Emma Lawler: Booth has so many resources for entrepreneurship. If you come here as a really serious entrepreneur, you have a very good chance of being able to succeed in that role.
Nisha Saboo: I took this entrepreneurial discovery my first quarter which really helped and focused on what's my problem that I'm trying to solve, not just the solution, but who am I solving it for?
Johnathan Zhang: That definitely was helpful in terms of putting a lot of the experiences I had from developing the idea to actually building a product into frameworks that were more structured.
Emma Lawler: The Venture Capital Lab, so there's one PE section and one VC section and you find an internship through that program and then you get mentorship through the class.
Nisha Saboo: EVC, the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Group has been fantastic. They have a lot of founder focused series.
Johnathan Zhang: Your peers as well as your friends are gonna be extremely valuable. We try to meet twice a quarter at minimum just to share our progress and then our feedback on each other's idea.
Emma Lawler: Polsky was another big reason that I came to Booth because it's a devoted center that's very fully staffed and well funded and so I can actually just schedule mentorship meetings with them to talk through my business idea or do a practice pitch or talk through different business models.
Maya Shaposhnik Cadena: Polsky was really my home, I would say. They were extremely supportive of the process and were always also connecting me with other individuals that could help me have more growth.
Nisha Saboo: I was a part of the EIP, Entrepreneurship Internship Program where we are supported financially for the summer to help grow and scale your business.
Maya Shaposhnik Cadena: We also had sessions with a mentor from EIP and we would just talk through some of our challenges.
Johnathan Zhang: What Booth afforded me is to take a little bit more risk because I always know that there's a safety net that I can kind of fall back on.
Maya Shaposhnik Cadena: Booth is the right place for anyone who wants to do an MBA and wants to do the entrepreneurship route. The reason number one is flexibility by far. It just allows entrepreneurs to flourish.
Creating a venture from the ground up requires more than just an idea and a little business know-how. Booth understands that entrepreneurship requires a robust community of other founders, advisors, and experts in a variety of adjacent practices. You can build your network organically as you progress through your MBA—gaining frameworks for problem solving as well as the knowledge and skills necessary to excel at all stages of entrepreneurial ventures from any perspective or role. When you pursue a Chicago Booth MBA as an entrepreneur, you get access to a plethora of resources and a network of invaluable support and mentors.
In the classroom, students find multitudes of value as they expand their business acumen through class discussions, lectures, labs, and case studies. Students cited Entrepreneurial Discovery as a cornerstone of understanding the fundamentals of business to effectively solve problems. The Private Equity Venture Capital Lab was also recognized as an essential building block not only for PE and VC expertise but also for finding mentors and internship opportunities.
One of the most important pieces has been the network and the reputation of the school. Reaching out to prominent entrepreneurs or VC alumni and getting my internship all came through the network. It's really opened up doors.
Building entrepreneurial success isn’t confined to the classroom, Booth offers a wealth of resources for entrepreneurs to make sure they receive a well-rounded education in every aspect of their MBA journey. The Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Clubs for both Full-Time and Evening-Weekend students give access to founder-centered programming and create a platform to start building strong entrepreneurial networks. The Entrepreneurial Internship Program gives first-year students the chance to gain invaluable input and hands-on learning through mentorship and support as they grow their start-ups. Finally, many students cited the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation as the hub for entrepreneurship at Booth, bringing together opportunities for learning, advising, mentorship, and real-world experiences.
The flexibility of a Booth MBA is unmatched for hard-working entrepreneurs. Between balancing the many roles of a founder, creating a reliable network, and building a flourishing business, all of the support and resources you need for success are at your fingertips as an entrepreneur with a Chicago Booth MBA.
Take a look at our key takeaways from the Full-Time MBA Class of 2022 employment data and consider what the return on investment will be of your future MBA from Chicago Booth.
MBA ROI Series: Full-Time MBA Employment Data
Chicago Booth women from each of our MBA Programs share their hopes for the future of women in business.
Chicago Booth Women Look Forward
While the start of the year has brought varying degrees of uncertainty, what remains constant is the need for impactful leaders to pave the way toward a brighter future.
Our 2020-21 Application is Now Open