best programs for entrepreneurship

Question

I know there are a lot of rankings out there but was just wondering what people on this board think which schools have great programs for entrepreneurship....

agold · Answer

UCLA, Haas, and Stanford for West Coast. HBS and Wharton for East Coast. I'd put Stanford and Haas as #1 and #2 in the country.

fooFighter · Answer

According to Financial Times:
Best in entrepreneurship **

1 Babson College: Olin
2 UCLA: Anderson
3 Stanford University GSB
4 UC Berkeley: Haas
5 MIT: Sloan
6 University of Arizona: Eller
7 Instituto de Empresa
8 University of Texas at Austin: McCombs
9 Imperial College London: Tanaka
10 Iese Business School

I'm saying to endorse these ranking, but they are a good staring point. I would take a high ranked school any day, even for entrepreneurship. Brand will help you open the doors that much easily

So I would suggest start from UCLA, Stanford, UC Berkeley, MIT, University of texas at Austin to begin with,

riverripper · Answer

Honestly I say for ent. the best path is to go to the best school you get into. The contacts you get are going to be much more valuable at a top5 school than anything you will learn at Babson. Having access to alums who are in venture capital and who can introduce you to the right people is going to be the biggest help trying to start any business. Lots of schools now are building on their programs too because it is becoming a more popular goal even though many people dont go into it immediately out of school. Most people enter the work force for a few years to help pay off their student loan debt.

I would say that go to the best school you get into regardless of this specialty ranking. No matter where you go you will find classes aimed at you, clubs, and people that enter the business plan competitions. I still think the stronger the brand on your bio the bigger the advantage when chasing funding.

I would say that go to the best school you get into regardless of this specialty ranking. No matter where you go you will find classes aimed at you, clubs, and people that enter the business plan competitions. I still think the stronger the brand on your bio the bigger the advantage when chasing funding.

solaris1 · Answer

Solid advice from riverripper, +1. I'm a budding entrepreneur myself and I completely agree with what he said. The rankings are pretty meaningless when it comes to "learning" something like entrepreneurship.

Virtually any business school worth its salt will give you the classes, clubs and business plan competitions you need to refine your entrepreneurial goals. But in the end it's all about the network. For instance, I already have a very strong professional network within my industry of interest in New York City - so Columbia, NYU and Cornell even though they aren't specifically known for specialties in entrepreneurship are probably the schools that make the most sense for me. If for nothing else then because they give me the most opportunities to maintain and build upon my professional network in New York.

Furthermore, if your business plans don't involve tech or "products", then it's not even a requirement to get access to venture capital. You should just have lots of potential clients who are familiar with what you have to offer, and you can start out small. Of course an MBA can help you figure all this out, but it doesn't need to be from the school ranked #1 in Entrepreneurship.

These specialty rankings are usually completely arbitrary anyway. Look at the schools ranked highest in "International Business." :roll:

buffdaddy · Answer

Also to add to RR's post, the Best school in the location you want to setup your venture makes the most sense. This way you can make connections with local PE/VC firms while still in school.

gt7er · Answer

is starting a biz right out of an MBA program possible? what about all the b-school loans?

kryzak · Answer

second buffdaddy and river. If you want to consider VCs, definitely consider the location of your school as well as the general brand and entrepreneurship "atmosphere" at the school (meaning, do a lot of people try out entrepreneurial ventures for their internship or right out of school?) Remember, VCs and Startups generally have very limited recruiting budgets, and face time is VERY important for getting a job at the company you want to work for. Thus, it's much easier to drive to a company for coffee on a whim than to fly over during some long break to visit the company. That is one key reason why I picked Berkeley over Kellogg, simply because I wanted to work on the West Coast after school.

With that said, if you want West Coast, you can't beat Stanford, Berkeley-Haas, or UCLA-Anderson. For the East Coast, MIT and Harvard and maybe Wharton are tops. Kellogg and Chicago are both improving their entrepreneurship and VC programs dramatically, so you won't be in trouble if you end up there either :wink:

.

dagrobo · Answer

How is working in VC industry different from working as technology consultant/manager in startup? Is the learning (eg venture creation, business development, evaluate business idea etc.) involved in these two fields the same? What I am trying to find out is what should be the realistic short term goal if somebody eventually wants to start his own venture in technology ?

Thanks for your responses.

Thanks for your responses.

best programs for entrepreneurship

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