The Experience

The Stanford Graduate School of Business Summer Institute for Entrepreneurship (SIE) is a four-week business program for current non-business master’s, PhD, MD, and post-doc students which examines the process of turning an innovative idea into a successful venture. Current graduate students with backgrounds in engineering, medicine, science, and humanities are offered the unique opportunity to build the analytical and practical skills critical to business management and entrepreneurship.

The program is taught by top Stanford Graduate Business School faculty utilizing a combination of lectures, team projects, small group discussions, guest speakers, and workshops to give participants a comprehensive understanding of business fundamentals and the process of launching a new venture. Participants will acquire both the hard skills (e.g., finance, marketing, operations, and accounting) and the soft skills (e.g., public speaking, negotiations, leadership, and networking) needed to gain intimate knowledge of the practices utilized and challenges faced by entrepreneurs.

Throughout the program, venture capitalists, presentation consultants, and local entrepreneurs mentor participants on ways to formulate and effectively present a winning business plan.  The program concludes with an exciting opportunity for participants to present team-developed business plans to a panel of experienced venture capitalists from prominent Silicon Valley firms.