Leadership from A to Z
LEADERS includes two semesters and a two-week summer accelerator for translating classroom experience into a venture in the real world. From academic knowledge and leadership skills to hands-on training and implementation, LEADERS takes students on a step-by-step journey through the entire process of entrepreneurship, ensuring that you have a solid footing in each stage before proceeding to the next. That way, you arrive at graduation ready to take on the world.
The program is six hours a week on Wednesdays and Fridays. The summer accelerator generally takes place at the beginning of August.
Program Overview (TL;DR)
A three-semester program to turn business ideas into reality and develop leadership skills.FIRST SEMESTER
Focus on turning innovation into entrepreneurship, identifying trends, and developing leadership skills.
SECOND SEMESTER
Learn how to strategize effectively, manage a venture, and develop essential business skills.
SUMMER ACCELERATOR
Prepare your venture for funding and gain key personal-development skills in the accelerator.
If you’re excited about becoming a leader and entrepreneur, apply soon!
First Semester
Focusing on the early stages of innovation, the first semester covers developing an idea for a business and turning ideas into successful business opportunities.
• Academic Unit 1: From Innovation to Entrepreneurship
What is innovation, and how is it the starting point for entrepreneurship? What makes a model, product, or service likely to succeed as a company?
• Academic Unit 2: Identifying Trends, Developing Disruptive Technologies
What can the history of knowledge revolutions teach us about entrepreneurship? Also, recognizing both current and coming trends and the elements of disruptive technologies.
• Personal-Development Unit: The Qualities of a Leader
Workshops on building winning teams, identifying customer needs, storytelling, and public speaking.
• Practicum: Walking the Talk
Begin building your own venture by applying your knowledge and skills.
Second Semester
Emphasizing the move from opportunity to implementation, the second semester grants students the knowledge and skills required to create the right conditions for success.
• Academic Unit 1: Strategy, Strategy, Strategy
What is strategy in different realms, such as the military, politics, and business, and how do we translate strategy into a practical process?
• Academic Unit 2: Get Your Venture Toolbox
Learn the fundamentals of business planning, financial and project management, and legal and HR requirements. Also, get skills in go-to-market strategies, sales management, analysis, and investment.
• Personal-Development
Workshops on negotiation, effective messaging, and resilience in the face of failure.
• Practicum: Preparing to Launch
Develop your venture into a viable business and set the stage for long-term success.
Summer Accelerator
The accelerator's two complementary units empower students to apply the previous year's learning to the launch of their own companies.
• Practical-Skills Unit: Ready, Set, Present
Prime your venture for seed funding by honing and filming your investors' pitch, building a demo or prototype, and presenting before a panel of real investors.
• Personal-Development Unit
Simulate work interviews, managing public relations and media, and leading effective brainstorming sessions.
The accelerator also features visits to leading startups and multinational companies, and Demo Day, in which experienced angel investors offer feedback on how to strengthen your product and pitch.
