Entrepreneurship

Yet another reason to study entrepreneurship at MIT

https://www.kauffman.org/entrepreneurshi ... reach.aspx

Dartmouth has a school-wide entrepreneurship center.

Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network

RF

Thanks, added to the list

Darden: First impressions

I just spent about 2-3 hours on the Batten Institute website. Very appealing. Information is very specific and pretty exhaustive. They even have a Twitter page, very very helpful. I'm listing out the pros and cons - of course, these are relative to the other schools listed above.

Pros:

Proven Startup successes -

https://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-200 ... =wsjcrmain
https://www.freedom-meditech.com/

A well laid out MBA track in Entrepreneurship - Very helpful for students who are focused right from the start.
Summer options : An option of either taking up an internship at a startup or starting a business at the Batten incubator.
Specific details about the stipend program for participants in the incubator program.

Cons:

No mention of the entry criteria for certain courses/seminars such as the 'VC bootcamp' - Do the participating companies look for prior finance background etc ?
No mention of the expected results from a boot camp or a seminar : Meaning, what can the student expect in return.
Not many options for students who wish to pursue VC internships ( This is to be expected ).

Darden is definitely a good school for an entrepreneurial career, at least given the startup successes. I'm quite sure the faculty and facilities are world class - so I'm taking these for granted in all the schools mentioned in the list.

Can anyone offer any insight on their experiences with these Entrepreneurship programs? For example, if you've been a part of the Batten Institute (Darden) or the E&I program (Sloan), how was/is your experience like with your program? Have you started a company? How helpful was your coursework or incubator program? Is/was your program only for diehard entrepreneurs who plan to forgo the traditional internship, etc.?

I;m on the entrepreneurship track...
Company has formed and we are prototyping already.

In teh current climate, VC funding is very rare for 'just an idea'. VC's fund based on the management team and how well they beleive they can execute the idea. For unproven people, this means they want to see either a strong team of advisors, and/or a proof of concept thats hows the business model is viable, with evidence that the management team is capable of executing.
Therefore, the usual methods of funding, particularly in this climate is FFF (Friends, Fools and Family).

Kelley has a top notch Entrepreneurship center (Johnson Center), and Kelley is ranked #1 among public schools for it (US News).

https://www.kelley.iu.edu/JCEI/

Thanks for the insight. The days of funding just for an idea are over, or rather they were gone after the dot com bust. I agree with you completely about the VC funding scenario. So it's key to have a strong team, and particularly a very strong advisory team - which can garner the VC attention. Unfortunately, such advisory resources are available only at top schools.

What about those who already own mildly successful companies, and start to find their education/industry lacking?

Is an entrepreneurship focused MBA track still useful(it jives with previous background experience)? Or is there too much focus on company formation and financing... as compared to reorganization and development?

1) Glad you started the conversation...sans PE/VC.
2) Where's Babson since it's been ranked the top entrepreneurship program in the world for like the past decade?
3) What's the benefit of interning with a startup? Asking because I actually get a little peeved when I see programs that provide more access to local start-ups than to students' start-ups. Logic: Why help somone else when I can help myself? Granted, I know that there are lessons to learned and insight to be gained from every experience.
4) Have you come across anything on Syracuse? No real MBA brand recognition but it seems to pop up on rankings.

Where's Babson since it's been ranked the top entrepreneurship program in the world for like the past decade?
You know, I've been quite baffled by Babson. I did enquire a bit about the school and everyone was in awe of their entrepreneurship focus. That being said, the school fails miserably in other areas and is not even ranked in the top 20.

What's the benefit of interning with a startup? Asking because I actually get a little peeved when I see programs that provide more access to local start-ups than to students' start-ups. Logic: Why help somone else when I can help myself? Granted, I know that there are lessons
There's a difference between interning at a local startup and interning at your own startup. Well at your own startup you wouldn't be interning anyways . There are a few students who want to jump 'right in' and get 'hands on' right away and they might not have an idea or formed a company of their own. So the local startups do provide a way in which these students can get first hand startup experience. I don't think any B-School will favor one v/s the other. I mean if you are in the process of forming a company, the school wouldn't ask you to intern at a different startup.

Have you come across anything on Syracuse? No real MBA brand recognition but it seems to pop up on rankings
Heard it's a good engineering school but I have no clue about it's business curriculum.

Sorry am posting this really late ..

May be. If you already own a successful company ( I mean there's no such thing as mildly successful ), and you want to take it to new heights, education might come in handy. You need to have explored all other options though. Let's say you want to expand your product lines or something like that, you must explore some options of doing this ( discuss with the local entrepreneurship community etc ). If you hit dead ends, then an MBA will definitely put you in line with the 'hows and whys' of product expansion. However taking 2 years off from a successful business is quite risky, unless you have someone who can run the business for you in your absence

Ditto. I'd also venture to say that you might actually be able to focus on your specific business in business school. In fact, I find that some programs love for you have experience with your own company. It adds value to the b-school experience of others.