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This is the first of a three part series based on a presentation given by Robin Sloan, MSU Alumni and VP of Strategy for Current TV. Robin currently lives in San Francisco.

Robin Sloan graduated from MSU with a degree in Economics before studying Journalism at the Poynter Institute in Florida. He heard about Current TV, an emerging media company that he knew he wanted to join. He started as an entry-level blogger/web creator and continued to work his way up through the company. Working for a small start-up gave Robin incredible opportunities that many of his friends joining large companies missed. The first aspect of his talk focused on these opportunities and the culture of the start-up.

So, what is so great about a start-up?

Technology has made it easier than ever to start a company.

In the last five to ten years, the barriers to enter a new market have significantly dropped. With technology and the power of the Internet, small companies can reach broad audiences, which means they can have a big impact without huge investments. Quick example, you can start a free blog online in five minutes. Then if you understand social media tools like Twitter and Digg, you can have people across the country visiting your site.

If you can create a successful startup, you can compete directly with large companies. In a rapidly changing world, who can react faster, a company of 1,000 employees or a company of five? A smaller company can react quickly, and that fact has many large businesses worried.

You are at the right time in your life to take a risk

Think about it: you might feel pretty overwhelmed with classes, looking for internships, possibly financial aid, but it’s not going to get much easier down the road. Someday you’ll have a mortgage to pay and a family to feed, so arbitrage the fact that you are young. It is easier to take a big risk now, than down the road when your responsibilities are higher.

The other great part about being in college is that you have a lot of free time on your hands. Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook during his free time at Harvard; Bill Gates did the same thing with Microsoft. Once again, you don’t have a ton of responsibilities now compared to the future, so take advantage of that.

You will get more experience in the same amount of time

If you go to a large company, you will likely get a set of tasks that won’t change too much over the course of a year or two. That means that after two years of being a faithful employee you are going to be great at that small set of tasks and if you are lucky the CEO might know your name. That’s not a bad thing…

However, if you start a start-up (or join someone else’s) there are going to be many different tasks and usually new companies don’t have much money to hire extra employees or the task needs to be done before an employee can be hired. That means that during the course of those same two years you are going to be wearing a lot of different hats and learning many new and valuable skills. You will also have direct impact on major decisions and if the company grows you will quickly move up the ladder. It is much easier to make a difference in a small company than a large one.

You do not have to be a business major to be a business owner

If right now you’re saying to yourself, “hey, this is all great info, but I’m not the entrepreneurial type” you need to get those thoughts out of your head. Robin thought the same thing when he was in college, but he quickly learned that many types of people can thrive in the start-up culture. Still not convinced? Oftentimes people are looking for others to join their start-up so you can be a part of the fun without being in charge of the entire business.

Ultimately a start-up might not be the best option for your future career, but give it some serious thought before completely ruling it out. If you try a start-up and fail, what’s the worst that happens? You go out and get a “real” job, which is what you would have done anyways, but now you have a great experience under your belt.

Stayed tuned for more advice from Robin Sloan coming soon!