Sauder launches UBC-wide course focused on new venture creation
Entrepreneurs come from all walks of life. Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Jay-Z – they all have one common thread that binds them, the desire to turn a personal passion into a successful enterprise.
With this in mind, UBC is launching Entrepreneurship 101 (COMM486A), the first course of its type open to students from across the university. Taught by the Sauder School of Business, the interdisciplinary course will draw together students from every faculty, from mathematics to music, business to biology.
“We’re striving to have as much student diversity in the class as possible,” says Sauder Lecturer Paul Cubbon, who is leading the design of the course. “The key is to equip students with an entrepreneurial perspective early in their studies so that they can apply it as they progress through their programs.”
Open to students beginning in second year, the new course requires no prerequisites. It expands on Sauder’s successful tradition and specialization in entrepreneurship training – a tradition that has been the catalyst to the creation of a wide range of successful ventures in Vancouver and around the world.
The class focuses on providing entrepreneurial essentials – building a team to launch a new venture, strategic planning, going to market, building capacity and taking a start-up to the next stage. It will draw on industry experts from Vancouver’s internationally renowned entrepreneurial community and leading research in the field produced at Sauder.
Taking a broad perspective, the course will look at venture creation in high tech, e-commerce and mobile, along with start-ups in arts-, media-, science- and sustainability-based fields. It will also lead students to investigate how entrepreneurial approaches can be used to launch social enterprises and non-profit organizations.
“The goal is to empower students with what they need to take their learning at UBC and understand how it can become the heart of a new venture,” says Cubbon.
“Students in pharmaceutical science will consider the retail potential of their studies. Musicians will think about how to commercialize their art. We want to open them up to the possibility of using entrepreneurship to pursue their own path.”
