Entrepreneurship

Courses emphasize Lean Launch methods and extend to specialized areas such as social impact and tech. Students pursuing these courses are interested in entrepreneurship or seeking in-depth immersion in entrepreneurial skill-building, including ideation and team formation, customer discovery and validation, and startup acceleration. Sample courses include:

• Business Model Innovation
• Entrepreneurship
• New Venture Finance
• Opportunity Recognition
• Social Entrepreneurship
• Social Impact Speakers
• Venture Capital & Private Equity
• Venture Capital Speakers

AI Entrepreneurship

Collaborate in teams or work as solo entrepreneurs to transform concepts into viable businesses through a structured, 13-week accelerator-style journey.

Design and Development of Web-Based Products and Services

Work through a full product development cycle, culminating in a virtual design fair, and in soliciting and analyzing customer feedback.

Lean Launchpad

Get hands-on experience in what it’s like to actually start a high-tech company. Teams use a business model to brainstorm each part of a company, get out of the classroom to talk with would-be customers, and rapidly iterate to build something customers would use and buy.

Startup Policy Strategy Lab

Working with fellow students across disciplines, team up with local venture-backed startups to help identify, frame, and address strategic business challenges.

A number of Berkeley MBA scholarships are awards for students interested in entrepreneurship.

Brian Maxwell Fellowship

A fellowship of $80,000 is awarded to individuals who have demonstrated entrepreneurial spirit and a drive to create and implement innovative projects, products, and ideas.

Mike and Carol Meyer Fellowship

A $20,000 award for students with an undergraduate degree in the fields of engineering or science as well as students who intend to pursue an entrepreneurial career.

Professor Toby Stuart is faculty director of the Berkeley Haas Entrepreneurship Program. Much of his research has examined the role of social networks in entrepreneurship. He has taught previously at Harvard, Columbia, and University of Chicago business schools and is the recipient of the 2007 Kauffman Prize. He teaches Entrepreneurship.

Assistant Professor Abhishek Nagaraj's research includes crowdsourcing and open innovation, entrepreneurship strategy, and the impacts of big data on business innovation. He teaches Entrepreneurial Strategy.

Terry Opdendyk has specialized in working with technology-based startups for more than 30 years. He founded ONSET Ventures, a premier Silicon Valley venture capital firm, in 1984, where he is Managing Director and General Partner. He teaches Venture Capital and Private Equity.

Rhonda Shrader, MBA 96, executive director of the Berkeley Haas Entrepreneurship Program has founded or been an early stage team member of startups in retail, behavioral health, nonprofit, and big data. She served as a mentor for UCSF’s Idea to IPO course and has led winning teams for the Health Tech Forum Codeathon and the San Francisco MedHack 2.0 Hackathon.

The Berkeley Haas Entrepreneurship Program is a hub for classes, events, and programs that help students get the most out of their time on the Berkeley campus and their proximity to Silicon Valley. The eHub is your gateway and partner in connecting to Berkeley's vast innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. Business accelerator Skydeck was formed as a partnership between Berkeley Haas, the College of Engineering, and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research. Startup teams matched with high-quality mentors work in fully equipped office space close to campus and with stunning 360-degree views of the bay and hills.

The Trione Student Venture Fund provides $5,000 grants and office space to early stage startups involving current Haas students. The grants are intended for use in prototype development and customer discovery activities and have been awarded to companies building everything from a trading platform for new cryptocurrency investors to an object recognition tool eliminating operating room waste.

The Berkeley Entrepreneurs Association works to equip members with the skills, network, support, and knowledge necessary to launch or grow a venture, through venture capital and entrepreneur roundtables, a Life as an Entrepreneur speaker series, and a program offering summer internship subsidies for students working for startups at below-market compensation.

LAUNCH is a competition and accelerator that brings together entrepreneurs, students, and alumni from across the UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco communities to guide companies from validated product to fundable business. Participants have access to a proven development curriculum, world-class mentors, and real VC feedback as well as funding opportunities.

In the Venture Capital Investment Competition, student teams take on the role of venture capitalists, evaluating and “funding” investment opportunities. Real entrepreneurs pitch, and the student investors are judged by experienced venture capitalists.

Big Ideas@Berkeley is annual contest providing funding, support, and encouragement to interdisciplinary teams of students.

Berkeley Innovators provides an opportunity for entrepreneurial-minded students across the UC Berkeley campus to connect and share startup ideas.

The CITRIS Foundry Innovation Incubator empowers top entrepreneurial scientists, researchers, and engineers from the University of California to build transformative companies that will have a significant influence on the world. This on-campus program is headquartered at UC Berkeley and leverages the resources and expertise inherent in both our local innovation ecosystem and our global collaborations to support new ventures, social enterprises, and tech transfer pathways that can influence and impact entire industries. 

Many Berkeley MBA students and alumni launch companies, from Back to the Roots and TubeMogul (acquired by Adobe for $540 million) to Indiegogo and Keyhole—a satellite mapping venture that became Google Earth. Students interested in joining startups or seeking entrepreneurial guidance will find support from a dedicated startup and VC employer relationship manager in the Career Management Group. Haas students not only connect with other students interested in entrepreneurship but also with past founders, venture capitalists, and startups from the Berkeley accelerator, Skydeck.