First Stanford Ignite Innovation Program to be Offered in New York

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Stanford GSB faculty beam into Bangalore via high-definition video conference for Stanford Ignite. The program is also held in Paris, Santiago, Beijing, New York, and at Stanford. | Helen Chang/Stanford GSB

Stanford Graduate School of Business will launch its first New York-based Stanford Ignite program in March 2015. The 9-week, part-time program will teach innovators how to formulate, develop, and commercialize their ideas. Leveraging high-definition distance technology, the program will be held in midtown Manhattan, with both faculty on the ground and Stanford professors beamed in from Silicon Valley. Prospective applicants may register for a live information session at 6pm on December 3 in New York City.

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The Stanford Ignite-NYC program is designed to deliver the same kind of immersive, innovative, and hands-on instruction that working professionals and graduate students at Stanford experience. It provides exposure to both the fundamentals of management and the practical aspects of identifying, evaluating, and moving business ideas forward. It is aimed at participants with strong scientific, medical, or technical backgrounds who do not have an advanced degree in business.

Leveraging Educational Technology

Stanford GSB plans to work with a teleconferencing host to deliver seamless teaching sessions from Silicon Valley. Participants will engage with faculty and each other at a midtown location to be announced in November. Stanford Ignite has previously collaborated with Infosys in Bangalore, Cisco in Paris, and Microsoft in Santiago, Chile, to host programs in those cities at their high-definition video conferencing facilities.

“This is a program for those who are planning to start a new venture as well as for intrapreneurs — individuals who wish to bring innovation and entrepreneurial thinking to their current role within a company,” said Stanford Ignite faculty director Yossi Feinberg, John G. McCoy-Banc One Professor of Economics at Stanford Graduate School of Business. “It provides graduate students, innovators, scientists, and engineers from leading companies the essential toolset for creating impactful ventures.”

More Than 100 Companies

In aggregate, Stanford Ignite participants have started more than 100 successful companies since the program was introduced at Stanford in 2006. The New York program is one of six Stanford Ignite programs now offered in innovation hubs around the globe to enable audiences outside of Silicon Valley to tap into Stanford’s distinctive approach to teaching entrepreneurship and management. It is now offered in Bangalore, Beijing, and Santiago, Chile, as well as at Stanford.

The non-degree program, which costs $14,500, will be held every other week on Friday evenings, Saturday and Sunday from March 27 – May 31, 2015. Lessons will include approximately 200 hours of training, including 100 hours spent on participants’ own venture projects. Participants will develop their projects by working closely with experienced mentors and panels of industry experts from both Silicon Valley and the New York area who will provide real-world feedback.

The program draws on the same world-class business faculty who teach in Stanford’s MBA Program, which is infused with the culture and practice of innovation that pervades Stanford University and Silicon Valley.

The inaugural New York program will accept up to 50 participants. Upon successful completion, participants will receive a Stanford Ignite certificate.

–Barbara Buell