Columbia Business School Classes

Below is a look at typical offerings for business school students interested in entrepreneurship, innovation, and design. For up-to-date offerings, please visit the school’s class planner and registration page.

Foundations of Entrepreneurship

Professor: Michael Mauskapf

Foundations of Entrepreneurship serves as the gateway course to the entrepreneurship curriculum at Columbia Business School

Entrepreneurial Strategy

Professor: Jorge Guzman

This course provides a strategy framework for growth entrepreneurship. It is particularly focused on helping students create a sustainable competitive advantage and understand how to do so in the early uncertain stages of a startup.

High Tech Entrepreneurship

Professor: Ran Kivetz, Gary Singer

This course provides a systematic and practical framework for the development of new high-technology ventures.

Food Entrepreneurship

Professor: Stephen Zagor

Food Entrepreneurship covers the basic knowledge necessary to develop a food product, restaurant/food retail businesses, and other miscellaneous food related endeavors from the initial idea through early growth.

Launch Your Startup 

Professor: William O’Farrell, Jack Mcgourty, Brendan Burns, Austin Cohen, Jack Mcgourty
Launch Your Startup focuses on the evaluation, development and potential launch of a new business. Working individually (or on occasion in pairs), students spend the entire term developing an effective and comprehensive presentation of a real business concept by addressing five key issues: in-depth market analysis, product or service design, development of a marketing campaign, assessment of human resource requirements and building a realistic financial forecast.

Greenhouse Accelerator

Professor: Dave Lerner, Brendan Burns

The Entrepreneurial Greenhouse Program is a highly selective, application-based, accelerator-type course that helps students propel their businesses forward. Over the past two decades, 300 companies have successfully completed the program, with many successes such as Flexport, Happy Family Organics, Sharebite, Bloc Power, Wandering Bear, Workrise (formerly RigUp), Otherland, AmperMusic, FSA Store, and more.

Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition

Professor: Carlos Gila

During this course, you will learn that buying a business is an exciting path to becoming an entrepreneur.

VC Seminar

Professor: Zachary Schwarzman

This course focuses on the role of venture capital and venture capitalist in selecting, funding, and developing emerging growth companies.

Investing in Social Ventures

Professor: Vikas Raj

This half semester course provides students with the opportunity to perform due diligence on early-stage social ventures.

Global Immersion:Lessons from Rwanda on Conflict, Leadership, Change, and Business Opportunities

Professor: Modupe Akinola

Rwanda is a wonderful country to explore and address questions about how companies and investors can enter and operate efficiently in African countries.

Global Immersion: South Africa

Professor: Brett House

In the short span of three decades, South Africa has transformed itself into a consequential economic and political power, …Management Consulting Lab Joe Timko This lab course strengthens consulting, problem-solving, and communication skills through work on a semester-long project with a company based in Africa, part of the Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness Africa program.

Global Immersion: Doing Business in Tunisia

Professor: Kamel Jedidi

This course explores the entrepreneurship ecosystem and business practices in Tunisia, with a focus on working closely with startups from the region for a truly immersive, multicultural experience.