Entrepreneurs
Founder and CEO
Stone Ridge Technology
Researcher, Dermatologist, Entrepreneur
Chief Executive Officer Molecular Detection, Inc.
Vice President of Operations
AKELA Laser Corporation
Senior Director, Business Development
Vignette Corporation
Vice President
Dimensional Photon-X, Inc.
Innovation and entrepreneurial skills go hand-in-hand — whether you’re starting your own firm or building new business ventures within an existing multinational. For many EMTM students and graduates, the entrepreneurial drive is strong. Some already head up their own companies and turn to EMTM for the combination of technology and business skills they need to keep growing. Others aspire to start their own firms later on. EMTM helps them build knowledge, skills and networks while still advancing in their current careers.
Entrepreneurs do not succeed by being the best marketer, or the best technologist, or the best financier or the best operator. They may be very good at any one or all of these disciplines. However the true value the entrepreneur brings to the table is the ability to create and execute a vision that synthesizes all of these disciplines at once. Quickly. Efficiently. To an outsider this is simplistically referred to as wearing many hats. To an entrepreneur it involves a deeper understanding of how all functions of business and technology must align to seize an opportunity. This cross-functional, multi-discipline approach is a cornerstone of the EMTM program.
How does EMTM benefit — and sometimes create — entrepreneurs? In addition to core courses that build strong business and innovation management skills, EMTM offers:
- Elective courses such as Introduction to New Venture Initiation, Legal Aspects of Entrepreneurship, Strategic Management of Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship.
- A classroom environment that encourages small groups of students from varied backgrounds to work together in pursuit of a common goal.
- Reinforcement of the role that Leadership plays within the field of business and technology through courses such as Foundations of Leadership and Total Leadership, as well as special workshops in Communications and exchanges with experienced guest speakers.
- Emerging Technologies Seminars (ETS) that highlight emerging technologies and their implications for new business models.
- Participation in Wharton’s Business Plan Competition and Venture Initiation Program.