Whether encountering new challenges or problem-solving to find solutions, people have two pathways to embark on: choose to take initiative or remain stagnant. Those who choose to take a step forward and actualize their solutions are what we call entrepreneurs. An entrepreneurship enthusiast and a Class of 2025 Emerson graduate, Jihan Kapur is known for founding his pro-bono and soap businesses in high school and currently is a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business. With a fresh start at college, Kapur strives to explore various directions to pursue entrepreneurship and build a strong foundation for his business skills.

Kapur’s pursuit of entrepreneurship all started with his interest in finance as well as his motivation to breathe life into his out-of-pocket ideas.

“In 9th or 10th grade, [I realized] I wanted to be an investment banker,” Kapur said. “Fast forward a year, [however], … I noticed that I really like coming up with random ideas that … would help other people, take my thoughts and make them come to life, just like the financial technology [I’m] working on right now.”

One of the misconceptions people hold about entrepreneurship is that they must have a grand idea to transform into a professional, profitable business. However, Kapur took an unconventional approach in which he focused more on the small ideas and step-by-step actions that helped him turn his idea into a business over time.

“My first company was for a classical INCubatoredu, and I was selling soap for children,” Kapur said. “I chose soap over complex things like software, [because] I was trying to look for a formula that would help children with an unhealthy relationship with hygiene. I gave the first hundred bars out to kids in my neighborhood.”

Kapur is currently in the unspecified business major at UT Austin and plans to choose a specific path to take on after completing his required number of credits.

“There are 10 different options unspecified business major students can choose from [at UT],” Kapur said. “I’m [planning] to choose MIS, which is Management Information Systems, because it [combines] business and technology. I’m trying to get into venture capital long-term, and they are looking for a lot of people in technical aspects.”

Although his high school interest in business led him to successfully get into a prestigious business program, he realized that there’s a certain mindset he needs to take advantage of in order to keep continuing on his path without losing sight of his initial spark.

“After I came to UT, … I’ve tried to restructure my mindset like, ‘You gotta work on what you’re working on,’” Kapur said. “If you’re going to be focused on comparing yourself to other people, you’re going to forget where you could have gone. Everyone comes from a different place and has a different starting point.”

As a freshman in college, he begins to reflect on his skills built back at Emerson and hopes to apply them to his college experience.

“Emerson [allowed me] to work with a lot of different types of people, [be] able to share a vision and get people behind me to follow that … when I was in leadership and DECA [for example],” Kapur said.

Hoping to offer realistic insights to current high school students, Kapur provides multiple directions they can take to prepare themselves for college and life in general.

“If you can find something that is easy to you, but seems hard to others, I would say pursue that even if you don’t have a passion for it at first, because you need something to fall back on when passion falls short,” Kapur said. “I will say you need to be realistic and have a backup to anything that you do.”

Although he considers having a backup plan a clever move, he also accentuates the significance of a perspective that helped him get to where he is now.

“At the same time, if you don’t dream big enough, you’re not gonna get anywhere big enough,” Kapur said. “So, try to have a balance of these two perspectives. You don’t have to be a hundred percent either way. Also, don’t compare yourself to other people. You can be a contrarian in your mindset. You can think differently, and it’ll be just fine.”