「起業家のように考えて行動する」、全米1位の起業家精神教育とは 2026年11月号
The article presents an interview with Associate Professor Yasuhiro Yamakawa of Babson College, the institution that has held the top ranking in U.S. entrepreneurship education for over 30 years. Yamakawa explains his personal journey from corporate entrepreneurship to academia, and why he was drawn to Babson’s strong integration of theory and practice. Central to Babson’s pedagogy is the proprietary Entrepreneurial Thought & Action® (ET&A) methodology, which consists of three rules: start with action, pre‑define acceptable losses (embrace failure), and involve others. These rules are operationalized in the first‑year mandatory course Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship (FME), where every student forms a team, receives up to $3,000 in university‑provided capital, creates a real company, manages a bank account, and proceeds through a full venture lifecycle (launch, operate, exit). Assessment focuses on the learning extracted from hypothesis testing and failure rather than profit. The article also highlights the campus culture that normalizes sharing failures, encourages rapid small‑scale experiments, and builds a positive feedback loop that transforms students’ confidence and identity as entrepreneurs. The piece concludes by noting that this culture is historically cultivated and not easily transplanted, and hints at future coverage of second‑year learning and implications for Japanese education.
Topics
山川恭弘の背景とバブソン大学への志望動機
Yamakawa’s ten‑year experience in corporate and independent entrepreneurship, his realization that success depends on organization, policy, and failure handling, and his decision to join Babson to fuse theory with practice.
Entrepreneurial Thought & Action®（ET&A）三法則の核心
The three guiding principles – action‑first, pre‑define acceptable loss, and involve others – presented as a mindset rather than a direct path to becoming an entrepreneur.
FME 1年次必修科目：実践的起業体験の設計
Structure of the Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship course: 650 students split into 40‑person classes, $3,000 seed funding per venture, creation of legal entities and bank accounts, and a full venture lifecycle within a semester.
評価基準：失敗からの学びを重視する成績制度
Assessment focuses on hypothesis formulation, evidence collection, learning extraction, and iteration; failures are encouraged and rewarded, with the notion that no learning can be presented if everything succeeds.
キャンパス文化と起業家精神の醸成
The pervasive, historically built environment where sharing failures, rapid small experiments, and positive peer pressure create a unique entrepreneurial atmosphere that cannot be simply transplanted.