Program Description
The entrepreneurship minor will teach you to think like a startup founder and creative innovator.
You don't need to have an idea for a startup already. The purpose of the minor is to equip you with entrepreneurial knowledge, tools, and frameworks you can deploy at any point in your career—whether you start a company, join a startup, invest in new ventures, or strive to enact social change. You will gain hands-on experience in elaborating an entrepreneurial idea. The minor is also useful for those looking to apply an entrepreneurial approach to drive innovation in a corporate setting.
With this minor, you'll prepare for careers that include:
- Capitalizing on opportunities through the creation of new businesses
- Working within startups or large innovative firms
- Participating in initiatives to address social and environmental issues
- Contributing to entrepreneurial ecosystems through consulting, finance, accounting, law, and policy
Eligibility
All Cornell undergraduates except students enrolled in Dyson, and any major that includes overlap of two or more core courses. Students are eligible to sign up for the minor as early as their first year and no later than their sixth semester.
Academic Policies
A minimum of 12 unique credits (outside of major's core requirements) must be taken to complete any/all minors. Some majors may be required to take an additional course to satisfy this requirement. All courses must be taken for a letter grade, and a grade of C or better is required. Courses may not be double counted across categories.
Minor Requirements
Required Credits
This minor requires a total of 16.5 core credits to complete. From the total credits, 9 must be taken at Cornell University, and 7.5 must be Johnson College of Business (JCB) courses, which include any course code of AEM, HADM, NBA, or NCC. *Note - in many cases, the Cornell and JCB requirements will overlap (e.g. AEM 2210 Financial Accounting is a JCB course and a Cornell course, so it will satisfy 3 credits for each requirement).
Core Requirements
This minor requires coursework in six areas:
- overview
- accounting
- ideation
- entrepreneurial strategy
- industries and topics
- practicum
Please note that 7.5 credits must be SC Johnson College of Business courses, which include any course code of AEM, HADM, NBA, or NCC.
Overview (3 credits)
The following course is required:
Course List Code | Title | Hours |
AEM 2220 | Dilemmas in Entrepreneurship | 3 |
Accounting (3 credits)
One of the following courses is required:
*Students in the ORIE major must take ORIE 3150, which will satisfy both a core ORIE requirement and part of the Entrepreneurship accounting requirement. ORIE students are also required to take an advanced accounting course (3 credits). Please refer to the website for advanced course options.
Course List Code | Title | Hours |
AEM 2210 | Financial Accounting | 3 |
HADM 1210 | Financial Accounting (Nolan students only) | 3 |
HADM 2230 | Financial Accounting Principles | 3 |
NCC 5500 | Financial Accounting | 3 |
ORIE 3150 | Financial and Managerial Accounting (ORIE students only) | 4 |
Ideation (1.5 credits)
1.5 credits are required. Every great company begins with an idea. Even if that idea changes later, you need a starting point. These courses will provide you with frameworks and hands-on practice in finding your starting point.
Course List Code | Title | Hours |
AEM 2180 | Introduction to Design and Innovation | 1.5 |
AEM 3110 | Design and Innovation | 3 |
AEM 4402 | | 3 |
HADM 4144 | Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset | 1.5 |
NBA 5380 | The Business Idea Factory | 1.5 |
DEA 2730 | Human Centered Design Methods | 3 |
MSE 4070 | Materials Design Concepts II | 3 |
SYSEN 5740 | Design Thinking for Complex Systems | 2 |
Entrepreneurial Strategy (3 credits)
3 credits are required. These courses focus on developing your idea further by engaging with customers to gather feedback, and by planning your go-to-market strategy.
Course List Code | Title | Hours |
AEM 3249 | Entrepreneurial Marketing and Strategy | 3 |
AEM 3251 | The Business Laboratory and New Venture Management | 3 |
HADM 4145 | Business Model Innovation and Design | 3 |
HADM 4432 | Advanced Topics in Strategic Management | 3 |
NBA 3000 | The Business of Entrepreneurship | 3 |
NBA 6230 | Actualizing Your Startup - Part I | 1.5 |
Industries and Topics (4.5 credits)
4.5 credits are required. Courses in this category will help you dig deeper on entrepreneurship in a specific sector, or help you develop particular skills valuable for entrepreneurs. Some of these are experiential courses that are also listed for the practicum; note that courses cannot double-count across categories.
Course List Code | Title | Hours |
AEM 3330 | The Startup and Venture Capital Experience (The Startup and Venture Capital Experience) | 3 |
AEM 3220 | Digital Business Strategy | 3 |
AEM 3380 | Social Entrepreneurs, Innovators, and Problem Solvers | 3-4 |
AEM 3385 | Social Entrepreneurship Practicum: Anabel's Grocery | 3 |
AEM 4355 | Healthcare Entrepreneurship: Perspectives and Controversies | 1.5 |
AEM 4615 | Digital Platform Strategy | 3 |
AEM 4650 | Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation | 3 |
ENGRG 2270 | Introduction to Entrepreneurship for Engineers | 3 |
FSAD 4444 | Fiber Science and Apparel Design Futures | 3 |
FSAD 4660 | Textiles, Apparel, and Innovation | 3 |
HADM 3610 | Communication for Entrepreneurs | 3 |
HADM 4130 | Entrepreneurial Management | 3 |
HADM 4315 | Nonprofit Social Enterprise and Food Justice | 3 |
HADM 4800 | Law for Entrepreneurs | 3 |
ILRHR 4660 | | 4 |
NBA 4720 | Family Enterprise Management and Governance | 1.5 |
NBA 5070 | Entrepreneurship for Scientists and Engineers | 3 |
NBA 6910 | Physical Product Entrepreneurship | 1.5 |
PUBPOL 5813 | Disruptive Innovation in Health Care I | 1.5 |
Practicum (1.5 credits)
1.5 credits are required. These experiential courses give you first-hand experience in founding and running a new venture.
*If you are engaged in practical experience during the semester through your own start-up or someone else's, you may petition to use that experience as an independent study.
Course List Code | Title | Hours |
AEM 3251 | The Business Laboratory and New Venture Management | 3 |
AEM 3385 | Social Entrepreneurship Practicum: Anabel's Grocery | 3 |
AEM 3600 | (1 cr multi-semester course) | 1 |
AEM 3601 | (1 cr multi-semester course) | 1 |
AEM 3255 | Creativity Sprint: An Entrepreneurship Hackathon | 1.5 |
AEM 4421 | Research and Strategy in Emerging Markets | 3 |
HADM 4315 | Nonprofit Social Enterprise and Food Justice | 3 |
NBA 6230 | Actualizing Your Startup - Part I | 1.5 |
NBA 6330 | Actualizing Your Startup - Part II | 3 |
ENGRG 4960 | Entrepreneurial Practicum in Engineering | 1-4 |
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