Graduate Entrepreneurship Courses

Please visit Carnegie Mellon University's Enrollment Services site to register for graduate entrepreneurship courses.

45-880 Technology Commercialization and Business Development Strategy
Instructors – Arthur Boni and John Mather
Technology Commercialization and Business Development Strategy is offered in two minis at the Tepper School of Business. The first mini (45-880) is entitled “Technology and Business Development,” and the second mini (45-888) is entitled “Commercialization Workshop.” 45-880 is a prerequisite for 45-888. The course sequence is targeted at entrepreneurs and innovators who are interested in introducing innovations to the marketplace through start-up, emerging and established organizations. Class participants will learn how to evaluate, develop and “pitch” their opportunities and teams to investors and corporate executives in order to successfully acquire the resources necessary for market entry. Technology and Business Development (45-880) focuses on commercialization of disruptive technologies and on the development of appropriate business models and market strategies required to successfully introduce these technologies to the market, gain growth and capture dominant market positions. Commercialization Workshop (45-888) focuses on the work of student teams to develop strategic commercialization plans (content from 45-880) for specific projects generated by them or provided by the faculty.


45-881 Entrepreneurial Thought and Action
Instructors – Tom Emerson or Frank Demmler
This is the basic entrepreneurship course offered to MBA students at the Tepper School of Business. This course focuses on finding and screening a suitable entrepreneurial project and developing it into a complete business plan. Most of the work will focus on market research, product development, pricing, financial forecasting, management planning and other factors needed to create a strong business plan.


45-882 Entrepreneurial Business Planning
Instructors – Tom Emerson
This course and Entrepreneurial Thought and Action constitute the basic core curriculum for graduate entrepreneurship studies at the Tepper School. Entrepreneurial Business Planning takes students (individually or in teams) through the process of developing a complete business plan. Most student work entails researching and investigating markets, product development, pricing, financial forecasting, management planning, and other important aspects of a sound business plan. Students will also prepare and make presentations of their business plans for an audience of investors. This course is required for the entrepreneurship track.


45-885 Entrepreneurial Leadership
Instructors – Arthur Boni and Frank Demmler
The objective of this course is to provide a perspective on leadership in entrepreneurial companies. The course will cover the topic of leadership from an academic and an experiential component. The academic component will proceed in workshop format to provide a forum for discussing leadership topics and issues. In the experiential component students will be expected to work in teams on several projects in partnership with corporate sponsors. These capstone projects will vary from year to year. The students will focus on analyzing and implementing strategic, marketing, financing, or organizational development issues for emerging, growth, or mature organizations.

45-886 Biotechnology Industry, Structure and Strategy
Instructor – Arthur Boni
The objective of this course is to provide a business overview of the life science industry, its major market segments, financial structure and financial strategies. The course focuses on the following principal segments: biotechnology, medical devices, diagnostics, and drug discovery/biopharmaceuticals. Students are expected to develop an understanding of major industry issues and strategies for growth and innovation across all industry segments. Course lecturers consist of the entrepreneurs and leaders who have built and financed the industry, as well as the scientists who have spawned it.

45-889 Developing and Funding Your Venture
Instructors – Tom Emerson and Tom Hajduk
This course is designed to assist students in developing, funding and launching a venture. The instructors assist students in polishing their business plans and investor presentations so that they are suitable for an audience of professional investors. This is also the course that prepares student teams for participation in national and international business plan competitions. Students are taught the expectations of professional investors and are prepared to answer the typical questions such investors may ask. The teams will be coupled with appropriate funding sources and incubators to help them successfully launch their new venture or project. Student deliverables are a high-quality written business plan and an oral presentation suitable for professional investors.


45-884 Funding Early-Stage Ventures
Instructor – Frank Demmler
This course covers high-risk finance from the entrepreneurial and venture capital perspectives. You should consider this course if you are considering a career in entrepreneurship, venture capital or fields involved in financing early-stage ventures. This course studies the venture capital industry, analyzes how venture capitalists make their investment decisions, and looks at how an entrepreneur can favorably affect that decision process. You will also examine the due diligence process through a case study that allows you to negotiate the terms and structure of a deal.