For some MBA students with entrepreneurial aspirations, the demands of academia are strategically intertwined with their business ambitions.
Across MBA programs, students are learning to apply classroom theory directly to their startup companies, receiving targeted support from their business schools, and leveraging flexible curricula to manage the unique pressures of building a business while pursuing a degree.
At Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) in California, a striking 70 percent of the MBA cohort focuses on entrepreneurship, according to Deborah Whitman, director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.
However, she suggests a staged approach to balancing both worlds: “Being a GSB MBA student is more than a full-time job, and launching and running a startup is, as well,” she notes.
Yet some students choose to move forward with both, working on ideas vetted in courses, such as Startup Garage and Stanford Climate Ventures, designed for rigorous evaluation rather than immediate launch.
Whitman explains that while 25 percent of students last year were actively working on startups by graduation, many alumni founders only launched ventures two or more years after graduating.
Finding Programs with Flexible Schedules
The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, meanwhile, stands out for the flexibility it offers its entrepreneurial students, many of whom strategically tailor their schedules to allow full days dedicated to their businesses.
Will Blanchard, a Booth MBA graduate and founder of WattShift, a company that links energy devices to the grid, using incentives to shift demand off-peak, was able to scale back his course load gradually.
By “decelerating” to focus exclusively on evening classes, Blanchard has sustained progress on WattShift while still taking full advantage of Booth’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
“Booth’s environment is full of incredibly smart, motivated individuals... eager to contribute to short-term startup projects, which has been immensely helpful,” he says.
Erika Mercer, executive director of Booth Entrepreneurship, highlights programs such as the New Venture Challenge, which offers a top-tier accelerator experience, as valuable to MBA candidates at the American business school.
“The NVC provides structure, resources and funding for students launching and growing their startups,” Mercer explains.
In 2024 alone, the challenge awarded more than $2 million in funding, along with mentorship and pitch practice, essentials for startups in their infancy.
Across the Atlantic at Lancaster University Management School in the UK, MBA students gain not only practical tools for business but also a broader perspective on entrepreneurship’s social and environmental impact.
Building Connections to Help A Startup Go Global
Mark Dawson, Lancaster’s MBA program director, stresses that the business school offers a network of Entrepreneurs in Residence and connects students to the university’s Work in Progress initiative, all designed to foster entrepreneurial learning and mentorship from experienced alumni.
Sunny Yadav, a current Lancaster MBA student, underscores the importance of these connections. “The Lancaster MBA program offers... intensive knowledge about scaling a business,” he says, adding that it “teaches students how to reflect on their judgments and make better decisions”.
By learning from a diverse cohort and international faculty, MBA students gain insights that can aid in developing globally relevant business models – a particular challenge for MBA entrepreneurs hoping to expand across borders.
Entrepreneurial students also face the universal challenges of early-stage founders, such as managing risk and finding viable ideas.
“The biggest challenges are often about knowing how to find a good startup idea and how to derisk it,” says Whitman from Stanford GSB.
At Stanford, MBA students can address these hurdles with guidance from mentors, alumni and hands-on programming that tests ideas in real time.
For WattShift founder Blanchard, adapting to Booth’s flexible scheduling options on the MBA program has been essential. “Entrepreneurial Selling with Professor Alter was so valuable that I had a team from the class work directly on WattShift,” he explains.
Programs like this allow students to refine strategies under expert guidance, applying theory to their businesses while receiving practical support.
At Lancaster, MBA student Yadav also points to the difficulty of securing funding abroad but sees potential in developing a more global perspective through the program.
“An investor in the UK may not be looking to invest in a startup in India,” he says. ”The MBA program can provide that business acumen needed to make it a global platform.”
Ultimately, MBA programs offer entrepreneurial students not just the practical knowledge for business success but the support structures to maintain a balanced approach.
As more students take on this hybrid path, MBA programs are likely to expand even further, innovating their own approaches to ensure that students can successfully launch and scale their ventures in tandem with their studies.
