Entrepreneurship in the Tech MBA with J.P. Eggers

J.P. Eggers is a Professor of Management & Organizations, and the Academic Director of the Tech & Entrepreneurship MBA Program at NYU Stern. His research focuses on how organizations often struggle developing new, innovative products, and how they deal with technological change. Prior to academia, he was a strategy and technology consultant working with large and small companies trying to adapt to digitization. He has a PhD from Wharton, an MBA from Emory, and a BA from Amherst College.

How does the Tech MBA prepare students for entrepreneurship?
We’ve built this program with entrepreneurship at its core, on the assumption that everyone here will want to start a business at some point in their career. From hands-on courses designed around the ecosystems in New York (summer) and the west coast (January), to foundational technology and business courses, to a wealth of electives, the program seeks to strike the right balance for future founders to get them the tools they need, and then get them out building.

What resources are available to Tech MBA students interested in pursuing entrepreneurship?
Within the program itself, you will spend time with founders, funders, and advisors to learn about their perspectives and journeys. You will get access to a growing network of deeply committed alums, many of whom have founded and even exited their businesses. More broadly within Stern, you have full access to the resources in the Berkley Center for Entrepreneurship, which hosts pitch competitions and advising network opportunities. You can also take the Endless Frontier Labs course, helping many of the top funders (VC and corporate) in the world shape brand new science and technology based companies. Beyond Stern, you have access to NYU’s Entrepreneurial Institute and the Leslie eLab just down the block, which give you access to the entirety of NYU and hosts events, meetups, competitions, and advising opportunities.

Do students interested in entrepreneurship typically have a business idea prior to the program, or do they come up with ideas through their coursework?

Our first cohort in 2018 had two students who were founders before they came to Stern. They already had companies they could build while in the program – one student started their company as a side hustle, while another was one earlier in the process. Both built their Tech MBA experience around trying to help build and launch their companies. Subsequent founders, however, have come in at virtually every stage – one had a blog post and nothing else, two created the idea together to enter the Berkley Center’s pitch competition. We’ve even had students who came to Stern after founding and exiting companies, with the idea of building new skills and a new network, and getting back out there.

How have you seen the intimate cohort size benefit students interested in entrepreneurship?
The power of the cohort is incredibly strong. Everyone comes in with a deep interest and background in technology and/or entrepreneurship, so the shared experience provides a perfect foundation. Your cohort could easily include your co-founder, your target customer and focus group participant, your connection to funding, and the subject matter expert who can help you solve that crazy challenge you’ll face in three years. The small cohort size and the intense shared experience, especially in the summer, builds exceptional bonds. Entire cohorts have gone on vacation together, and attended each others’ weddings.

What classes do you recommend future entrepreneurs take in the Tech MBA?
Aspiring founders have many options for electives, including (but not limited to) the Endless Frontier Labs course I mentioned earlier. Many students choose to pursue at least some more “traditional” MBA courses, helping them hone their finance skills and become better leaders. Some courses that are particularly appropriate for entrepreneurship include Entrepreneurial Finance, Managing a High Tech Company: The CEO Perspective, Managing the Growing Company, Technology Innovation Strategy, and Emerging Technologies & Business Innovation, just to name a few.

Can you share some success stories from past Tech MBA students?
It’s tough to limit the success stories to a few, but hopefully I can paint the picture of different entrepreneurial paths our Tech MBAs have during their next chapter. One thing that I’m especially proud of is how entrepreneurial our Tech MBAs are regardless of their role, function or company – they’ve shown that you don’t (necessarily) need to be a founder to create real change and flip a traditional process. We’ve had the opportunity to connect with alums who see themselves as “intrapreneurs” guiding new visions through a company to create real change, as well. In our eyes, both paths –  intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship – are success stories to demonstrate how our strategic curriculum supports new ideas and new ways of thinking during the program and beyond. Alums like Akanksha and Vera are driving innovation efforts at top global companies, whereas Ethan and David joined companies early on to support the launch of the business. We also have a few success stories that fit the more classic entrepreneurial path like Sam and Jeff who have completely chartered their own courses. Entrepreneurship can take many different forms and paths, and we’re proud of our Tech MBAs that are driving positive change no matter the size or scale.

Exploring the Startup Ecosystem in the United States through EFL

Nilesh Ramnani, CFA is a current Tech MBA student, specializing in Strategy, Product Management, and Entrepreneurship. Prior to Stern, Nilesh had his own consulting firm and has also worked in Investment Banking and Private Equity. At Stern, he is a board member of Private Equity and Venture Capital Club; Business Analytics Club; Graduate Marketing Club and Adventure Club and enjoys traveling and exploring different cultures and cuisines.

I was standing in the queue for the most adventurous Velocicoaster ride at Universal Park Orlando during my spring break. I asked my wife – Are you scared? She said, “yes I am, but it will be so much fun! The excitement and a bit of fear makes this adventurous.” Once we were on the Velocicoaster, we were thrown upside down four times and all the moves were unexpected. The start-up world is no different. You just need to find your own balance of facing fear, uncertainty and enjoying the ride. You are pulled in different directions and you need to find your own path. 

Before joining Stern, I had experience working with many startups in India through my own consulting practice. But I wanted to get a deeper dive into the start-up ecosystem in the United States. That’s when I found the Endless Frontier Labs (EFL), taught by Professor Deepak Hegde. The course is a mix of lectures, working with a start-up and also meeting industry experts who mentor the companies in EFL. 

I was paired with OPTT health, a company that is trying to solve some of the biggest challenges in the mental health care space in the US and Canada. We read a lot about telehealth companies trying to make mental health accessible to everyone, but the facts are shocking. 55% of adults (28 million people) in the US with a mental illness do not receive treatment. This is partly because mental health treatment is highly subjective and labor-intensive, and treatment outcomes depend mainly on the skill of the clinician. We need efficiencies in the system to enable doctors to treat more patients and OPTT is trying to do this using a proprietary algorithm to capture and analyze patient data. It plans to transform the treatment of mental health using machine learning and Artificial Intelligence. 

I worked with founders Mohsen Omrani and Ali Omrani on the go to market strategy in the United States market. In our meetings with mentors, we identified a crucial goal: to develop a quantitative model that OPTT Health can use to effectively communicate its value proposition. I mapped out the patient journey and identified areas where OPTT can create value that could be quantified. Based on these findings, I developed a financial model to calculate the return on investment (ROI) for potential customers. OPTT plans to use this model to determine a suitable pricing strategy for the company, ensuring that the value they offer is commensurate with the price. My work will be used to communicate the value to all the stakeholders including customers, investors and partners.

Through EFL, I also learned a lot about other startups. We had multiple group sessions where we discussed the issues faced by EFL startups and brainstormed ideas to solve these problems. EFL provides a platform for students, mentors, and the EFL team, to discuss the problems startups are facing.

I think the EFL course gave me exactly what I was looking for. I got a flavor of the startup ecosystem in the United States and also learned frameworks to solve problems faced by startups.

Entrepreneurship at Stern

Stern offers a wide range of entrepreneurship opportunities. Whether you are looking to start your own company or join an existing startup as an early employee or cofounder, Stern has resources to help you achieve your goals. This post will explore some of the amazing centers, programs, and classes that Stern entrepreneurs can take advantage of during their time in business school.

Leslie E Lab
The Leslie Entrepreneurs Lab is a physical building in the heart of the Washington Square campus where aspiring NYU entrepreneurs from across all of NYU’s schools and colleges can meet to connect, collaborate, and tap into a vast array of resources to help develop their ideas and inventions into startup companies. Anyone currently at NYU can take advantage of the resources offered by the Leslie eLab, so it serves as a great place to meet current NYU students, faculty, researchers, and staff. In response to COVID-19, the eLab held virtual programming, workshops, and social events to help the NYU entrepreneurship community thrive during challenging times.

Berkley Center for Entrepreneurship
The Berkley Center for Entrepreneurship is a venture design studio within NYU Stern School of Business. The Berkley Center for Entrepreneurship exists to help foster entrepreneurship at Stern and provide support as entrepreneurs navigate the many challenges their new ventures encounter. The Center provides startup accelerator programs, mentoring, workshops and technical assistance, all designed to provide NYU students, alumni, faculty and staff with the skills and resources needed to discover and execute bold new ideas. The team members at the Berkley Center provide general advising services in addition to helping founders connect with subject matter experts in various functional areas such as branding, customer strategy, legal, prototyping, etc. The Berkley Center also hosts the Entrepreneurship Challenge and Stern Venture Fellows program.

Entrepreneurship and Startup Association (ESA)
ESA is a student-run organization with the mission to empower its members through unparalleled access to NYC’s vibrant entrepreneurial community. ESA provides education and information on the entrepreneurial resources available to Stern MBAs. By empowering and educating its members, ESA aims to position Stern as the broader NYU community’s hub for entrepreneurial activity.

Classes
Foundations of Entrepreneurship: This class is designed to increase the chances of entrepreneurial success by helping aspiring founders or startup employees identify and thus avoid a range of dilemmas all startups face. To do so, this class provides a broad introduction and overview of entrepreneurship based on a range of teaching methods including: academic research, cases, empirical data, videos, and guest speakers.

Managing the Growing Company: This course exposes students to the unique challenges of managing the growth of small businesses. It concentrates on building the company issues rather than start-up issues, although some cases and lectures explore start-ups as well. Included are studies of family businesses that have acute growth issues because of succession and family dynamics. It is designed for students interested in understanding the opportunities and problems involved in the management or operation of their own business, and it is also aimed at students considering employment in a small or midsized firm.

Endless Frontier Labs: Students will learn about the process of successfully taking new ventures to markets, including aspects related to development, management, and financing of ventures. The course will be centered on student observations of the interactions of startup founders & their potential investors. After familiarizing themselves with the startups’ ideas, students will apply basic analytical tools, drawn from management, econ, and finance to evaluate the size of markets, attractiveness of industries, financing options of early-stage ventures, sustainable competitive advantage of proposed strategies, and the risks and potential of ideas. Along with the experiential component, the course will introduce students to a framework for developing an entrepreneurial strategy.

If you are interested in a dynamic startup ecosystem with the resources, faculty, and alumni to help guide your experience, NYU Stern is a great place to begin or continue your entrepreneurship journey.

Entrepreneurial Opportunities at NYU

This summer, our schedules were packed with classes, meeting new people, industry treks, and evening events like happy hours, panel discussions, and receptions. As a Tech MBA student, a few of my main interests include entrepreneurship, startups, and early stage ventures. At NYU, there’s likely an event on campus that covers any one of these topics every week, but one of my favorites that kicked off summer was called B-School Disrupt.

B-School Disrupt showcases 10 entrepreneurs from NYU, Stanford GSB, and Harvard Business School, and each founder presents 2-3 minute pitches of their startup to the audience, as well as a panel of industry judges who ask questions and provide their perspectives. The event was followed by a networking reception that allowed attendees to connect with the companies.

I attended B-School Disrupt with 14 of my classmates, many of us with entrepreneurial aspirations of our own. In addition to the topics we discuss in the classroom and consulting with companies through Stern Solutions, it’s nice to hear about the businesses that students create and bring to life. A broad range of industries were represented and the startups were as different as they were interesting. People have some crazy ideas! For example, one startup created sustainable cleaning products that come in the form of a dissolvable tablet and reusable spray bottle, while another created a mobile app concierge service that returns your car for you at the airport. There was also a fashion retail brand that sourced its designs from artisans and designers in Africa.

Not only were the startups themselves diverse, but each entrepreneur had a different story. There were students who had just started their business, and others who had been working for years. Others worked full-time on their venture, while some juggled a different, full-time job and pursued their company part-time. I think I had a narrow definition of what it means to be an entrepreneur, but B-School Disrupt, along with the many other startup-related events and activities on campus, has helped expand that definition for me.

These definition-expanding experiences are built into the curriculum: it’s not uncommon for professors to invite founders and industry leaders to class who always share an inside look at their companies and offer students a chance for Q&A. I’ve also found that some of these definition-expanding experiences happen more organically through conversations with classmates who come from many different backgrounds, industries, or geographies. Outside the classroom, there’s a plethora of resources on campus to take advantage of: the $300K Entrepreneurs Challenge, one-on-one coaching at the W. R. Berkley Innovation Labs or the Leslie eLab, and more. NYU has resources for entrepreneurial students and alumni regardless of what stage their company is at. As someone who has benefited from these resources in just a few months, I’d encourage any prospective student who is interested in entrepreneurship to look into these opportunities. I think you’ll be surprised at how much support exists for students and their startup ideas, even if you have no background in entrepreneurship at all. It’s definitely one of my favorite things about NYU and the Tech MBA program, and certainly something I’m planning to continue exploring!