Introduction and overview of engineering management. Financial principles, management of innovation, technical strategy and best management practices. Case study method of instruction emphasizes participation in class discussion. Focus is on the development of individual skills and management tools.

J. Chun

Professor

Management in Engineering

Introduction to manufacturing processes and manufacturing systems including assembly, machining, injection molding, casting, thermoforming, and more. Emphasis on the physics and randomness and how they influence quality, rate, cost, and flexibility. Attention to the relationship between the process and the system, and the process and part design. Project (in small groups) requires fabrication (and some design) of a product using several different processes (as listed above). Enrollment may be limited due to laboratory constraints; preference given to MechE students and students who need to satisfy degree requirements.

J. Ramos

Lecturer

Manufacturing Processes and Systems

Entrepreneurship in Construction and Real Estate Development

Students develop an understanding of product development phases and experience working in teams to design and construct high-quality product prototypes. Design process learned is placed into a broader development context. Primary goals are to improve ability to reason about design alternatives and apply modeling techniques appropriate for different development phases; understand how to gather and process customer information and transform it into engineering specifications; and use teamwork to resolve the challenges in designing and building a substantive product prototype. Instruction and practice in oral communication provided. Enrollment may be limited due to laboratory capacity; preference to Course 2 seniors.

D. Wallace

The Product Engineering Process

Integration of design, engineering, and management disciplines and practices for analysis and design of manufacturing enterprises. Emphasis is on the physics and stochastic nature of manufacturing processes and systems, and their effects on quality, rate, cost, and flexibility. Topics include process physics and control, design for manufacturing, and manufacturing systems. Group project requires design and fabrication of parts using mass-production and assembly methods to produce a product in quantity. Six units may be applied to the General Institute Lab Requirement. Satisfies 6 units of Institute Laboratory credit. Enrollment may be limited due to laboratory capacity; preference to Course 2 majors and minors.

K. Becker

Assistant Professor

Design and Manufacturing II

Project-based introduction to product development and engineering design. Emphasizes key elements of the design process, including defining design problems, generating ideas, and building solutions. Presents a range of design techniques to help students think about, evaluate, and communicate designs, from sketching to physical prototyping, as well as other types of modeling. Students work both individually and in teams.

M. Yang

Deputy Dean SoE/Professor

Introduction to Design

Focuses on product development of technologies for people in less industrialized markets. Students work in interdisciplinary teams to develop previously established prototypes or technologies towards manufacturing-ready product designs. 

Topics are presented within the context of the developing world and include technology feasibility and scalability assessment; value chain analysis; product specification; design for affordability, manufacturability, usability, and desirability; and product testing and manufacturing at various scales. 

Lessons are experiential and case study-based; taught by instructors with field experience and by industry experts from product development consulting firms and the consumer electronics industry. Student taking graduate version complete additional oral and written assignments. In person not required.

D-Lab: Design for Scale

Focuses on the design of engineering systems to satisfy stated performance, stability, and/or control requirements. Emphasizes individual initiative, application of fundamental principles, and the compromises inherent in the engineering design process. Culminates in the design of an engineering system, typically a vehicle or other complex system. Includes instruction and practice in written and oral communication through team presentations, design reviews, and written reports. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Enrollment may be limited due to laboratory capacity; preference to Course 2 majors and minors.

D. Hart

Engineering Systems Design

N. Gershenfeld

How to Make (Almost) Anything

Technical experts don’t just negotiate one-on-one. Engineering team members and leaders are required to deal with their own team, other stakeholders within their organizations and many external parties. This is true of academic lab settings, and also of commercial technology development environments and government projects. When the number of stakeholder increases, so do the complexities associated with communications, relationships, cultural differences and power dynamics. Effective professionals need to be able to map a multi-party situation and decide when and how to negotiate, facilitate, build winning coalitions, resolve conflicts and strive for consensus.

The course is designed primarily for graduate students in engineering and joint engineering-business programs (such as SDM, IDM, and LGO) with no (or some) prior education or experience in the fields of negotiation, and is open (with instructor permission) to all gradaute students. Students will be provided with a repertoire of proven negotiation strategies, practice-based approaches, and analytical frameworks that will enable them to develop their skills experientially and reflectively through simulations, role plays, case studies and video analysis. 

The course was first offered in 2020, and received very high student evaluation feedback, with students successfully learning both in-person and online negotiation skills. Students will be required to be available online over video and agree to be video recorded for analysis and learning purposes. 

Some of the most important work in the field of multi-party negotiation and dispute resolution is being done at the inter-university Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School (PON), which MIT is a part of. This course builds on the research at PON.

Multi-Stakeholder Negotiation for Technical Experts

E. Boyden

Revolutionary Ventures: How to Invent and Deploy Transformative Technologies

Principles and Practice of Drug Development

Introduces skills and capabilities for real-world problem solving to take technology from lab to societal impact: technical and functional exploration, opportunity discovery, market understanding, value economics, scale-up, intellectual property, and communicating/working for impact across disciplines. Students work in multidisciplinary teams formed around MIT research breakthroughs, with extensive in-class coaching and guidance from faculty, lab members, and select mentors. Follows a structured approach to innovating in which everything is a variable and the product, technology, and opportunities for new ventures can be seen as an act of synthesis. Teams gather evidence that permits a fact-based iteration across multiple application domains, markets, functionalities, technologies, and products, leading to a recommendation that maps a space of opportunity and includes actionable next steps to evolve the market and technology.

L. Perez-Breva

Innovation Teams

This action learning course provides an opportunity to bring theory into practice by working on projects sponsored by leaders in corporate finance, investment banking, and private equity. Students work in teams to analyze and problem-solve, culminating in reports which teams present to sponsors for evaluation and feedback. Develops and hones skills required to distill the complexity of a real-world finance problems and to provide an insightful solution that is sensitive to the full context. Recent project sponsors include leading investment banks (Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan), private equity firms (Apollo, KKR, Carlyle), and consulting firms (McKinsey, Bain PE group). Not open to students from other institutions. Enrollment by application only.

E. Matveyev

Senior Lecturer and Research Scientist

Proseminar in Corporate Finance / Investment Banking

In order to be successful, an entrepreneur and their founding team must not only be able to create and deliver value to a segment of customers, but also must be able to build an effective organization in order to sustainably do so.  The course centers on the key organizational and strategic decisions in founding and building a new venture. It aims to inform students on the trade-offs and consequences of these early decisions on the founders, their team, and the venture’s performance and to equip them with tools to navigate these complex organizational challenges more effectively.  Though the primary decision maker in the course will be a member of the founding team, the perspective of early-hires and investors will also be taken to understand the broader implications of the founder’s decisions on the venture.

The course is a complement to New Enterprises (15.390) and Entrepreneurial Strategy (15.911), as well as the entrepreneurship courses and activities in the broader MIT Sloan and Trust Center ecosystem. This course is designed to be particularly appropriate for those considering:

• Founding a new venture
• Joining an early-stage start-up
• Evaluating start-ups (and founding teams)

The course is highly interactive. It combines lectures, case analyses, activities, and direct engagement with start-up founders and their teams. The course is divided into three parts:

1) Co-Founding a Venture: What is it actually like to be a founder? How should you choose a co-founder? How do you decide on roles? Is there a correct way to split equity and craft a founders’ agreement?
 
2) Establishing an Early Team: How should an early-stage venture approach sequencing early hires? How do you determine if a startup is a good fit for you to join? How do you have the difficult conversations necessary to manage a startup team? How do you effectively build out an organization? How do you coach your employees? And, when necessary, fire them?

3) Growing Your Venture: How should your entrepreneurial identity and motivations affect the investment choices you make? Who should you choose (and not choose) as your investors? How do you work productively with your board? When and how will you leave your company?

E. Scott

Y. Lopez

Senior Lecturer

Entrepreneurial Founding and Teams

New Enterprises covers the process of identifying and quantifying market opportunities, then conceptualizing, planning, and starting a new, technology-based enterprise.

Topics include opportunity assessment, the value proposition, the entrepreneur, legal issues, entrepreneurial ethics, the business plan, the founding team, seeking customers and raising funds. Students develop detailed business plans for a start-up.

Intended for students who want to start their own business, further develop an existing business, be a member of a management team in a new enterprise, or better understand the entrepreneur and the entrepreneurial process.

Entrepreneurship 101: Systematic Approach to New Venture Creation (formerly New Enterprises) covers the process of identifying and quantifying market opportunities, then conceptualizing, planning, and starting a new, technology-based enterprise.

Topics include opportunity assessment, the value proposition, the entrepreneur, legal issues, entrepreneurial ethics, the business plan, the founding team, seeking customers and raising funds. Students develop detailed business plans for a start-up.

Intended for students who want to start their own business, further develop an existing business, be a member of a management team in a new enterprise, or better understand the entrepreneur and the entrepreneurial process.

P. Cheek

Entrepreneurship 101: Systematic Approach to New Venture Creation

Examines the elements of entrepreneurial finance, focusing on technology-based start-up ventures, and the early stages of company development. Addresses key questions which challenge all entrepreneurs: how much money can and should be raised; when should it be raised and from whom; what is a reasonable valuation of a company; and how funding, employment contracts and exit decisions should be structured. Aims to prepare students for these decisions, both as entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. In-depth analysis of the structure of the private equity industry. Meets with 15.4311 when offered concurrently. Expectations and evaluation criteria for graduate students will differ from those of undergraduates; consult syllabus or instructor for specific details.

M. Rhodes-Kropf

Entrepreneurial Finance and Venture Capital

Introduction to finance from the perspective of business people and finance professionals. Designed to build effective decision-making skills based on sound financial knowledge, focusing on areas such as day-to-day operational issues and management, launching a startup, or negotiating option bonuses. Provides a firm grounding in the modern financial analysis underlying any decision, through three core themes: determining the value of a project, deciding how to finance a project, and managing its risk. Students also hone their ability to negotiate skillfully and speak intelligently about finance. Meets with 15.417 when offered concurrently. Expectations and evaluation criteria differ for students taking graduate version; consult syllabus or instructor for specific details. Some sections are restricted to graduate students only without the permission of the instructor. See syllabus url for further details.

L. Schmidt

Managerial Finance

Project-based subject, in which teams of students from MIT and surrounding colleges work with startups on problems of strategic importance to the venture. Provides an introduction to entrepreneurship, and the action learning component allows students to apply their academic knowledge to the problems faced by entrepreneurial firms. Popular sectors include software, hardware, robotics, clean technology, and life sciences. Meets with 15.3991 when offered concurrently. Expectations and evaluation criteria differ for students taking graduate version; consult syllabus or instructor for specific details.

C. Hickey

Entrepreneurship Lab

Experiential study of the climate for innovation and determinants of entrepreneurial success. Students work in teams of four with the top management of a company to address real-world business challenges. Students gain insight as to how companies build, run, and scale a new enterprise. Focuses primarily on scale-ups operating in emerging markets. Restricted to MBA students; all other graduate students by permission of instructor only.

M. Jester

Senior Lecturer and G-Lab Course Manager

Global Entrepreneurship Lab

Provides a unique opportunity to tackle original research problems in capital market analysis and investment management that have been posed by leading experts from the financial community. Students are assigned to teams, and each team is assigned one such problem. Teams present their solutions at a seminar which is attended by representatives of the sponsoring organization and open to the entire MIT community. Not open to students from other institutions.

M. Kritzman

Proseminar in Capital Markets / Investment Management

Global Ventures

Description and critical assessment of the major issues and stages of developing a pharmaceutical or biopharmaceutical. Drug discovery, preclinical development, clinical investigation, manufacturing and regulatory issues considered for small and large molecules. Economic and financial considerations of the drug development process. Multidisciplinary perspective from faculty in clinical; life; and management sciences; as well as industry guests.

S. Finkelstein

Enhances students' ability to take effective action in complex organizational settings by providing the analytic tools needed to analyze, manage, and lead the organizations of the future. Emphasizes the importance of the organizational context in influencing which individual styles and skills are effective. Employs a wide variety of learning tools, from experiential learning to the more conventional discussion of written cases. Centers on three complementary perspectives on organizations: the structural design, political, and cultural "lenses" on organizations. Major team project to analyze an actual organizational change, with oral and written reports. Restricted to first-year Sloan master's students.

K. Kellogg

D. White

Organizational Processes

Provides a solid grounding in what managers need to know about how law shapes opportunities and risks for the businesses they manage and their own careers. Enhances leadership skills for navigating critical law-sensitive junctures that managers encounter in young and mature companies. Explores the legal frameworks of contracts and deals; litigation and liability; employment and changing jobs; regulation and criminal sanctions; complex transactions, including public and private mergers and acquisitions; finance and private equity; distress, reorganization, and bankruptcy; cutting-edge digital technologies; and effective use of IP. No prior knowledge of law expected. Meets with 15.6151 when offered concurrently. Expectations and evaluation criteria differ for students taking graduate version.

J. Akula

Essential Law for Business

Provides an introduction to research in "organizations and environments," an interdisciplinary domain of inquiry drawing primarily from sociology, and secondarily from economics, psychology, and political science. Seeks to understand organizational processes and outcomes in the surrounding economic, cultural, and institutional context in which they are situated. Also provides an introduction to the main groups that together form the Behavioral Policy Sciences (BPS) area of MIT/Sloan, including economic sociology, organization studies, work and employment, strategic management, global management, and technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Consists of four modules taught by faculty from each of the four BPS groups, as well as integrative sessions taught by the main instructor. Preference to first-year doctoral students in BPS.

S. Silbey

Organizations and Environments

Explores various career paths within the finance industry, from private equity to public policy, FinTech to social impact, investment banking to investment management, corporate finance to venture capital. Students engage with industry professionals about the challenges they face and how their part of the industry is changing. They also network with peers to discover the challenges and rewards associated with various careers, and explore how coursework connects with industry practice. Priority given in the fall term to MBA students in the MIT Sloan Finance Certificate program.

T. Bertsekas

Lecturer and Head of the Finance Track

Introduction to the Practice of Finance

Surveys the personal, institutional and operational challenges involved in scaling an entrepreneurial venture. Discusses both effective and ineffective solutions. Addresses topics such as leadership, culture, operations, governance, and human resources. Includes case studies and guest speakers.

J. Larios Berlin

Scaling Entrepreneurial Ventures

Focuses on the business challenges and opportunities to deliver high-quality and reasonably-priced health services, mainly in the United States. Provides an opportunity to interact with guest speakers and senior executives from the health sector. Topics include aspects of healthcare delivery operations and how they are affected by healthcare reform policies, alternative payment models, population health perspectives, and social determinants of health. Discussions include examples from the ongoing healthcare-related work of Sloan faculty, as well as the potential for analytics and digitization to impact healthcare delivery. Provides a broad perspective on various career paths, such as consulting, entrepreneurship, delivery system management, and digital innovation development. Student teams work with a provider, supplier or healthcare-related startup organization on an applied project. Includes on-site work during fall and IAP.

A. Quaadgras

Senior Lecturer and Director of HSI

Healthcare Lab: Introduction to Healthcare Delivery in the United States

Focuses on how managers build and manage complex organizations to achieve strategic goals (e.g., competitive advantages for firms). Develops frameworks that build on 15.010 and 15.311, as well as concepts borrowed from game theory. Applies these frameworks to corporate strategy, with an emphasis on modern managerial practices as key drivers of organizational success.

C. Angelucci

Managing the Modern Organization: Organizational Economics and Corporate Strategy

Provides a unique opportunity to work through the nuts and bolts of developing a FinTech startup. Students present ideas, ranging from well-thought-out concepts to emerging ones. Students coalesce around the top ideas to form teams. Each week, a new speaker (entrepreneur, legal expert, venture capitalist) addresses relevant topics, while students present progress reports and receive advice and feedback as they develop their plan for the "Demo Day." Teams then deliver a final pitch in front of a group of investors. A financial background is not required; alternative (legal, financial, technical, operations, etc.) backgrounds are encouraged to apply, individually or as part of a team. Enrollment by application only.

K. Scott

FinTech Ventures

This subject is the entry-point for any MIT Sloan MBA student excited to learn more about entrepreneurship and engage with the  E&I  Track during their time at  Sloan. E&I  students are typically interested in: founding a company, joining a start-up venture, evaluating start-up ventures, becoming a corporate entrepreneur within a larger organization, or simply wanting to learn more about entrepreneurship.  

The subject has three learning objectives: 

1) MIT Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: Introduces you to the broader MIT ecosystem and provides an overview of the abundant opportunities to collaborate across campus and gain help with your own ventures.

2) Entrepreneurial Skills: Introduces you to how to gain the knowledge and tactical skills needed in entrepreneurship, which will be invaluable whether you start, join, or evaluate a startup venture.

3) Your Entrepreneurial  Journey: Provides an overview of the various ways to found, grow, and accelerate a venture during your time at MIT and beyond. 

W. Aulet

Professor of the Practice

Entrepreneurship & Innovation Proseminar

New Enterprises covers the process of identifying and quantifying market opportunities, then conceptualizing, planning, and starting a new, technology-based enterprise.

Topics include opportunity assessment, the value proposition, the entrepreneur, legal issues, entrepreneurial ethics, the business plan, the founding team, seeking customers and raising funds. Students develop detailed business plans for a start-up.

Intended for students who want to start their own business, further develop an existing business, be a member of a management team in a new enterprise, or better understand the entrepreneur and the entrepreneurial process.



New Enterprises

Student teams design and deliver a project based on the use of analytics, machine learning, large data sets, or other digital innovations to create or transform a business or other organization. Teams may be paired up with an organization or propose their own ideas and sites for the project. Culminates with presentation of results to an audience that includes IT experts, entrepreneurs, and executives.

A. Almaatouq

S. Aral

M. Nguyen-Ha

Analytics Lab: Action Learning Seminar on Analytics, Machine Learning, and the Digital Economy

OVERVIEW
This course is designed to equip managers and founders with the tools needed to excel in a future of generative AI. Students are expected to participate in seminar-style discussion, hands-on labs, and a series of lectures. 

This isn’t a technical course, but it’s intended to give students an understanding for those managing developer teams all the way to the executive level. 

Topics covered include LLMs, image generation, emerging generative AI use cases, the business, economic, and strategic implications of generative AI, prompt engineering, fine tuning, business case analysis, and the VC / startup landscape. 

CLASS TIMES AND LOCATIONS
● Tuesday & Thursday, 4:00PM - 5:30PM, E51-325
● There are 2 Friday recitations for labs 1 and 2 (see schedule). Time and room TBD

What the course is not:
● A coding course to learn algorithms (see 6.5940 & 6.S896)
● Law and ethics for AI or data (see 15.622 & 15.630)
● Economics of information goods (see 15.567)

What the course is:
● A deep dive into generative AI, how it works, its use cases, and business implications
● A mix of lectures, discussion seminars, and hands-on labs
● Some hands-on labs with focus on prompting LLMs and diffusion models (e.g. Dall-e) as
well as creating custom GPTs - we may do some fine-tuning time-permitting.

PREREQUISITES
There are no prerequisites for the class, however there are resource requirements you must prepare prior to the first day of class.
● Download Adobe Creative Cloud (free for MIT students)
● Purchase a GPT-4 subscription (in lieu of us having any physical course materials you
must set up GPT-4, the premium version for $20 for February and March)
● Ensure Google Bard is working on your laptop (free); have a Google account setup
● Also create a free Claude and Perplexity account

J. Horton

Associate Professor

Generative AI for Managers

GSD is an intensive, project-based course and is the most advanced for-credit class in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation track.  It is designed for any startup team across campus who is already working on building a new, high-impact venture.  Teams will learn to apply advanced entrepreneurial techniques to build and iterate their venture over the course of the semester in a time-compressed manner, in a respectful community of peers and with intensive 1 on 1 coaching.  

You’re a good match for Track #2 if your team:
- have been working on this venture together for at least one semester;
- have taken “New Enterprises” 15.390;
- have run tactical experiments, and have implemented metrics based on these experiments.

Teams in Track #2 are looking for accountability, a small cohort setting, and motivation to push your venture forward at a rapid pace while dealing with the typical noise and distractions of a semester.

Track #2 consists of weekly lessons, class discussions, homework, and 1:1 mentorship.
- All teams interested in being part of Track #2 will pitch their ventures on Monday, September 13th.
- Only 6 teams will be accepted following these pitches.
- At least two team members from your venture must be available to participate in the class.
- No solo founders may take part in Track #2.

If interested in GSD, please apply here - https://orbit.mit.edu/applications/gsdfall2023

More information here: https://entrepreneurship.mit.edu/an-inside-look-at-gsd/

GSD is an intensive, project-based course and is the most advanced for-credit class in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation track.  It is designed for any startup team across campus who is already working on building a new, high-impact venture.  Teams will learn to apply advanced entrepreneurial techniques to build and iterate their venture over the course of the semester in a time-compressed manner, in a respectful community of peers and with intensive 1 on 1 coaching.  

You’re a good match for Track #2 if your team:
- have been working on this venture together for at least one semester;
- have taken “New Enterprises” 15.390;
- have run tactical experiments, and have implemented metrics based on these experiments.

Teams in Track #2 are looking for accountability, a small cohort setting, and motivation to push your venture forward at a rapid pace while dealing with the typical noise and distractions of a semester.

Track #2 consists of weekly lessons, class discussions, homework, and 1:1 mentorship.
- All teams interested in being part of Track #2 will pitch their ventures 
- Only 6 teams will be accepted following these pitches.
- At least two team members from your venture must be available to participate in the class.
- No solo founders may take part in Track #2.

If interested in GSD, please apply here:
<a href="https://orbit.mit.edu/applications/gsdfall2024" target="_blank">https://orbit.mit.edu/applications/gsdfall2024</a>

More information here: 
<a href="https://entrepreneurship.mit.edu/an-inside-look-at-gsd/" target="_blank">https://entrepreneurship.mit.edu/an-inside-look-at-gsd/</a>

K. Ligris

Building an Entrepreneurial Venture: Advanced Tools and Techniques (GSD)

Designed to enhance students' ability to take effective action in complex organizational settings by providing the analytic tools needed to analyze, manage, and lead the organizations of the future. Emphasizes the importance of the organizational context in influencing which individual styles and skills are effective. Employs a wide variety of learning tools, from experiential learning to the more conventional discussion of written cases. Centers on three complementary perspectives on organizations: the strategic design, political, and cultural "lenses" on organizations. Restricted to Executive MBA students.

R. Fernandez

William F. Pounds Professor of Management

Organizational Processes (EMBA Version)

Lays the foundation for the Enterprise Management (EM) Certificate by developing students' ability to apply integrated management perspectives and practices through action-learning. Small teams of students deliver quality deliverables by working on projects for large organizations and emergent innovators that integrate marketing, operations, and/or strategy. Students engage with faculty mentors and guest faculty speakers from marketing, strategy, and operations. Promotes a holistic cross-functional approach to addressing business issues. Significant class time allocated to team collaboration on projects. Students must register for both the fall term and IAP. Restricted to students eligible for the MIT Sloan Enterprise Management Certificate.

S. Chatterjee

Senior Lecturer/Acad. Head, Enterprise Management

Enterprise Management Lab

Covers the role of finance in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries; specifically, the application of novel financing methods and business structures to facilitate drug discovery, clinical development, and greater patient access to high-cost therapies. Topics include basic financial analysis for the life-sciences professional; risks and returns in the biopharma industries; the mechanics of biotech startup financing; capital budgeting for biopharma companies; and applications of financial engineering in modern healthcare investment strategies and institutions. Develops a systemic framework for addressing the biggest challenges in the biomedical ecosystem. Enrollment may be limited; preference to Sloan graduate students.

A. Lo

Charles E. and Susan T. Harris Professor

Healthcare Finance

Explores a wide range of strategic problems, focusing particularly on the sources of competitive advantage and the interaction between industry structure and organizational capabilities. Introduces a wide variety of modern strategy frameworks and methodologies. Builds upon and integrates material from core topics, such as economics and organizational processes. Meets with 15.9001 when offered concurrently. Expectations and evaluation criteria differ for students taking graduate version; consult syllabus or instructor for specific details.

D. Sull

Competitive Strategy

This course provides frameworks, tools, and case studies (both written and “live” with guest speakers), that provide perspective and guidance to operations leaders of new and growing ventures. The course builds a framework for 'nailing' ($0 --> $1) and 'scaling' ($1 --> $10M) the Operations Management capabilities required for success. We'll focus on the design, planning, control, and improvement of processes and systems to establish sound operations, to support the startup phase of the business, then drive scale.  

Once an organization has successfully “nailed” its value proposition, scaling operations capabilities, in parallel with sales and marketing growth, presents challenges that differ significantly from those in the earliest exploratory stages of the organization, and from the operational challenges of a mature organization. We'll tackle the operations scaling challenges directly, and examine them with a variety of operational viewpoints -- scaling with process design, professionalization, manufacturing flexibility, pivoting, outsourcing, capital, supply chain, quality assurance, inventory and capacity investment, service delivery, cost management, measurement systems — as well as the interplay between the operations functions and the overall organization and business model design. The conceptual material will be complemented by the case studies and guest speakers, to bring these scaling playbooks to life.

Operational Excellence for Entrepreneurs

15.366 MIT Energy & Climate Ventures is a project- and lecture-based course in which teams create a new business in the energy sector. The goal of Energy Ventures is to educate entrepreneurs through hands-on practical experience. 

Teams of engineering, policy, and business students are paired with technologies from MIT and surrounding labs to determine the best path for commercialization. These teams then spend the fall semester building their business plans.This advanced entrepreneurship course goes beyond general entrepreneurial concepts to address special challenges faced in the clean energy and related industries.

The class gathers cross-disciplinary skills (technology, business, policy, law, etc.) to form teams around new technologies emerging out of several of MIT’s labs. Over the course of the semester, students will work with their team to build out the venture’s business and market-launch efforts. 

The class has spun out over 30 ventures over the last ten years, with many achieving significant market traction. Sectors include:

-energy & power
-transportation & mobility
-agriculture & food
-carbon sequestration & resources/environmental
-advanced materials & chemicals and 
-enabling technologies 

This course is one of the most popular in the nation for student-driven energy entrepreneurship, and it carries with it the spirit of the MIT Innovation Initiative and leverages the resources of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship.

Energy Ventures teams have performed exceptionally well in business plan competitions after the class has completed (including the MIT Clean Energy Prize, the MIT $100K Business Plan Competition, and the energy track of the Rice Business Plan Competition. OptiBit (now Ayar Labs), founded through the course in 2014-2015, won the 2015 MIT Clean Energy Prize.

For interested students, please fill out this “MIT Climate & Energy Ventures Interest Form”:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSftPsjtQNRq8BuE4OT00MPOEpppU5zLprxiHkPDmnoZkpxnJg/viewform

Fall 2023 applications have been received and the application form has been closed as of August 5th, 2023. All applications are currently being reviewed and decisions will be communicated during the week of August 14th, 2023.

15.366 MIT Energy & Climate Ventures is a project- and lecture-based course in which teams create a new business in the energy sector. The goal of Energy Ventures is to educate entrepreneurs through hands-on practical experience. 

Teams of engineering, policy, and business students are paired with technologies from MIT and surrounding labs to determine the best path for commercialization. These teams then spend the fall semester building their business plans.This advanced entrepreneurship course goes beyond general entrepreneurial concepts to address special challenges faced in the clean energy and related industries.

The class gathers cross-disciplinary skills (technology, business, policy, law, etc.) to form teams around new technologies emerging out of several of MIT’s labs. Over the course of the semester, students will work with their team to build out the venture’s business and market-launch efforts. 

The class has spun out over 30 ventures over the last ten years, with many achieving significant market traction. Sectors include:

-energy & power
-transportation & mobility
-agriculture & food
-carbon sequestration & resources/environmental
-advanced materials & chemicals and 
-enabling technologies 

This course is one of the most popular in the nation for student-driven energy entrepreneurship, and it carries with it the spirit of the MIT Innovation Initiative and leverages the resources of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship.

Energy Ventures teams have performed exceptionally well in business plan competitions after the class has completed (including the MIT Clean Energy Prize, the MIT $100K Business Plan Competition, and the energy track of the Rice Business Plan Competition. OptiBit (now Ayar Labs), founded through the course in 2014-2015, won the 2015 MIT Clean Energy Prize.

ChatCEV - <a href="https://tinyurl.com/chat-climate" target="_blank">https://tinyurl.com/chat-climate</a> - is the chatbot created for MIT's Climate & Energy Ventures class.  To learn more about this class "ask ChatCEV".

T. Hynes

Climate & Energy Ventures

Opportunity for group study by graduate students on current topics related to management not otherwise included in curriculum.

Bridging the American Divides: Work, Community and Culture

Provides a strategic framework for current and future finance leaders &mdash; with domestic or multinational startups, established companies, investment banks or asset management firms &mdash; for investing and operating in international capital markets. Covers the determination of rates of returns within countries and internationally, including how financial institutions affect returns and how to trade and hedge international risks including debt crises. Incorporates real-world events into interactive discussions.

J. Parker

International Capital Markets

Provides a structured approach to innovation and entrepreneurship that creates business value while solving social and environmental problems. Covers physical domains of sustainability, e.g., waste, water, food, energy, and mobility, as well as social and human capital domains, such as health and education. Students explore case studies of critical decisions made in the early stages of an enterprise that help determine its impact. Considers perspective and tools applicable to the startup context or to new lines of business in existing enterprises.

J. Jay

Innovating for Impact

“40 years ago when I joined IBM one of the parts of the program they put us through in the training program was “sales”. I will never forget it and it was incredibly helpful through my career. It was training us how to sell multi-million dollar mainframe computers.”
-Bill Aulet
 
In 1998 Howard Anderson started one of the first Sales courses at a business school at MIT Sloan from the same center of gravity. The course has continued built off this foundation and been one of the most successful courses at MIT. However, as we look at the course and the challenges that business leaders are facing, we’ve seen just how much the revenue landscape has transformed. With that, we’ve taken an opportunity to evolve the class beyond how to be a better sales person or manager to instead focus on how to be a Chief Revenue Officer.
 
The course will still cover integral sales skills, but will revolve around four fundamental Go-To-Market business models and will explore how a CRO can identify, build and execute on the right model for their business. This includes not only building out a sales organization, but also the underlying tech stack and revenue operations required to measure results and sustain competitive advantage. Each class will cover the relevant core first principles per topic and include an industry expert speaker to provide context and share valuable lessons learned throughout their careers. This course is highly relevant to anyone interested in building a business or better understanding how to drive revenue at scale.

A. Blake

Entrepreneurial Sales

Group study of current topics related to management not otherwise included in curriculum.

J. Eberly

IDEA Lab

The legal framework of entrepreneurship and innovation. Key law-sensitive junctures in launching and growing a startup: assembling a team, organizing a business entity, ownership and compensation, early financing, managing contracts and employees, business distress and winding down, and selling a company.  Cutting-edge technologies and intellectual property rights. Designed for those who may start or work in such ventures; or are engaged in research with potential for commercial or social impact; or are otherwise attempting to advance an innovation from idea to impact. Meets with 15.6181 when offered concurrently. Expectations and evaluation criteria differ for students taking graduate version.

Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Startups and the Law

Establishes a foundation for formulating, analyzing, and executing strategies to develop and commercialize new products and services in technology-intensive industries. Develops and applies rigorous frameworks to examine the interaction between patterns of technological change, market dynamics, and the development of internal firm capabilities. Topics include profiting from innovation, the role of intellectual property, platform strategy, government regulation, and innovation policy. Applies concepts in various industry and case settings with an emphasis on addressing issues most relevant for today's changing economic landscape and fostering innovation for social progress, such as clean energy, environmental management, healthcare, and digitalization.

J. Pless

Innovation Strategy

Teaches an integrated strategy framework for start-ups. Provides a deep understanding of the core strategic choices facing innovation-based entrepreneurs, a synthetic framework for the process of choosing and the implementation of entrepreneurial strategy, and the core challenges and approaches for scaling ventures over time. Highlights the process of how to choose an entrepreneurial strategy, the specific choices that matter, how key choices fit together to form an overall entrepreneurial strategy, and the playbook for particular strategies for startups.

Entrepreneurial Strategy

Framework for understanding pricing strategies and analytics, with emphasis on entrepreneurial pricing. Topics include economic value analysis, elasticities, customization, complementary products, pricing in platform markets, and anticipating competitive responses.

C. Tucker

Pricing

What skills will I develop in this class?

1. You will gain greater self-awareness. 

Self-awareness is a starting point for leadership development and an essential capability for the exercise of effective leadership. Some of the related skills that we will learn include building emotional intelligence, understanding how personalities shape leadership behaviors, defining personal and ethical values, giving and receiving feedback, coping with change and ambiguity, and managing stress.

2. You will learn to build positive relationships by enhancing your interpersonal skills.

Leadership and teamwork are inherently relational activities and strong interpersonal skills are therefore important enablers. During the course, you will develop related skills in managing conflict and negotiation, motivating and inspiring others, communicating effectively, building positive relationships and networks, building sources of power, and exercising influence.  

3. You will develop your ability to lead a team and be an effective team member.

Our focus on teamwork will center on both leadership and followership as essentially interdependent. Examples of related skills we will learn include how to compose and launch new teams, how to create and communicate an inspiring vision, how to develop groups into real teams, how to empower group members and delegate roles and responsibilities, and how to conduct productive team post mortems.

4. You will learn how to develop creative solutions in team environments. 

The unique context of teams in this class will be “creative” ones – groups that are charged with developing novel and useful solutions to problems. In this class, you will learn several creative problem solving skills, including how to understand problems from different points of views, how to find commonalities among disconnected fields or domains, how to open-up new ways of thinking about problems, and how to create a motivating environment that fosters creative problem solving.

What will the class be like?

This will not be a purely lecture-based course. While we will review and discuss readings to build our knowledge of course topics and skills, we will also draw from many learning methods, including:

Self-assessments to measure current skill competence and opportunities for development.
Case studies to see examples of how skills are applied in real leadership situations.
Role plays and simulations to practice skills in class and receive feedback from others.
Reflective learning through the crafting of an autobiography.
Visits from guest speakers and interviews with leaders in your chosen areas.

Leading Creative Teams

Overview of the global airline industry, focusing on recent industry performance, current issues and challenges for the future. Fundamentals of airline industry structure, airline economics, operations planning, safety, labor relations, airports and air traffic control, marketing, and competitive strategies, with an emphasis on the interrelationships among major industry stakeholders. Recent research findings of the MIT Global Airline Industry Program are showcased, including the impacts of congestion and delays, evolution of information technologies, changing human resource management practices, and competitive effects of new entrant airlines. Taught by faculty participants of the Global Airline Industry Program.

F. Allroggen

The Airline Industry

Experiential study of the innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Middle East and North Africa leveraging on the historic Abraham Accords. Explores the role of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, MNCs, universities, and governments. Teaches the McKinsey process for successful consulting engagements and what makes for high performing teams. Students travel to the Middle East during IAP to work with and consult for host companies on strategic managerial issues in tech industries. Includes an opportunity to work with executives at startup ventures looking to scale their businesses and to engage with their venture capitalist backers.

J. Cohen

Senior Lecturer, Accounting,Ethics & Law

Israel Lab: Startup Nation's Entrepreneurship and Innovation Ecosystem

Addresses the architecting of air transportation systems. Focuses on the conceptual phase of product definition including technical, economic, market, environmental, regulatory, legal, manufacturing, and societal factors. Centers on a realistic system case study and includes a number of lectures from industry and government. Past examples include the Very Large Transport Aircraft, a Supersonic Business Jet and a Next Generation Cargo System. Identifies the critical system level issues and analyzes them in depth via student team projects and individual assignments. Overall goal is to produce a business plan and a system specifications document that can be used to assess candidate systems.

R. Hansman

Air Transportation Systems Architecting

Develops appreciation for organizational dynamics and competence in navigating social networks, working in a team, demystifying rewards and incentives, leveraging the crowd, understanding change initiatives, and making sound decisions. Provides instruction and practice in written and oral communication through presentations, and interpersonal and group exercises.

R. Reagans

Organizational Processes (MBAn Version)

The legal framework of entrepreneurship and innovation. Key law-sensitive junctures in launching and growing a startup: assembling a team, organizing a business entity, ownership and compensation, early financing, managing contracts and employees, business distress and winding down, and selling a company. Cutting-edge technologies and intellectual property rights. Designed for those who may start or work in such ventures; or are engaged in research with potential for commercial or social impact; or are otherwise attempting to advance an innovation from idea to impact. No prior knowledge of law expected. Meets with 15.6181 when offered concurrently. Expectations and evaluation criteria differ for students taking graduate version.

Examines the elements of entrepreneurial finance, focusing on technology-based start-up ventures, and the early stages of company development. Addresses key questions which challenge all entrepreneurs: how much money can and should be raised; when should it be raised and from whom; what is a reasonable valuation of a company; and how funding, employment contracts and exit decisions should be structured. Aims to prepare students for these decisions, both as entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. In-depth analysis of the structure of the private equity industry. Meets with 15.431 when offered concurrently. Expectations and evaluation criteria for graduate students will differ from those of undergraduates; consult syllabus or instructor for specific details.

Explores some of the critical actions in starting up a technology-based business, including concept generation, searching prior art and patents, protecting intellectual property, founders agreements, forming and building teams, and work-life balance. Students review case studies and complete exercises that develop practicable knowledge in these areas.  Each student keeps an "idea log book," which includes critical assessments of each case study, to be presented at the end of the term. First in a two-part series (seminars do not have to be taken sequentially; see EC.075 in spring term). Preference to undergraduates; open to graduate students with permission of advisor.

J. Hadzima

The Start-up Experience at MIT

Explores gender roles, illuminates the power dynamics and root causes of inequality, and provides a framework for understanding gender dynamics. Develops skills to conduct a gender analysis and integrate gender-sensitive strategies into large- and small-scale development solutions. Prompts critical discussion about social, economic, and political conditions that shape gender in development. Begins with exploration of international development in the post-colonial era, using a gender lens, then provides students with the tools to integrate gender-sensitive strategies into international development work, with a particular focus on launching, building and scaling women's ventures. Opportunities may be available for international fieldwork over IAP. Meets with 24.634 when offered concurrently. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 12; must attend first class session.

D-Lab: Gender and Development

Explores gender roles, illuminates the power dynamics and root causes of inequality, and provides a framework for understanding gender dynamics. Develops skills to conduct a gender analysis and integrate gender-sensitive strategies into large- and small-scale development solutions. Prompts critical discussion about social, economic, and political conditions that shape gender in development. Begins with exploration of international development in the post-colonial era, using a gender lens, then provides students with the tools to integrate gender-sensitive strategies into international development work, with a particular focus on launching, building and scaling women's ventures. Opportunities may be available for international fieldwork over IAP. Meets with 24.234 when offered concurrently. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Limited to 12; must attend first class session.

E. McDonald

Associate Director for Practice/Lecturer

Explores the external factors affecting product development for people in low-resource settings in a project-based context. Students apply existing engineering skills in interdisciplinary teams to identify contextual limitations and develop previously established prototypes towards manufacturing-ready product designs for real-world project sponsors. Topics are presented within the context of the developing world and include technology feasibility and scalability assessment; value chain analysis; product specification; and manufacturing methodologies at various scales. Lessons are experiential and case study-based, taught by instructors with field experience and industry experts from product development consulting firms and the consumer electronics industry. Students taking graduate version complete additional written assignments.

Develop an understanding of qualitative user research and concept generation techniques that will help you uncover what people need and develop creative solutions to meet those needs. Maximize the odds of product success and derisk ideas through a deep understanding of customers. Prototype apps and websites using user interface and user experience design principles. Apply these learnings in a team project exploring services and digital products. Enrollment limited to 30 students. 

By application only: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScF4jJYQTIz1bS7IMRPuCK0Cm60lNWzIpwqV7XH5-sEaMZ_pw/viewform

Taught by Integrated Design & Management staff.   

Develop an understanding of qualitative user research and concept generation techniques that will help you uncover what people need and develop creative solutions to meet those needs. Maximize the odds of product success and derisk ideas through a deep understanding of customers. Prototype apps and websites using user interface and user experience design principles. Apply these learnings in a team project exploring services and digital products. Enrollment limited to 30 students. 

By application only: <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScF4jJYQTIz1bS7IMRPuCK0Cm60lNWzIpwqV7XH5-sEaMZ_pw/viewform" target="_blank">https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScF4jJYQTIz1bS7IMRPuCK0Cm60lNWzIpwqV7XH5-sEaMZ_pw/viewform</a>

Taught by Integrated Design & Management staff.   

A. Hu

Program Director and Senior Lecturer, GradEL

Exploring & Applying Human-Centered Design 

Join our AI and Web3 for Impact: Venture Studio class. This course will focus on opportunities in the broad sectors of digital health, sustainability and mobility with data and AI centric technologies such as blockchain, Web3, and privacy-tech, which can enable or accelerate major positive impact throughout the world. This semester’s course will be structured as a “Venture Studio” with mentors and engagement with VCs, CEOs and Academics. 

Go to https://aiforimpact.github.io/fall23.html to get information to enroll for the latest semester.

Join our AI and Web3 for Impact: Venture Studio class. This course will focus on opportunities in the broad sectors of digital health, sustainability and mobility with data and AI centric technologies such as blockchain, Web3, and privacy-tech, which can enable or accelerate major positive impact throughout the world. This semester’s course will be structured as a “Venture Studio” with mentors and engagement with VCs, CEOs and Academics. 

Go to <a href="https://aiforimpact.github.io/fall23.html" target="_blank">https://aiforimpact.github.io/fall23.html</a> to get information to enroll for the latest semester.

R. Raskar

AI and Web3: Venture Studio

Seminar on envisioning and building ideas and organizations to accelerate engineering revolutions. Focuses on emerging technology domains, such as neurotechnology, imaging, cryotechnology, gerontechnology, and bio-and-nano fabrication. Draws on historical examples as well as live case studies of existing or emerging organizations, including labs, institutes, startups, and companies. Goals range from accelerating basic science to developing transformative products or therapeutics. Each class is devoted to a specific area, often with invited speakers, exploring issues from the deeply technical through the strategic. Individually or in small groups, students prototype new ventures aimed at inventing and deploying revolutionary technologies.

Seminars focused on the development of professional skills for biomedical engineers and scientists. Each term focuses on a different topic, resulting in a repeating cycle that covers biomedical and research ethics, business and entrepreneurship, global health and biomedical innovation, and health systems and policy. Includes guest lectures, case studies, interactive small group discussions, and role-playing simulations.

E. Lindemer

M. Cotler

Biomedical Engineering Seminar Series 

Provides a practical hands-on introduction to digital fabrication, including CAD/CAM/CAE, NC machining, 3-D printing and scanning, molding and casting, composites, laser and waterjet cutting, PCB design and fabrication; sensors and actuators; mixed-signal instrumentation, embedded processing, and wired and wireless communications. Develops an understanding of these capabilities through projects using them individually and jointly to create functional systems.

Concepts and techniques for analyzing financial decisions in commercial property development and investment. Topics include property income streams, discounted cash flow, equity valuation, leverage and income tax considerations, development projects, and joint ventures. An introduction to real estate capital markets as a source of financing is also provided. Limited to graduate students.