Almost all top MBA schools around the world have specialization or elective courses that deal particularly with venture capital. This is in line with the significant percentage of post-MBA graduates going into the venture capital industry or working with VCs as product managers and entrepreneurs.
Stanford Graduate School of Business, Harvard Business School, and Chicago Booth have the largest percentage of alumni working as venture capitalists.
Industry-themed Conference – Value for VC candidates
Conferences on relevant themes in the entrepreneurial and cutting-edge industries where VC funds are most likely to be allocated in the short term are two paths through which MBA candidates gain perspective on the latest challenges plaguing the industries.
Managing Real Funds
Investments in real companies through small (less than $10 million) funds are another way to gain real-world experience in the processes, decision-making, procedures, and regulatory best practices in the VC industry.
How Speaker Series can add unique perspectives to a VC candidate
Speaker series where VC veterans share the challenges of disrupting a legacy industry, the common mistakes they made while evaluating a business, or the missed opportunities in recognizing the potential of a business are three themes that MBA candidates must pay close attention to.
Student Clubs and Association – The Real Value
Venture Capital Clubs and groups are yet another initiative that most of the top schools offer to promote career growth and networking opportunities.
Most importantly, these clubs where VC alum engage should be the primary platform where candidates must invest their time in. Later in your career, the connections you developed through VC student clubs determine the effective networks you build in your career as a Venture Capitalist.
What are the broad learning objectives in MBA Courses for a VC?
Broadly, all top MBA programs have designed their curriculum with five learning objectives:
1) Fundamentals of Venture financing (modeling, frameworks, tools, and methodologies)
2) Governance Structure and Incentives (company entities, internal regulation, vesting)
3) Industry-focused exposure (Broadly - Technology, Energy, and Healthcare)
4) Region-specific exposure (for investments and partnership with other VC firms in the region)
5) Experiential learning – global and local, or through labs for each stage of fund sourcing and distribution
Here is a list of the latest MBA Courses in Venture Capital Financing at select schools known for strong placements in VC
Venture Capital Career- MBA Course List in Top 9 MBA Programs
Business School | Venture Capital Courses |
Stanford Graduate School of Business | Angel and Venture Capital Financing and Decision Making; Corporate Financial Modeling; Corporations, Finance, and Governance in the Global Economy |
Harvard Business School | Field Course: Venture Capital Journey: IFC: Israel; Startups and Venture Capital; Launching Technology Ventures; Scaling Technology Ventures; System to Scale Growth-Stage Ventures; Tough Tech Ventures; Venture Capital and Private Equity; Designing Technology Ventures |
Wharton School | Venture Capital and the Finance of Innovation (Elective); Venture Capital and Entrepreneurial Management; Venture Acceleration Lab; Venture Implementation |
Columbia Business School | Healthcare Venture Capital And Private Equity: HCIT and Services; Building a VC Investment Thesis; Foundation of VC; VC Seminar |
Chicago Booth School of Business | New Venture Strategy; Building New Ventures; New Social Ventures; Special Topics in Entrepreneurship: Developing a New Venture (New Venture Challenge); |
Kellogg School of Management | Business and Law of Venture Capital; New Venture Discovery; Entrepreneurial Finance and Venture Capital; Venture Lab; Venture Equity; Investing in Ventures |
MIT Sloan | Entrepreneurial Finance and Venture Capital; Finance Lab; FinTech Ventures; Building an Entrepreneurial Venture: Advanced Tools and Techniques; Global Ventures |
NYU Stern | Foundations of Entrepreneurship; New Venture Financing; Social Venture Capital; Venture Capital Financing |
Yale School of Management | Creating Healthcare and Life Science Ventures; Venture Capital and Private Equity |
Tuck School of Business | Early-Stage Venture Capital Workshop Practicum; Field Studies in Venture Capital; Venture Capital and Private Equity; PE and VC Basics |
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