Entrepreneurship Courses
The Jake Jabs Center offers several courses each semester that cover a wide variety of entrepreneurial topics. From developing a marketable idea to creating a business plan to securing capital for your startup, we make sure our students graduate with the skills needed to run a business successfully. View the available ENTP courses below!
IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT COURSE SCHEDULING: Registering for an entrepreneurship (ENTP) course is a little different than other courses on campus. Make sure to download our registration guide below to ensure that you’re signed up for the courses you want.
LOOKING FOR SCHOLARSHIP ASSISTANCE? Visit our Tuition & Scholarship page to learn more about how the Jake Jabs Center can help you!
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Fall 2023
Undergraduate Courses
ENTP 3200 – Essentials in Entrepreneurship
Section 1
Tuesdays & Thursdays 12:30-1:45 PM
Instructor: David Ruderman
Section 2
HYBRID – Mondays 12:30-1:45 PM
Instructor: Chris Lobello
This introductory course overviews all of the concepts, skills, and practical information relevant to startup companies. The materials are designed to help students anticipate HR, financial, and marketing problems through proper planning. The primary objective of the course is to teach students the real-world aspects of entrepreneurship in order to improve the odds of success.
ENTP 3201 – Lean Startup Fundamentals
Tuesdays & Thursdays 2:00-3:15 PM
Instructor: David Ruderman
Get to know the Lean Startup method, an emerging paradigm for developing and launching new businesses and products. This methodology focuses on experimentation, customer feedback, and iterative design to increase a venture’s competitive advantage and chances of success. Course topics include the Lean Startup method’s history and benefits, as well as how to test hypotheses, collect data, create a minimal viable product, accelerate growth, pivot, and more.
ENTP 3230 – Small Business Accounting and Finance
Mondays & Wednesdays 3:30-4:45 PM
Instructor: Chris Bracken
Includes financial and legal aspects, financial reporting and cash flow analysis, financial planning, budgeting, working capital management, asset decisions, obtaining capital, business valuation, franchising, lease versus buy decisions, and financial aspects of international trade and different methods of obtaining capital.
ENTP 3900 – Experiential Topics in Entrepreneurship
Tuesdays 3:30-6:15 PM
Instructors: Allison Phillips
In Colorado’s thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem, aspiring entrepreneurs need guidance, inspiration, networks, experiential events, and practice before launching a successful startup. This course will help you cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset and skillset that will not only empower you to create your own business but also stand out as a desirable job candidate to Colorado’s many innovative companies. Learn from today’s leading, most disruptive founders as you hear their stories and visit their businesses, and then develop your own idea with a team of your peers.
Graduate Courses
ENTP 6022 – Digital Disruption
Tuesdays 6:30-9:15 PM
Instructors: Madhavan Parthasarathy & Joel Appel
Jointly taught by a successful Colorado entrepreneur, Joel Appel, and an experienced professor, Dr. Madhavan Parthasarathy, this course focuses on how digital innovations are disrupting traditional business practices. Students will participate in a team project where they identify an industry prepared for disruption, and then develop a relevant digital strategy. Students can also expect industry leaders from some of Colorado’s greatest digital and tech companies as guest speakers.
ENTP 6620 – New Venture Operations and Project Management
ONLINE (First 8-Week Course)
Instructor: Jim LoPresti
Many viable businesses have failed due to cash flow problems, poor management, and poor execution. This course presents students with an operations model for developing internal and external plans when starting new ventures. Utilizing both academic fundamentals and practical knowledge imparted by an experienced instructor, this course provides the project management knowledge and skills needed to build strong operation plans.
ENTP 6824 – Entrepreneurial Financial Management
ONLINE (Second 8-Week Course)
Instructor: Elizabeth Cooperman
This course provides a foundation for the financial management of an entrepreneurial business. Topics covered include differentiation from traditional corporate financial management assumptions, financial aspects of setting up a business, and how to create, evaluate, forecast, and analyze future financial statements. Students will examine theoretical and practical valuation techniques, considerations for buying versus starting a business and franchising. The course also discusses different choices for financing a new business, venture capital, angel financing, crowd funding, private equity and security laws, harvesting alternatives, and financial distress turnaround considerations.
ENTP 6826 – International Entrepreneurship
Mondays 6:30-9:15 PM
Instructor: Manuel Serapio
This course focuses on the intersection of international business and entrepreneurship. Topics addressed include international entrepreneurship theory and practice (opportunity identification, processes and route to market). This course also highlights new topics in international entrepreneurship such as digital globalization and new technologies driving international entrepreneurship (blockchain and the global supply chain). Leading practitioners and entrepreneurs will be facilitating these modules.
ENTP 6836 – High Impact Sales for Entrepreneurs
ONLINE
Instructors: Matt Kaspari & Scott Hansen
Selling one’s own concept to prospective customers and investors is very different from selling products in a corporate environment. In this course, you will learn how to shift you mindset to an “ownership” stance, so as to effectively persuade clients, venture capitalists and angels, and other entrepreneurs to invest in your vision, your concept, and your authentic brand.
ENTP 6848 – Leadership in New Ventures
ONLINE
Instructors: Kathryn McIver
Selling one’s own concept to prospective customers and investors is very different from selling products in a corporate environment. In this course, you will learn how to shift you mindset to an “ownership” stance, so as to effectively persuade clients, venture capitalists and angels, and other entrepreneurs to invest in your vision, your concept, and your authentic brand.
Spring 2024
Undergraduate Courses
ENTP 3200 – Essentials in Entrepreneurship
Section 1
Tuesdays & Thursdays 12:30-1:45PM
Instructor: David Ruderman
Section 2
HYBRID – Mondays 3:30-4:45PM
Instructor: Chris Lobello
This introductory course overviews all of the concepts, skills, and practical information relevant to startup companies. The materials are designed to help students anticipate HR, financial, and marketing problems through proper planning. The primary objective of the course is to teach students the real-world aspects of entrepreneurship in order to improve the odds of success.
ENTP 3240 – Developing Dynamic Concepts
ONLINE
Instructor: Kathryn McIver
This course is designed to prepare entrepreneurial-minded students to critically and objectively evaluate the feasibility of their ideas. Entrepreneurs are motivated by plethora of “the next big idea” and are often fatally optimistic about their ideas. The course work will demonstrate how to objectively test and validate the feasibility of an entrepreneurial idea through data-driven analytical and strategic planning. Additionally, this course will provide pragmatic applications of the course content by incorporating real-life case studies presented by practicing entrepreneurs as guest lecturers.
ENTP 3260 – High Impact Sales for Entrepreneurs
ONLINE
Instructor: Jennifer Samuel
Selling one’s own concept to prospective customers and investors is very different from selling products in a corporate environment. In this course, students will learn how to get their message heard, get their ideal clients to want to work with them, and use their authentic brand to sell their small-business concept successfully.
ENTP 3299 – Business Model Development & Planning
IN PERSON
Instructor: TBD
At the heart of every great business is a well thought-out business plan. This course teaches entrepreneurially-minded students how to create one, and students will tackle this project with a team or as an individual. Local entrepreneurs and investors will serve as guest speakers and share their experiences. Mentors and advisors associated with the Jake Jabs Center, as well as special Center-organized experiential events, will provide students with practical feedback. Prereq: ENTP 3230 or ACCT 2200 with a grade of C- or higher is required.
ENTP 4200 – Mission-Driven Entrepreneurial Mindset
HYBRID
Instructor: Caleb Carr
The course is designed to teach students to rethink the common market driven approach to innovation, with a mission driven focus. In this course, students will learn that impact innovation exists in the public, private and non-profit sectors. Completing this course will dispel the idea that purpose driven innovation only exists in the non-profit realm.
Graduate Courses
ENTP 6020 – Business Model Development & Planning
Thursdays 6:30-9:15PM
Instructors: Madhavan Parthasarathy
Jointly taught by a successful Colorado entrepreneur, Caleb Carr, and an experienced professor, Dr. Madhavan Parthasarathy, this course familiarizes students with the key steps for preparing a business plan for a new (or existing) business venture. This course provides real-world feedback and advice and integrates coursework with THE CLIMB | Jake Jabs Business Plan Competition events to further enhance the quality of one’s business concept. Several past students have won prizes at THE CLIMB and launched successful businesses from concepts developed in the course.
ENTP 6110 – Innovation in Fintech
ONLINE
Instructor: Chris Lobello
Fintech describes products and opportunities that accrue when synergies between finance and technology can be effectively operationalized. It is rapidly changing the way we think about money and finance as it impacts banks, global financial markets, transaction speed, and government regulations. The global fintech market is predicted to reach around $250 billion by 2027. This course overviews the leading topics and innovations in fintech, such as peer-to-peer lending, digital wealth management, insurance, consumer finance, real estate, blockchain, automation, and payment systems.
ENTP 6200 – Mission Driven Entrepreneurship
ONLINE (First 8-Week Course)
Instructor: Blair Gifford
The course is designed to teach students to rethink the common market-driven approach to innovation with a mission-driven focus. In this course, students will learn that impact innovation exists in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Completing this course will dispel the idea that purpose-driven innovation only exists in the nonprofit realm.
ENTP 6801 – Healthcare Innovation and Entrepreneurship
ONLINE
Instructor: TBD
This hybrid course is intended for STEM and business majors who are interested in digital health entrepreneurship. After completing this course, students should be able to: understand and apply the principles and practice of digital health entrepreneurship, work in project teams to pursue a digital health opportunity and validate underlying business model canvas hypotheses, present their findings and decide whether and how to proceed.
ENTP 6807 – Personal Branding
IN PERSON
Instructor: Jung Park
This course is designed to show students how to create successful personal brand strategies for professional and personal development in both entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial environments. The course work will demonstrate the imperative link between marketing and personal branding through case studies, projects, guest speakers and reading materials. Students will also leave the course knowing how to develop and implement a personal branding plan.
ENTP 6834 – Lean Marketing
ONLINE (Second 8-Week Course)
Instructor: Jim LoPresti
This course teaches students how to create successful marketing strategies in entrepreneurial environments where resources are often limited and negative outcomes can be unforgiving. The course work will demonstrate the imperative link between the fundamental marketing principles and entrepreneurial lean marketing guiding principles through real-life case studies, project, videos, podcasts and reading materials. Student will leave this course understanding how to develop an effective and pragmatic marketing plan for an entrepreneurial venture.
ENTP 6842 – New Concept Development
HYBRID
Instructors: Jung Park
Selling one’s own concept to prospective customers and investors is very different from selling products in a corporate environment. In this course, you will learn how to shift you mindset to an “ownership” stance, so as to effectively persuade clients, venture capitalists and angels, and other entrepreneurs to invest in your vision, your concept, and your authentic brand.