The Costa Rican University Teaching Entrepreneurship as a Survival Skill

Jan de Vries · 2026-09-18

Allan Matarrita-Chinchilla doesn't talk about entrepreneurship like it's a buzzword. For him, it's something more basic. It's a survival skill. And at ULACIT in Costa Rica, he's making sure students learn it before they ever need it. I recently came across this story, and it stuck with me. Because while everyone's talking about startup ecosystems in Silicon Valley or Berlin, there's something quietly powerful happening in San José. A university is treating entrepreneurship not as an elective for business majors, but as a life skill for everyone. ### Why Entrepreneurship Is More Than Starting a Business When most people hear "entrepreneurship," they picture pitch decks, venture capital, and someone in a hoodie saying "we're disrupting everything." But Matarrita-Chinchilla sees it differently. He sees it as a way to navigate a world that won't stop changing. Think about it. The job you have today might not exist in five years. The skills you learned in college might be obsolete by the time you're 30. That's not pessimism. That's just reality. And the people who thrive aren't the ones with the most knowledge. They're the ones who can adapt, pivot, and create opportunities when the old ones disappear. That's what ULACIT is trying to teach. Not just how to launch a company, but how to think like an entrepreneur. How to spot problems and turn them into possibilities. How to take an idea and make it real. ### The Classroom That Feels Like Real Life At ULACIT, entrepreneurship education isn't about theory. It's about practice. Students work on real projects. They test ideas. They fail, learn, and try again. It's messy, and that's the point. Matarrita-Chinchilla explains that the goal is to prepare students for innovation and professional change. Not just for their first job, but for their fifth. For the career they haven't imagined yet. For the industry that doesn't exist. > "Entrepreneurship is not just about creating businesses. It's about creating your own path." — Allan Matarrita-Chinchilla That quote captures it perfectly. In a world where traditional career ladders are disappearing, the ability to build your own ladder is invaluable. ### What This Means for the Rest of Us You don't have to be in Costa Rica to learn from this. You don't even have to be a student. The lesson is universal: treat entrepreneurship as a survival skill, not a side hustle. Here's what that looks like in practice: - **Stay curious.** Always ask how things work and how they could work better. - **Build something small.** It doesn't have to be a startup. A blog, a project, a side gig. Just make something. - **Learn to pivot.** When something isn't working, change it. Don't cling to a failing plan. - **Embrace uncertainty.** The future is unpredictable. Get comfortable with that. - **Think like an owner.** Whether you're an employee or a founder, take responsibility for outcomes. These aren't just business skills. They're life skills. And they're teachable. ### The Bigger Picture ULACIT's approach is a reminder that education isn't just about transferring knowledge. It's about preparing people for the real world. And the real world is messy, unpredictable, and full of opportunities for those who know how to look. So while we wait for the next big policy shift or the next tech breakthrough, maybe we should pay more attention to what's happening in classrooms. Because that's where the future is being built. One student, one idea, one survival skill at a time. If you're in the US and thinking about your own career or your kid's education, this is worth pondering. Entrepreneurship isn't just for the Silicon Valley crowd. It's for anyone who wants to stay relevant in a changing world.