Prospective MBA applicants interested in entrepreneurship will find a lot to explore at the University of California’s Haas School of Business, according to a recent article on the school’s MBA Admissions Blog. Dino Boukouris, president of the Haas MBA Student Association and a current second-year student, devoted a post early this week to the extensive opportunities he has found to pursue entrepreneurial interests, both inside the classroom and beyond.
In terms of courses, UC Berkeley boasts more than 20 core classes taught by experienced entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and business executives, Boukouris writes. Many are offered through the school’s entrepreneurial program, which is headed by Toby Stuart, the Leo Helzel Chair in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, who recently joined Haas from Harvard Business School.
Boukouris notes that his favorite class to date has been Venture Capital and Private Equity, which is taught by three veterans of the VC industry: Terry Opendyk (Onset Ventures), Sean Foote (Labrador Ventures) and Jerry Engel (Monitor Ventures. “If you have ANY interest in Venture Capital or start-up financing, it’s a must take,” Boukouris urges.
Entrepreneurship opportunities abound beyond the Haas classroom as well, beginning at the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship. The Lester Center runs a series of programs for students, including the Entrepreneurial Best Practices Series, which features practitioners from Berkeley and Silicon Valley sharing about the practical aspects of entrepreneurial activity, and multiple student competitions around social ventures, start-ups, venture capital investment and more.
The Berkeley Entrepreneurs Association (BEA), one of the largest student-led clubs at Berkeley, also hosts events, mixers, speaking engagements and more, Boukouris writes.
Other ways to get involved in entrepreneurship while at Haas include taking part in the Bay Area National Science Foundation Innovation Corps, which offers educational programs to accelerate the commercialization of science and foster technology entrepreneurship, or by supporting Berkeley’s start-up accelerator, SkyDeck|Berkeley, either as a volunteer or as a SkyDeck|Haas Fellow.
And for those in the Berkeley area, Haas will host an Entrepreneurship Panel next week designed for people interested in working at start-ups as well as entrepreneurs at all stages to collaborate, share best practices and network. The Entrepreneurship Panel will take place on Thursday, February 6, 2014, at 6 p.m. at the SkyDeck in downtown Berkeley.
“Needless to say, there is no shortage of start-up energy at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business – it really has endless opportunities to learn, lead and excel,” Boukouris writes.
Read Boukouris’ full post for even more on entrepreneurship at Haas.
