How Does an MBA Help in Entrepreneurship

Get to Know Folasade:

Folasade Runcie was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, not too far from Hyde Park. She attended Princeton University for undergrad, where she majored in Philosophy and received a certificate in African American Studies. Folasade had her first official entrepreneurial experience at Princeton when she worked on a student-run startup through Princeton’s Keller Center for Entrepreneurship. After college, she wanted to get some corporate business experience and joined Walmart eCommerce as a category specialist in the Bay Area. Then, to learn more about supply chain, she took a role at Pottery Barn as a distribution analyst and inventory planner for both their brick and mortar stores and eCommerce platform.

Having an inkling to become an entrepreneur one day, Folasade aspired to work in a less structured and more startup-like environment, which led to her final role before coming to Booth at DoorDash. There she focused on strategy and operations on one of their new vertical teams, DashMart. Two and a half years later, Folasade took a leap of faith and came to business school to try starting her own company while rounding out some of her business knowledge, specifically in finance.

Fun facts about Folasade:

Folasade’s favorite hobbies include cooking, walking along the lakefront, and dancing!

Why did you choose Chicago Booth to further pursue your interest in entrepreneurship?

I chose Chicago Booth to further pursue my interest in entrepreneurship because, in my opinion, it simply had the best entrepreneurship program. From attending admissions events and First Day admitted student weekend to talking to recruiters, it was clear that entrepreneurship was a major focus at Booth. It was also clear that Booth poured a lot of resources into their entrepreneurship program. I didn’t feel that way about any other schools that I visited, entrepreneurship didn’t seem like a priority there.

What courses, concentrations, and other resources have you found most beneficial in helping you reach your career goals?

I’m pursuing entrepreneurship, accounting, and finance concentrations while at Booth. So far there are a few courses that have really been impactful in helping me achieve my career goals. I didn’t come into Booth with a business idea I wanted to work on, but I knew I wanted to jump into entrepreneurship right away. During my first quarter at Booth, I took Professor Mark Tebe’s Entrepreneurial Discovery course, which I think is a great first entrepreneurship course; his class provided me with some helpful frameworks that I still use today.

Additionally, I really wanted to beef up my finance skill set so I took Financial Statement Analysis and Accounting for Entrepreneurship taught by Professor Ira Weiss. I found this course to be extremely helpful as well. Also, getting to know the folks in the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation has been tremendously helpful in generally navigating my entrepreneurship journey at Booth.

Tell us about your experience participating in the Venture Capital (VC) lab and New Venture Challenge. How has it contributed to your professional/personal growth?

I took the VC lab because I wanted a deeper understanding into how investors think when evaluating startups to invest in. I was lucky to have a wonderful manager that I worked closely with, who was willing to take the time and sit down with me to talk through his thought process, challenge my assumptions, and teach me all about the VC world.

The New Venture Challenge, facilitated through the Polsky Center, was a wonderful experience. I wanted to join a team my first year so I could experience the class and understand how to prepare for my 2nd year if I wanted to apply with my own idea. I would highly recommend any first-year students who are interested in applying to the NVC their 2nd year to do the same. The biggest benefit from the class was the access to amazing mentors and professionals who help guide and coach you during your time in the course. I’m still close with some of the mentors I met in that class. The NVC is a good way to pressure test your idea, get a lot of feedback in a short period of time, and practice pitching your idea — all things that are important on your entrepreneurial journey.

Tell us about your new venture. What got you started and how have you been able to utilize Booth’s resources to propel your brand forward?

I’m currently working on building an app that is a virtual pregnancy companion to support mothers throughout their pregnancy journeys with practical advice, recommendations, and support to help them feel more prepared and empowered to become mothers. As I was exploring ideas around women’s professional development, I became inspired with this idea because my sister was pregnant with her first child this summer and I got a close up look at how hectic and overwhelming it was to become a mother and figure out everything needed to be ready for motherhood. I was able to use this summer to explore this idea thanks to the Polsky Center, which granted me a stipend through their Entrepreneurship Internship Program.

Tell us more about the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital (EVC) Group. What made you decide to join?

I joined the EVC group because it serves as the community for all things in the entrepreneurship and startup ecosystem. There really was no doubt in my mind that I would join the club. EVC has helped me form my small community of fellow entrepreneurs who I know I will be close with forever and will use as a support system and network on my journey.

On a scale of 1-10, how beneficial do you feel it is for students interested in entrepreneurship and/or venture capital to join the EVC Group at Booth and why?

10! If nothing else, EVC will introduce you to a community of like-minded individuals who could become very close friends and a support network on your entrepreneurial journey. Whether you’re interested in being a founder, joining a startup, or becoming a VC, all of those paths are more self driven and have their own unique challenges so it's necessary to have a community of support to help you achieve your goals. I’d also recommend joining because the EVC club puts on a lot of great panels, workshops, and events, and there’s so much value to gain from the club.

Tell us about SeedCon and what you found most insightful about the conference as a student pursuing entrepreneurship at Booth.

SeedCon 2025 was amazing (shoutout to Amrita Mohan and Krutika Rao for planning an amazing conference)! There were so many diverse panels and every room was filled for every panel! There was obviously a lot of talk about AI – what I found insightful was thinking about (1) the state of AI now and where it will go and (2) how entrepreneurs can use AI to automate some of their work and operationalize their startup early on, allowing entrepreneurs to be even more lean and scrappy than we probably once imagined.