When students start a business in university

And while he represents a tiny percentage of entrepreneurs, many other successful companies have been started in a college dorm room.

Dyn was co-founded in 2001 by Jeremy Hitchcock, studying at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Massachusetts.

He developed a way to optimise the flow of data between online companies and their users to improve internet performance. Dyn, based in Manchester, New Hampshire, now employs 400 people and boasts clients such as Twitter and Etsy.

“I’d give the same advice to any university student,” says Hitchcock.

“Go start a company or be part of something where you’re creating or building, because you’re at a time in life when you have that freedom of exploration. And do something that’s crazy, that’s non-traditional.”

Maggard says there is no better place for experimentation than a college campus where students can also develop professional networks.

“If you are a student entrepreneur and you have an idea with a time limit on getting it to market, I would encourage you to take a leave of absence and give it a go. But those are rare,” he says.

“Work on it while you’re in school. Develop the idea and continue to do customer research. Then when the time is right and you are ready to move forward, go for it.”

29-year-old Mehr Pastakia already had a degree in horticulture but started her rooftop garden company while studying at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, Baltimore.