Entrepreneurship
- EGR 200/ENT 200: Creativity, Innovation, and DesignThe class mission is to give students an understanding of the sources and processes associated with creativity, innovation, and design - three interdependent capabilities essential to our own well being, as well as to the well being of society. We will study the internal and external factors that relate to our own ability to create, innovate, and design. We will also understand the factors that impact a group's ability to act creatively, to innovate, and to produce practical and appealing designs. The class will consist of readings and case studies as well as individual and group projects.
- EGR 201/ENT 201: Creating Value: Introduction to EntrepreneurshipThis class examines the entrepreneurial mindset, and how to put that mindset to work to create value in the world. The class also covers core 'hard skills' of innovation and entrepreneurship (including market evaluation, product testing and iteration, and business modeling). In this class students work in groups assigned to 'solving' some of the biggest global problems using tools learned in the class.
- EGR 301/ENT 301: The History of EntrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship is an ancient activity that appeared 8,500 years ago. Since that time entrepreneurs have used unique knowledge, technology, hedonistic delights, and relationships with elites to change what populations desire and consider acceptable behavior. Their accumulation of wealth, status, and well-being has put entrepreneurs in constant tension with whomever controls a society. Understanding how entrepreneurs, sometimes as individuals, but mostly as groups, have impacted our history is a key to understanding when and how societies can count on them to help solve the problems that plague us all.
- EGR 395/ENT 395: Venture Capital and Finance of InnovationVenture capital is a driving force behind innovation and entrepreneurship, although the unique working details of venture capital firms and their processes are well-kept secrets. Early stage investors not only fund startups but also enable innovation through mentorship and partnership with the entrepreneurs. Understanding how these investors think and operate is critical to students who are interested in entrepreneurship, as well as to those who would like to pursue venture capital.
- EGR 488/ENT 488: Designing Ventures To Change the WorldThis course looks at longstanding societal challenges through the lens of socially-minded entrepreneurship and innovation. We will explore whether and how social-benefit venture models - for-profit or non-profit - can help address comparable issues in underserved urban and rural communities across America. How can these communities become more self-reliant and prosperous against a backdrop of increasing inequality in our society? We will explore potential models for durable social ventures, engage with frontline entrepreneurs, and most importantly develop your own solution ideas for the problems and communities you care about.
- EGR 491/ECE 491/ENT 491: High-Tech EntrepreneurshipThis hands-on course introduces students to analysis and actions required to launch and commercialize a tech company, through the use of Harvard Business School cases, visits from entrepreneurs, and two "field assignments". You will learn conceptual frameworks and analytical techniques for evaluating technologies, markets, and commercialization strategies. Additionally, you will learn how to attract and motivate the resources needed to start a company (e.g. people, corporate partners and venture capital), prepare business plans, structure relationships, refine product-market fit, and create and grow enterprise value.
- EGR 495/ENT 495: Special Topics in Entrepreneurship: Blazing A Path: Understanding Gender In Startup WorldIn this course, students will explore the experiences of female entrepreneurs today through the lives and stories of spectacular guest speakers and select readings. This isn't a class just about women nor is it only for women - rather it's a class that helps everyone understand how the experience of others can differ and the kinds of skills that can help us navigate challenges and obstacles as we encounter them. More importantly, it will also equip us to think about the ways in which we can contribute to making the entrepreneurial environment more diverse, inclusive and equitable in the future.
- EGR 497/ENT 497: Entrepreneurial LeadershipThe mission of the class is to enable students to successfully create and lead enterprises by teaching the basic skills required to be a successful entrepreneurial leader. This class compliments EGR 491 "High Tech Entrepreneurship" which focuses on 'giving birth to a company', by focusing instead on enterprise 'early child rearing'. The basic skills taught fall into three major categories: how to create and manage powerful relationships, how to know and manage yourself, in addition to understanding how organizations work as they evolve from the idea stage to become value producing, self-sustaining enterprises.
- EGR 498/ENT 498: Special Topics in Social Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship for the IdealistThe mission of this class is to inspire and prepare students to start ventures that make the world more just and equal. This requires operating in a tough milieu of poverty, broken trust, broken public and private institutions, pervasive discrimination, and generational loss. Students will learn to (a) view marginalization and poverty through systematic frameworks, (b) explore and critique the intellectual bedrock of prevalent social venture thinking, including the role of innovation, technology, and markets, and (c) learn how to establish ventures, design interventions, lead idealistic teams, and create enduring change.