Entrepreneurship Department

With a focus on new venture creation, intrapreneurship and entrepreneurial management within existing organizations, our Entrepreneurship Department fosters the entrepreneurial spirit. It is this spirit that has led a third of our alumni to participate in the creation of a company at some point during their career.

Among its activities, the department leads the core second-year MBA course on entrepreneurship, taught since 1974, in which students develop business plans. The best plans are presented at the annual New Business Forum. The Finaves venture capital fund has been providing seed money for alumni entrepreneurs since it was founded in 2000, and the Business Angels and Family Office Network helps create new high-growth businesses. The department is a key element of IESE’s entrepreneurial ecosystem for the development of new ventures, innovation and growth.

Coursework includes Fundamentals of Entrepreneurial Management, Entrepreneurial Strategies for Social Impact, Entrepreneurial Negotiations and Financing Entrepreneurial Opportunities.

Through their research, the department’s faculty is exploring cutting-edge topics related to entrepreneurship that affect the business community.

Conferences

The Entrepreneurship Department, together with the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center, Finaves and the Business Angels Network, regularly participates in and contributes to conferences and forums to support the entrepreneurial spirit. Some examples are:

• Investment Forums by the IESE Business Angels
• The Global Entrepreneurship Week
• Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Spain
• European Foundation for Entrepreneurship Research
• Association of High Growth Entrepreneurs Growth Plus