Foundations of Entrepreneurship serves as the gateway course to the entrepreneurship curriculum at CBS. It provides a broad survey of concepts and concrete skills that will benefit not just aspiring entrepreneurs, but also those who want to work for an early-stage startup, operate entrepreneurially within a more mature organization, and/or invest in new ventures. Specific topics covered include: characteristics of successful startups and entrepreneurs; techniques for generating, identifying, and evaluating new ideas; forming and maintaining effective partnerships; customer discovery and acquisition; entrepreneurial finance; valuation and deal making; exits; entrepreneurship career tradeoffs; and learning how to pitch yourself and your business. This course is designed for students who have limited-to-no experience in the startup world, or have some experience but do not yet have a fully developed and vetted business idea or team.

Geraldine Wu

Adjunct Associate Professor of Business

Geraldine Wu teaches the Introduction to Venturing course in the MBA and EMBA programs. Before joining Columbia, she taught entrepreneurship and strategy at NYU Stern for ten years. She also teaches international entrepreneurship at Yale. Professor Wu’s research interests include entrepreneurship, technological innovation, startup financing, and knowledge transfer. She is currently exploring when and how startups and growing ventures should pivot. Her...

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