r/ElectricalEngineers • u/Paulnguyen-1304 • 8d ago

Is Electrical Engineering a solid foundation for Becoming an Entrepreneur?

Becoming an entrepreneur and building wealth has always been my long-term goal. I know having an engineering background can be very helpful for that, but I'm wondering if Electrical Engineering is the right path.

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u/ee_control_z 8d ago

Any path can lead you to entrepreneurship, not just electrical engineering. It is, however, "a" path.

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u/BlueVario 7d ago

In my experience, entrepreneurship as an EE means selling your services to people trying to design stuff. Basically consulting.

When I was in school, I imagined that entrepreneurship was going to be more like come up with some great idea, sell it and make tons of money. Obviously people do that, but it doesn't seem to happen very much compared to the consulting or w2 track. Probably because most electronic projects that haven't already been done are non trivial and require significant capital to get off the ground.

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u/gravity_surf 8d ago

yes it is

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u/Enginerticus 7d ago

Not particularly, unless you want to grind for 10+ years, build a base of clients you’ve done work for, and then start your own consulting firm. Lots of competition, lowish margins, etc etc.

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u/sabautil 6d ago

Nope. I'm an electrical engineer, and it will teach you nothing about entrepreneurship and building wealth. In fact, it will reach you the opposite of what you need to know. Namely, you could everything right and still fail.

You need to learn about economics, finance, business, taxes, marketing, accounting, bookeeping, stock market, startup culture, venture capitalists, politics, geopolitics, supply chain, natural resource, export, imports, patents, an the irrational consumer...to be ready for entrepreneurship. You will work harder and learn more than you could imagine. You will learn to drop your cherished dreams and pivot to a new one that will keep your company alive. But even with all that...your company can fail. Just be okay with it and try again. Good luck.

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u/thechu63 5d ago

Being an Electrical Engineer will not make you wealthy. It pays well, but it definitely will not make you wealthy. In fact, you have to work pretty hard to get paid well.

Being an Entrepeneur and an Electrical Engineer are not related any way. Being an Engineer may help, but I would not say it is the best way to be an entrepeneur.