thousand-euro instructional design packages. All as a side hustle to my full-time jobs in higher education leadership.
And what I’ve realized is this: the skills that got me through my PhD are exactly the ones that have made this possible.
PhDs Have the Skillsets Entrepreneurs Need
You don’t need an MBA to think entrepreneurially. You probably already do.
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Research and synthesis: You can gather vast amounts of information, find patterns, and generate new insights.
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Project management: You’ve planned and executed multi-year projects under minimal supervision.
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Writing and storytelling: You know how to frame a narrative, persuade an audience, and adapt your language to different contexts.
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Teaching and public speaking: You can explain complex ideas clearly and build engagement.
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Systems thinking: You understand how institutions, disciplines, and processes interconnect—and how to work within and around them.
These are not just “transferable” skills. These are marketable skills. They’re the backbone of any entrepreneurial endeavor.
What Entrepreneurship Could Look Like for You
You don’t have to quit your job or start a venture-backed company to be an entrepreneur. You just have to start thinking like one.
That might mean:
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Offering consulting in your area of expertise.
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Launching a workshop, course, or newsletter.
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Building a community around a niche you care about.
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Designing and selling digital products.
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Starting a research-based business.
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Creating content that demystifies your field for a wider audience.
It could also mean intrapreneurship—leading new initiatives or proposing innovative projects within an organization.
The point is: you don’t need permission. You already have the skills. What you may need is a mindset shift.
In Closing
PhDs are more entrepreneurial than they think. You’ve already learned to build something from scratch, find an audience, and persist through uncertainty. That’s what entrepreneurs do.
You don’t have to leave academia to use these skills. But if you do—or if you already have—know that you’re not starting from scratch. You’re starting from experience.
And whether you’re designing eLearning modules, consulting for nonprofits, building a side hustle, or mentoring others through it all—like me—you’re already in the arena.
So own it.