New Entrepreneurial Options for MBAs
Yesterday, we took a look at some cutting-edge leadership courses on offer at the top B-schools. Now, we turn to U.S. News‘s companion piece, the newest entrepreneur programs for MBA students.
“Discovery to Market”
In this new two-semester project, launching Spring 2011 at the Johns Hopkins University Carey School of Business, small groups of students in the new Global MBA track will look for profitable opportunities in university scientists’ work. Philip Phan, Carey’s vice dean for faculty, calls the program an intense, systematic approach to spotting opportunities in potentially patentable discovery.
“In terms of creating a sophisticated class of students that are good at using the basic tools of market research and evaluation, putting them to work on a project like that is probably the most difficult thing you can do,” Phan tells U.S. News.
“It pushes the students to apply these tools that oftentimes are taken for granted in a classroom and to apply them to a real setting where they may not apply very well.”
If the students’ discovery seems likely to be quite profitable, employees at the Johns Hopkins Office of Technology Transfer will apply for a patent, the article explains. Ultimately, for a successful discovery, “the students will have the option of being part of that team to start a company and take this thing to the next stage of development,” says Phan.
“Venture Accelerator”
Babson College’s F. W. Olin School of Business, which boasts the top-ranked entrepreneurship program for 17 years running, offers about 100 innovative classes ranging from alternative energy innovation in Norway to teaching high school students in Rwanda how to launch companies.
Now, MBA graduates will be able to consult faculty members and use school resources to “explore, pursue, launch and grow” their start-ups with the September opening of the Venture Accelerator. This resource provides various resources throughout the stages of developing their company including incubator space, seed funding, peer mentoring programs, and mentors.
With the economy still on shaky ground in some sectors, business schools have seen a sharp increase in interest in entrepreneurial programs. Whether the goal is to be your own boss or simply have more options for your professional trajectory, the recent proliferation of entrepreneur programs for MBAs is a sign that B-schools are stepping up to meet the demand.
