Famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright famously said, “Tip the world over on its side and everything loose will land in Los Angeles.”
When one thinks of the intrepid, revolutionary Californian spirit, Silicon Valley and the surrounding San Francisco Bay Area are what usually come to mind. But these days, the loose ends landing in the City of Angeles are increasingly geared to innovators and entrepreneurs. A recent Economist article surveyed a thriving startup scene featuring the likes of SnapChat, Service, Dollar Shave Club, Ring, GumGu and League of Legends producer Riot Games. It makes sense why LA’s slowly but surely growing into a dynamic little brother hub for startups when you consider the city’s relatively low-cost of living, perpetual 72 degree weather and wealth of excellent universities. Entrepreneurial business school students with their sights set on California may find themselves with leg up in Silicon Beach. We took a closer look at five Los Angeles metro area schools that offer entrepreneurship degrees.
Cal State Long Beach
Cal State Long Beach’s 18-month Daytime Accelerated MBA helps students become entrepreneurs and “integrate entrepreneurship into their careers” by teaching them to “write business plans, address societal problems and capture opportunity.” Entrepreneurship students work with “innovation challenge teams in our student and alumni-led incubator” and partake in a one-week international exchange where they work closely with local businesses in Argentina, Chile, Italy, Morocco, Portugal or Spain.
Pepperdine’s Graziadio School of Business and Management
Pepperdine’s Entrepreneurship MBA helps students tap into their innate creativity and translate their vision into a profitable business that reflects the core values of its founders. The MBA consists of two courses to help you reveal a “compelling venture idea with large market potential,” followed by three courses to “help you flesh out a business model that will generate profits, build your organization, make a connection with your market” and ultimately convince a “panel of angel and venture capital investors.”
Loyola Marymount University
Since 1972, LMU’s Entrepreneurship degree has given students the skills and theory they need to plan, organize and manage a small business. “Students learn how to evaluate the feasibility of new business ideas and ventures, undertake risk analysis and develop a business plan.” LMU’s business incubator “provides students with the workplace and guidance to prepare their businesses for the real world.” To top it off: LMU’s strategic Silicon Beach location is ideal for students looking to connect with established entrepreneurs in the area’s growing tech and innovation hub through internships and events like the Hilton Distinguished Entrepreneur Lecture Series and Dinner with a Winner.
USC’s Marshall School of Business
Marshall’s accelerated 12-month Masters of Science in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which requires no prior work experience, offers emerging entrepreneurs “the critical skills and knowledge they need to create the next great companies of the future.” The MSEI prepares students to tackle entrepreneurial decision-making, business model formulation and evaluation, product development, team formation and launching a new venture. Over $350,000 of venture funds are built into the curriculum, ranging from social entrepreneurship contests to new venture seed and women’s pitch competitions. Alumni include founders of brands like Tinder, Salesforce and Kinko’s.
UCLA’s Anderson School of Management
Anderson’s graduate entrepreneurship trajectory gives students the skills, knowledge and perspective to “identify and assess potential opportunities and environments; acquire key resources necessary to pursue the opportunity; develop strategies to generate market interest and simultaneously manage organizational operations, transitions and growth.” Anderson’s Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies & Innovation, which houses the Student Entrepreneurship Association, is an excellent resource for budding entrepreneurs.