New GWU Course Focuses on Helping Entrepreneurial Companies Grow

We know the skills required to launch a business, what I call SYOB skills (‘start your own business’),  are very different from skills needed to grow and create a scalable, sustainable business.

I am pleased to advise George Washington University Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence (“CFEE”) in the School of Business will now offer a new 1 1/2 credit seven week undergraduate course, Entrepreneurial Management I, MGT 4900,  starting January 7th and meeting Thursday 3:30 to 6:00 PM.I serve as an Adjunct Professor in the GWU School of Business and will be teaching the new course.

I developed the new undergraduate course to address the skills I believe are  needed to help  early stage companies grow- I find these are not well understood by entrepreneurial management teams I work with and are  missed in most traditional entrepreneurship programs.

The new course will use textbook and HBS cases – this will be a highly interactive, fast paced course. I am expecting  strong response to this new course and if you want to attend, early registration is recommended. For more information, check the GWU registrar website or contact me.

Here is an excerpt from the course syllabus- as you can see this is not a traditional “SYOB” course, and I believe will be well received by students based on my experience both teaching and working with many early stage ventures:

Course Description

Structured as a fast paced, dynamic, “learn by doing” integrated program, Entrepreneurial Management 1 (“EM 1”) introduces students to the skills needed to address critical entrepreneurial company issues and opportunities, develop winning strategies, understand how to address today’s entrepreneurial age challenges, and grow entrepreneurial ventures.

Entrepreneurial Management takes an integrative, multi-functional approach to the entrepreneurial business management issues facing managers of both emerging entrepreneurial firms, as well as traditional major firms seeking to address today’s entrepreurial age challenges and opportunities impacting their business.

Today’s traditional companies must “think entrepreneurially” to survive and grow, addressing today’s market challenges and opportunities. But to survive and grow, entrepreneurial companies must also adapt; moving from start-up to a sustainable business demands moving beyond “start your own business” skills and learning to think like “traditional” management. EM 1 addresses the core issues faced by all firms seeking to both understand today’s entrepreneurial age challenges, and develop new strategies, skills and perspectives to create defensible and sustainable businesses.

Within the EM1 course, we will examine critical strategic entrepreneurial management issues focusing on six core study areas:

  1. Innovation Management: New Directions in Developing, Leveraging and Managing Innovation
  2. New Technology: Driving Creative Business Models
  3. New Product Development: Creating Sustainable, Defensible Businesses
  4. Transitioning Challenges: Moving from Emerging Entrepreneurial to Professionally Managed Firm
  5. Globalization: Reshaping Markets, Products, Processes, Strategies
  6. Strategy Management: Challenges, Best Practices and Strategies

Through lectures, case studies, assigned readings, class assignments, and students’ active classroom participation, Entrepeneurial Management 1 provides students with a strong foundation of key entrepreneurial management a dynamic, challenging, fast-paced, learning environment.

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