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Entrepreneurship concentration

In the Poets&Quants Best MBA Programs for Entrepreneurship ranking, ASU's W. P. Carey School of Business was named No. 1 in the U.S. and No. 2 in the world, ahead of Michigan, Duke, and UCLA. Entrepreneurship has been, and will continue to be, one of the key engines of global economic growth. Because entrepreneurship is not a one-size-fits-all proposition that happens along a pre-determined timeline, the entrepreneurship concentration focuses on developing your mindset and your toolkit, whether you will launch your own startup, join others in their new venture, work intrapreneurially within a larger organization, or even a combination of these over time.

Our core course in entrepreneurship, combined with five required specialization courses and related electives, will develop your skills in the following areas: idea generation, opportunity assessment, concept development, resource determination and acquisition, funding opportunities, managing growth, and harvesting the business. This concentration will put you in the shoes of an entrepreneur, deepening your critical thinking and experiential learning while you learn to make decisions in real time with limited information.

Required courses

You will complete one course in entrepreneurship as a part of your core MBA curriculum. To fulfill the requirements of the concentration, you must complete a minimum of fifteen additional credit hours of coursework.

Full-time MBA required course

MGT 540: Entrepreneurship

Introduces to the framework and tools conducive to the pursuit of entrepreneurial endeavors covering the full range from start-ups to later stage companies, both inside and outside the corporate environment. Topics include idea generation, opportunity assessment, business models, funding opportunities, and planning for the challenges of market entry. This course will integrate skills from other courses, including finance, accounting, organizational behavior, economics, and strategy.

Entrepreneurship concentration required courses

MGT 590: Entrepreneurship II — Entrepreneurial Management

Builds on the skill sets developed in the core entrepreneurship course. The focus is on managing rapid growth, refining the business model, dealing with crises, understanding financing options for growing the business, options analysis at critical junctures, evaluating acquisition opportunities, and harvesting the business.

MGT 594: Lean Launch

Test and validate business models for a new venture or venture concept utilizing the Lean LaunchPad methodology and customer development approach before spending significant resources on a concept that is not validated. The core of the class will revolve around students testing assumptions they have made about a potential business opportunity through weekly tests such as interviews with potential customers.

FIN 555: Entrepreneurial Finance

Provides an overview of the economics and institutions involved in entrepreneurial finance, particularly the financing of new ventures. The class will consist primarily of case analysis, supplemented with lecture material and in-class discussions.

MGT 591: Corporate Entrepreneurship

Prepares you for executive positions in established organizations involving the creation of a highly entrepreneurial culture. Covers the entire spectrum of corporate entrepreneurship, including entrepreneurial orientation, organizational structure geared for innovation, corporate venturing, and corporate spin-offs, as well as the challenges and advantages of franchising, whether from the perspective of the franchisor or the franchisee. This course is especially suited to entrepreneurship students who will pursue an intrapreneurial executive career within a larger organization.

MGT 594: New Venture Challenge

Open to all ASU graduate students and offered through a partnership between the W. P. Carey School of Business and Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, New Venture Challenge creates an accelerator-like environment in which you pitch ideas, receive tailored coaching and guidance, act to take your businesses to the next level, and compete for part of $100,000 in funding and services in the post-course New Venture Challenge competition. This course is by application only. See deadlines and learn more at entrepreneurship.wpcarey.asu.edu/content/venture.

Electives

MGT 591: IAP Consulting Project

Learn the steps and analysis necessary to take new technologies from the lab to the marketplace. Work with actual. clients and gain valuable experience in:

Assessing new technologies
Business planning and financing
Determining the market opportunities for new technologies
Creating a commercialization plan to take the technology to market

SCM 591: Consulting in Business

Focuses student teams on consulting projects to develop strategies, business plans, or components of business plans for entrepreneurial businesses in the Valley. During the course, teams will interact with company representatives, collect information, and prepare reports for the client and class.

MGT 594: Venture Capital Experience

Explores the details of the startup funding process. Discover the history of venture capital and other types of capital, current trends, and the trends that are anticipated in the future. You will learn the due diligence process as performed by investors and be able to apply these concepts to building and growing their own ventures.