Welcome 👋
Why entrepreneurship?
Entrepreneurship is having an increasingly important impact on the world economy. New ventures, many founded by individuals only a few years out of college, have transformed our lives in many ways, created great wealth, and accelerated social change (for better or worse).
Despite its importance, entrepreneurship remains mysterious in many respects, with frequent misconceptions. Our curriculum explores this exciting territory with a goal to convey both practical insights about what makes a new venture successful, as well as the current academic knowledge about these new economic actors.
Who this curriculum is for
Whether it’s your first time thinking about entrepreneurship, you're curious about startups, or already have experience as a founder, our courses are for everyone – the only requirement is an interest in entrepreneurship.
Our courses are designed and taught by leading practitioners and scholars of entrepreneurship, Harvard alums who are excited to share their hard-won insights and experiences with the next generation of aspiring entrepreneurs – you!
Our courses
Current offerings
For those less familiar with business or entrepreneurship we recommend taking ES30 first. ES30 is designed to be an introductory course, and builds a foundation that the other courses draw upon.
HBSDOC 4350 doctoral class: we will reserve a dozen seats in this HBS doctoral course for students of our courses who want to further study entrepreneurship as part of their senior thesis.
ENG-SCI 30
Spencer Rascoff, Josh Lerner
No requirements.
ENG-SCI 94
Josh Lerner, Tom Clay, two more TBA.
Taking ES30 recommended, but not required.
ENG-SCI TBD
Kent Bennett, Josh Lerner
Taking ES30 recommended, but not required.
HBSDOC 4350
Josh Lerner, Shai Bernstein
Doctoral class, see note above.
What to expect
Classroom experience
We recommend this series of LinkedIn posts by Spencer Rascoff for a closer look at the in-class experience.
To further the learning objectives, our courses are built around a combination of theoretical frameworks, case studies, as well as the hard-won insights of successful entrepreneurs.
To that end, our sessions are built around a mix of student-driven Harvard Business School style case discussion, instructor lectures, and guest speaker panels with a question and answer component.
A panel discussion led by Spencer Rascoff with Tony Small and Anna Rodriguez, founders of heyLibby.ai, on what makes a good Minimally Viable Product (MVP)
Sarah Leary, co-founder of Nextdoor responding to students discussing the company’s approach to scaling the business around the world.
Learning objectives
Our courses are designed to equip students with a deeper understanding of entrepreneurship as a phenomenon and the practical steps to ensure the success of new ventures. By taking our courses, students will be able to: • Identify what makes an attractive entrepreneurial opportunity. • Understand how the challenge of attracting resources, whether financial or human capital, can be best addressed. • Appreciate the characteristics that make an individual an effective entrepreneur. • Analyze the role of new ventures in our economy and their broader social implicaitons. • Be able to review and analyze business case materials and make decisions based on that information.
Frequently asked questions
- I am a Harvard College student and want to take one of your courses. What do I need to do? Please check the specific course’s Canvas page for details. For most of our courses, you can simply submit a petition (no need to add a comment) through my.Harvard. You can find detailed instructions here.
- Do I need to have any experience with entrepreneurship to take one of your courses? No! We encourage students with all levels of entrepreneurial experience, from none whatsoever to seasoned founders, to take our courses.
- My concentration is X, am I a good fit for your courses? Our courses are designed to be accessible to the full Harvard College community, regardless of your academic journey so far. The only requirement for our courses is an interest in entrepreneurship.
- Can I take your courses if I am not a Harvard College student? Due to high demand, we usually do not have space for non Harvard College students. Please review the specific course’s Canvas page for enrollment instructions.
Our Instructors
Click on an instructor tile for more details, including a biographical sketch, and a LinkedIn profile.
Students in our classes will have access to individual and group office hour sessions with our instructors and, depending on availability, class guests.
Core Instructors
Our core instructors are primarily responsible for the development and teaching of our curriculum. We are fortunate to be able to draw on an extraordinary variety of experiences, spanning both academic and active industry practice in the design of our courses.
Director of Research, Private Capital Research Institute at Harvard Business School
Guest instructors
In addition to core instructors, our classes also feature guest instructors involved in the teaching of several classes. In addition to bringing another perspective to our classes, they are available to provide advice to students on businesses and other issues.
Resources around Harvard
There is a range of courses around Harvard University’s many schools that engage with entrepreneurship in some ways. The list below provides an overview of courses that we are aware of:
Similarly to courses, there exists a wide range of resources that could be helpful in your entrepreneurial pursuits. We have compiled the resources that we are currently aware of, by category below:
GuidesAccelerators/IncubatorsInstitutional and Venture FundingGrants and Non-Equity FundingHarvard Sponsored SubscriptionsStudent OrganizationsOn-Campus ResourcesPlease contact danielfeist@g.harvard.edu with any suggestions, comments, or additions to this resource overview.