The Entrepreneurship & Innovation Track (E&I) is an offering within the MIT Sloan MBA Program. The track focuses on launching and developing emerging technology companies and is designed for MBA students that have a strong commitment to entrepreneurship. It builds a lifetime cohort of collaborative entrepreneurial peers. MBA students who successfully complete both the MBA requirements and the E&I Track requirements are awarded upon graduation with the MIT Sloan Certificate in Entrepreneurship & Innovation and the MBA degree.
The track curriculum heavily emphasizes team practice linked to real-world entrepreneurial projects, balances theoretical and practitioner education, and provides a thorough exposure to the many building blocks of an entrepreneurial career. In addition the track leaves sufficient freedom to select other courses for which MIT is also world famous.
Benefits of the E&I Track
- Build a lifetime cohort of collaborative entrepreneurial peers with fellow MBA students who are participating in the E&I Track (Restricted to E&I Track students)
- Meet key MIT faculty and access MIT's renowned entrepreneurial network by attending 15.360 - Introduction to Technological Entrepreneurship (Restricted to E&I Track students)
- Explore start-ups and develop your entrepreneurial network by attending the ES.580 Silicon Valley Study Tour (Restricted to E&I Track students)
- Learn from a specialized list of entrepreneurial courses specifically designed to provide you with a strong foundation for entrepreneurial endeavors after your studies (Available to all MIT Students)
- Find business opportunities through participating in the unique entrepreneurial ecosystem at MIT and the renowned MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition (Available to all MIT students)
- Start a venture while or after your studies with mentorship from the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship and MIT Venture Mentoring Service (Available to all MIT students)
Overview of the E&I Track
The E& I Track begins with the standard first-semester MIT Sloan MBA core, permitting the entrepreneurship cohort to become fully integrated with their classmates in all activities. During that first semester the core classes are supplemented for E&I students with 15.360 Introduction to Technological Entrepreneurship led by Professor Edward Roberts, the E&I Track Chair and Founder/Chair of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship. This weekly seminar, including dinner, is restricted to E&I students and builds initial ties among students, key MIT faculty in the entrepreneurship field, and guest speaker entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. The seminar provides an overview of the field of entrepreneurship, including non-technical and social entrepreneurship, and creates special access to MIT’s renowned entrepreneurial network.
During first year students' spring Sloan Innovation Period, E&I students participate in a one week ES.580 Silicon Valley Study Tour which is led by Bill Aulet, Senior Lecturer and Managing Director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, and Colin Kennedy, the Martin Trust Center's program manager. The trip enables E&I students to network with Silicon Valley venture capitalists and leaders of startups and successful enterprises in the life sciences, medical technology, software, information technology, advanced materials, and new energy fields.
During their second semester at MIT Sloan, E&I students are required to take MIT's business plans course 15.390 New Enterprises, featuring Senior Lecturers Howard Anderson and Bill Aulet and Professor Scott Stern, as well as successful entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. E&I students are also required to take a foundation sequence of entrepreneurial strategy with innovation and technology management perspectives 15.911 Entrepreneurial Strategy and 15.912 Strategic Management of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
In addition to these 4 required courses listed above, during the two years of the MBA Program E&I students participate in at least three real-world team projects at the product, firm, and start-up levels and choose from a range of entrepreneurial courses. Please see the E&I Certificate Requirements for a detailed description of available entrepreneurial courses and the E&I Track requirements.
E&I Track leadership anticipates graduates will be particularly successful in the following career paths:
- A growing number of E&Is create new enterprises while at MIT or soon after, often partnering with MIT Sloan colleagues and MIT graduate students in science and technology who were teammates in project-oriented classes and the MIT $100K.
- Many E&I graduates will use their advanced entrepreneurial skills and knowledge in growing entrepreneurial firms in the U.S. or abroad, possibly with companies that were participants in the 15.399 Entrepreneurship Lab (E-Lab) or 15.389 Global Entrepreneurship Lab (G-Lab) courses. Those alumni are likely to engage in entrepreneurial startups within the next several years.
- The remainder of E&I alumni are likely to mature their managerial capabilities by gaining deeper industry or functional experiences, primarily in Wall Street or in strategic consulting firms, to develop perspectives and experiences for later business creation opportunities.
The E&I Track is not for everyone. Students who would like to explore a broad range of different disciplines during their MBA, might be better served by only participating in the specific entrepreneurship courses, clubs and student activities that interest them. MBA students who are not part of the E&I Track can still become part of the entrepreneurial network and learning opportunities. All entrepreneurship subjects, except for 15.360 and the Silicon Valley Study Tour, are electives open to all MIT Sloan MBAs and other students.
For those who have a strong commitment to entrepreneurship, the E&I Track brings like-minded students together very early in the MBA program to meet, integrate and learn about entrepreneurship and especially about the unique entrepreneurial ecosystem at MIT. What might normally take the entire program (and more) to understand is significantly condensed into the first and second semesters, maximizing your ability to jump in. The payoff for the extra work, the intense track requirements, and the fewer options for elective choice is that you will get a kick start on an entrepreneurial life.
For further information or questions, please email Vanessa Marcoux at the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship or call the main line of the Martin Trust Center at +1-617-253-8653.