IESE’s MBA offers a broad international perspective on start-up creation, with a supporting ecosystem for students and alumni
Entrepreneurship is part of the mission at IESE Business School. “We aim to develop leaders who will have a deep and lasting impact through their professional excellence and spirit of service,” says Marc Badia, deputy dean of IESE Business School, who oversees the master's in business administration (MBA) and the master's in management (MiM) programmes. “Successful entrepreneurs, those with a real sense of purpose, provide a great service to society.” The business school achieves this through a comprehensive and internationally focused curriculum complemented by a supporting ecosystem for entrepreneurs, innovators and investors – available to both students and alumni.
Louis Williams, who started his first business at 17, completed the MBA at IESE Business School in 2019. He has founded and been involved in several early-stage companies, including a service for schools to rent spaces to third parties, and a smart home technology business. His current business, Entre Tramites, employs 75 people and is a marketplace for Spanish businesses to source accountants, lawyers and bureaucracy assistants. “For me, the cross-border focus of the MBA was the most helpful aspect,” he says. “Without exposure to international connections and case studies, I would not have been able to do what I do now.”
Williams believes that IESE takes a broader geographic approach to teaching than other business schools, offering insight into legislation and ways of doing business in non-Anglo-centric markets. During his MBA, he undertook an internship in Argentina and studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for six months. “It’s helped with issues such as how to roll out in different countries,” he says. Another valuable element of the IESE MBA was the highly specific, one-to-one mentoring Williams and his cohort received. The school offers access to the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center, which supports student entrepreneurs through a number of initiatives, including the WeStart and WeGrow mentoring programmes, the Business Angels Network, the Open Innovation and Corporate Venturing Institute, the International Search Fund Institute, and the Technology Transfer Group. IESE alumni have created 72,000 jobs and raised €13 billion (£11.2 billion) in capital for their ventures.
There are also student entrepreneurship clubs that focus on specific aspects of launching and running a start-up, such as product-market fit, pitching to investors and accessing venture capital. “My mentor had been chief marketing officer of a major insurance company and gave me very specific advice about how to offer online services,” he says. “I also found that professors were highly available and heavily engaged, with strong sectoral experience.”
Alongside the curriculum, students get access to guest speakers, workshops and events such as the International Search Fund Conference in conjunction with the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Open Innovation Conference and the IESE 40under40 Awards. Students can also take part in the two-month Summer Entrepreneurship Experience between the first and second years to validate their entrepreneurial ideas. “Alternatively, students can explore careers in the start-up world via an internship and be part of a fast-growing company to develop a marketing plan, solve an operations strategy riddle, or look at an investor’s deck,” says Julia Prats, IESE’s academic director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center.
Entrepreneurship is woven into the MBA not only through dedicated courses, real-world scenarios and practical experience. “MBA students also have access to a supporting ecosystem for entrepreneurs, innovators and investors,” adds Josemaria Siota, IESE’s executive director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center. “Electives and specialisations in entrepreneurship allow for tailored learning. This comprehensive approach equips students with the knowledge, skills and mindset to identify and seize entrepreneurial opportunities effectively.”
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