Launching New Ventures

Jump-Starting Innovation for Entrepreneurs and Business Owners

Starting up a new venture amid rapid, radical change is daunting—to build a successful business today, you also must be equipped to turn disruptive innovation into competitive advantage. Focusing on the challenges facing entrepreneurs in small-to-midsize companies, Launching New Ventures helps you develop the critical skills to identify new business opportunities and transform them into profitable companies.

What You Can Expect

Presenting the latest perspectives on entrepreneurial issues and best practices, this leadership training program helps you to improve your analytical skills, make sound investment and management decisions, and develop the essential leadership capabilities for managing growth and change.

Your Course of Study

The program examines the complex process of exploiting disruptive opportunities to build successful new businesses. You will explore a range of topics, including defining business initiatives, attracting capital and talent, and evolving proactive strategies as the business grows.

Who Is Right for the Program

Launching New Ventures is designed for entrepreneurs and business owners of small-to-midsize companies who are building a new venture or developing the capabilities needed for successful innovation.

What You Can Expect

Improving Your Organization's Performance

While many executives are able to deliver great ideas, building a new business opportunity into a profitable enterprise requires vision. Today's corporate leaders must be able to simultaneously meet the challenges posed by increased competition, ongoing innovation, and the need for growth.

This program immerses you in the special challenges that confront small and midsize high-growth organizations. As you learn and interact with a group of executives facing similar circumstances, you will develop the analytical, managerial, and leadership skills needed to foster entrepreneurship and ensure the success of your new company or business line.

Taking Your Skills to the Next Level

In this program's stimulating environment, you will explore entrepreneurial strategies through lectures, analysis of case studies, and interactive discussions. You will emerge better able to:

"I attended Launching New Ventures because we've recently added new lines of business, and I wanted to understand best practices for raising capital, defining competitive strategies, and executing those strategies to achieve specific business goals. The experience was top quality from arrival to departure, and I left armed with tools that will help me handle current and future business ventures. I also was able to add like-minded professionals to my network."
Brevard Nelson [Chief Operating Officer], Caribbean Ideas Ltd., Trinidad & Tobago

Your Course of Study

With a curriculum designed specifically for leaders of new companies, Launching New Ventures goes to the heart of the entrepreneurial process—exploiting disruptive opportunities to launch and grow successful new businesses. In a rich learning experience that includes faculty lectures, case studies, and group discussions, you will learn the strategies of successful entrepreneurs. By exploring a carefully crafted set of topics, you also will refine your thinking and broaden your skill set.

Whether you are starting a new business, launching a new business line, or building an entrepreneurial culture within a small-to-midsize company, this program provides a new perspective and core skills that you can immediately put to use. Topics include:

During the week, you also will have the opportunity to work with program faculty on a new venture that you are launching or on a project that will help foster entrepreneurship in your company.

"This course is a must-attend for anyone attempting to develop and launch a new business or project, especially in our current economic situation. The faculty skillfully guided participants through the new rules of today's complex global economy, while being mindful of the specific needs attendant in each new entrepreneurial undertaking. Surely, my business and I are both much improved for the experience."
Sheila English [Principal], Greenway Lambert, and Principal, Wood Tech Systems, U.S.

Who Is Right for the Program

The HBS Executive Education program Launching New Ventures is specifically designed for entrepreneurs and owners of small-to-midsize businesses who are involved in either building a new venture or developing the capabilities needed to jump-start innovation in their firms. Your group will include a mix of industries, companies, and countries, fostering a lively exchange of ideas and the formation of valuable new business contacts.

Past Participants Represented:

Industries Nationalities
4% Chem/Pharm/Bio 12% Asia/Pacific
3% Communications 29% Europe
5% Consumer Products 10% Latin America
15% Financial 49% North America
14% High Technology
6% Manufacturing
10% Nonprofit
4% Other Services
24% Professional Services
2% Raw Materials/Energy
6% Real Estate/Construction
6% Retail Services
4% Utilities/Telecommunications

 

Meet the Program Faculty

Like all Harvard Business School Executive Education programs, Launching New Ventures is developed and taught by a core faculty of HBS professors. Our faculty are widely recognized for being skilled educators, groundbreaking researchers, and award-winning authors.

Through publishing, consulting, and teaching, they leverage their business expertise and field-based research to create new knowledge and enduring concepts that shape the practice of management. The result is a teaching team that exposes participants to multiple perspectives, challenging their thinking and encouraging new practices that result in superior business leadership. For more detailed biographies, click on each faculty name.

Shikhar Ghosh, Senior Lecturer of Business Administration and Mel Turkman Faculty Fellow. Member of the Entrepreneurial Management Unit.

William R. Kerr, Associate Professor of Business Administration. Member of the Entrepreneurial Management Unit; and faculty chair of "Launching New Ventures: Jump-Starting Innovation for Entrepreneurs and Business Owners."

Ramana Nanda, Assistant Professor of Business Administration. Member of the Entrepreneurial Management Unit.

James M. Sharpe, Senior Lecturer of Business Administration. Member of the Entrepreneurial Management Unit.

Noam T. Wasserman, Associate Professor of Business Administration and Tukman Faculty Fellow. Member of the Entrepreneurial Management Unit.

Admissions

Because a diverse participant mix is an important part of every HBS Executive Education program, we look for candidates who reflect a broad range of industries, functions, countries, and backgrounds to enrich the learning experience.

Fees, Payments, and Cancellations

The program fee covers tuition, books, case materials, accommodations, and most meals.

No payment is necessary until you have been accepted into an HBS Executive Education program. After admission notification, we will send you an invoice via email; payment is due within 30 days of the invoice date. If admission is within 30 days prior to the start of the program, payment is due upon receipt of the invoice. Payment is required prior to the program start date. We accept payment by company check, bank wire transfer, or credit card (American Express, MasterCard, Visa). Details are included on the program invoice.

If you need to cancel or defer participation, you must submit your request in writing more than 30 days before the start of the program to receive a full refund. Due to program demand and the volume of preprogram preparation, cancellations or deferrals received 14 to 30 days prior to the start of the program are subject to a fee of one-half of the program fee. Requests received within 14 days are subject to full payment.

Requirements

Although there are no formal educational requirements, admission is a selective process based on professional achievement and organizational responsibility. We look for professionals who have demonstrated business talent and leadership potential.

Language Proficiency

We deliberately design our programs to encourage individual growth and to foster productive interaction among participants. For that reason, proficiency in written and spoken English is essential. If English is your second language, or if you have less than one year's experience working in an English-speaking environment, HBS requires a brief statement documenting proficiency in English-language skills, both conversational and written. This may include a list of the English-language certification programs that you have completed; the degrees you have earned at English-speaking colleges and universities; or the results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam. The Admissions Committee also may request a telephone interview.

Application Process

HBS must receive your application and all required documents in order to prepare the application for review by the Admissions Committee.

To apply, you may use our online form or download an application. You also may request a brochure by mail.

If you submit your application online, we will promptly acknowledge receipt of your submission via email. In the unlikely event that an email acknowledgment is not received, please contact the Admissions Committee by email: exed_admissions@hbs.edu, phone: +1-617-495-6226, or fax: +1-617-496-1731.

If you choose to submit a printed application, be sure to type or print legibly and sign your application. Send the application to the address or fax number listed on the form. Mailed or faxed applications are processed and acknowledged promptly upon receipt via email.

Complete Your Application

Please answer all questions thoroughly—the Admissions Committee will only consider completed applications. After reviewing your application and making the necessary edits or corrections, print or copy the application for your records.

Meet the Deadlines

We request applications at least four weeks in advance of the program start date. Early application does not guarantee admission. Programs often fill to capacity, so early application is recommended.

Notification of Acceptance

We acknowledge receipt of all applications and maintain all application information in strict confidentiality.

To optimize the learning experience and maximize the exchange of ideas, the Admissions Committee selects a class that balances each participant's experience, the scope of his or her current responsibilities, and the type of organization.

The Admissions Committee begins reviewing applications four months before the start date, and qualified candidates are admitted on a rolling, space-available basis. Once the review process has begun, applicants are notified within three weeks via email regarding Admissions Committee decisions. If your application is received within three weeks of the program's start date, the Admissions Committee will notify you of their decision as soon as possible.

Need help?

For further assistance, contact our client service specialists at: 1-800-427-5577 (outside the U.S., dial +1-617-495-6555).