The University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business has created the Master of Business Creation (MBC), a unique program combining practical business education with the best aspects of startup accelerators.
By Paul Brown, University of Utah, MBC Program Director
If you’re an entrepreneur thinking about going to graduate school to learn how to grow your business, you have hundreds of options.
Beyond the many schools to choose from, there are numerous degree types. One of the most well-known is the MBA. Others include master’s degrees in fundraising, finance, sales, marketing, innovation management, and many others.
Seven years ago, we reviewed all these options, and concluded none fit the unique needs of real-world startup entrepreneurs. MBAs, for instance, are general management degrees. They offer considerable value, but are not designed for startup entrepreneurs or small business owners. Moreover, the MBA, to the extent it offers some courses in entrepreneurship, is more theoretical than applied. And startups are not mini versions of large corporations. They are fundamentally different. Other graduate degrees suffer from similar inadequacies from the perspective of an entrepreneur.
The inadequacy of traditional graduate degrees is underpinned by the emergence of startup accelerators. Accelerators developed to fill in the gaps in traditional graduate degree programs. But accelerators present their own problems for entrepreneurs: they typically take equity in the startup, are oriented solely to startups seeking outside investor capital, and focus more on improving pitch skills than deep operational understanding.
This is why we created the Master of Business Creation (MBC), a new graduate designed — from the ground up — just for entrepreneurs, at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business. It combines the best of a top-ranked, custom-designed and very practical graduate business degree with the most attractive aspects of a startup accelerator.
Here are some of the qualities that make the MBC the best graduate degree for entrepreneurs:
Applied Experience
In the MBC, you’ll take similar courses to those in other master’s programs like leadership, accounting, and business law. The difference is these courses are paired with hands-on, immediately applicable practicums, workshops, and other dynamic classes — designed specifically for founders of early-stage companies. Every course is led by experienced, successful entrepreneurs and leaders who really know what they’re talking about — and can help you put that knowledge to the test.
Beyond Theory
MBC founders learn concepts and then immediately apply them to their startup. And the courses are integrated rather than siloed. When you learn, for instance, how to develop a marketing plan, that learning is integrated with the implications it has for your financial model. More importantly, MBC founders don’t just learn about the theories underlying marketing plans and financial models, they built them for their real companies.
Startup-Focused
The courses in the MBC program are designed to help working entrepreneurs who need help on real startup problems now, and follow the trajectory of a startup launch — you’ll be learning what you need when you need it. Your professors and peers will be familiar with your enterprise, and you’ll know theirs. As questions or roadblocks come up in your effort to launch, classes and lesson plans can be tailored to address your startup’s needs.
A Business Accelerator and Master’s, All in One
You don’t have to choose between getting a degree or building and growing your business in MBC. You get both. The degree gives you access to cutting-edge, research-based theories. Bringing your company into the program makes learning more relevant and real.
Generous Resources
While in the MBC program, you’ll have access to all kinds of resources outside of your professors and peers — work space, access to industry experts, micro-grants, marketing and PR services, and exclusive funding opportunities. Equally important, you get to keep your equity: we’re not in this to snatch a chunk of ownership.
Uniquely Motivated Peers
Everyone in the MBC is here for the same reason: growing a startup company. You won’t have anyone flaking out of a group project or “no-showing” a cohort meeting: your peers are as serious as you are. And you can learn a lot from them. In fact, our MBC startup founders regularly share expertise to help one another: with a coding problem, developing digital advertising, finding a startup lawyer, refining a marketing campaign, fixing a website, or refining one another’s financial models.
Multi-Formatted
Want to attend in-person classes on the University of Utah’s campus? You can with our traditional MBC program. Need more flexibility or live outside of Salt Lake City? The online MBC program is open to anyone living in the U.S. or Canada. Interested in applying but live abroad? We’ve now launched MBC Global, which offers the same curriculum, one-on-one mentoring, and high-value opportunities on a global basis.
Affordable and High-Value
The MBC program is designed to be a high-value and affordable program. Beyond other benefits, the curriculum, access to business grants, and marketing and PR support alone, provide total value easily exceeding the cost of affordable tuition in the program. When considering any higher education program, we urge you to keep the overall value of the program in mind, not just the cost of tuition — which for the MBC is still less than half of most other professional master’s degrees!
One-On-One Mentoring
Most successful entrepreneurs say mentoring was an important part of their journey. That’s why each MBC founder is custom matched with a mentor to advise them and their company. This much individual attention and guidance is rare in higher education, but it’s a core part of the MBC program.
Leading School for Entrepreneurship
Founders enrolled in the University of Utah’s MBC program benefit from being part of a school ranked among the top-10 for entrepreneurship by US News & World Report and Princeton Review. The ranking recognizes the broad variety and depth of programs and the history of excellence for training entrepreneurs. Joining the MBC program allows entrepreneurs to join this community and everything it offers.
A Growing Network of Entrepreneurs
Hundreds of founders have already enrolled in the MBC program since it launched in 2019, and many more continue to enroll every semester around the world. This provides a growing network of alumni who continue to learn and support each other. Entrepreneurs in the MBC program immediately gain the opportunity to become a part of this network to enrich their experience and extend it beyond graduation. Our alumni association is extraordinarily active.
Invitation to Learn More
To learn more about Master of Business Creation program, visit eccles.utah.edu/mbc.
TechBuzz News welcomes contributions from members of Utah's entrepreneurship community and technology sector. Contact info@techbuzz.news to contribute as a guest author to share your startup ideas, insights, projects and programs.
