In this article
- Learn about the value of an entrepreneurial mindset and growing your business innovation skills at any stage of your career.
- Find out how the top-ranked Kelley Direct Online MBA gives students the opportunity to learn various aspects of business innovation, including design thinking, creative problem-solving, technology integration, market analysis, and implementing change management strategies.
- See how you can put business innovation skills into action at the Kelley Direct Silicon Valley Venture Challenge, an elite elective course that challenges students to develop a venture plan to present to a board of professional experts in the field of entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley.
Whether your background and interest are in startups and entrepreneurial ventures or large, well-established organizations, developing skills in business innovation and entrepreneurship is important for driving growth and staying competitive and adaptable.
Relevance in today’s business landscape: Embracing innovation and entrepreneurship not only enhances personal career prospects, but it also pushes businesses to evolve, innovate, and remain agile in dynamic market landscapes, ensuring long-term sustainability and relevance in an ever-changing business environment.
Problem-solving skills: Innovation involves identifying problems or areas for improvement and devising creative solutions. Good problem solving is valuable across industries and positions.
Entrepreneurial mindset: Conceptualizing, refining, and implementing innovative business ideas is often the cornerstone of successful startups. For aspiring entrepreneurs who are interested in new product innovation and business strategy innovation, developing and honing these skills is critical.
Adaptability and resilience: Businesses face unforeseen challenges regularly. Learning about innovation fosters an adaptable mindset, empowering professionals to pivot strategies, products, or services in response to changing market conditions.
Leadership and change management: Innovation often involves initiating and managing change within an organization. Training focused on innovation provides insights into leading teams through change, a skill vital for managerial roles.
Market differentiation: Companies that consistently innovate stand out in the market. Understanding innovation allows professionals to contribute to making their organization distinct and attractive to consumers.
The Kelley Direct Online MBA: The model program for entrepreneurship and corporate innovation
The top-ranked Kelley Direct Online MBA gives students the opportunity to learn various aspects of business innovation, including design thinking, creative problem-solving, technology integration, market analysis, and implementing change management strategies.
Kelley’s entrepreneurship and corporate innovation curriculum is designed to equip students with the business innovation skills needed to achieve at the highest levels throughout their careers—and to one day start a business, if that’s a personal goal.
The Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Education at the Kelley School of Business is top-ranked for entrepreneurship education. In 2023, it was honored with the Model Entrepreneurship Program Award from the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), which recognizes the institution with the most comprehensive, high-quality educational program that successfully trains future generations of entrepreneurs.
Regan Stevenson, assistant professor of entrepreneurship
“The great thing about our MBA program is that it combines theory and practice,” says Regan Stevenson, assistant professor of entrepreneurship and the John and Donna Shoemaker Faculty Fellowship in Entrepreneurship at the Kelley School of Business. “On the theoretical side, we’ve got our best faculty members teaching in our online MBA program as well as in our in-residence program, so you’re getting the best of the best, world-class researchers who are delivering the content. On the practical side, we’ve got all kinds of hands-on programs that allow students to get experiential education as part of their MBA program.”
Business innovation in action: The Kelley Direct Silicon Valley Venture Challenge
Kelley Direct empowers students to explore corporate innovation and entrepreneurship through elective courses and in-person experiences designed by full-time faculty.
A unique example is the Silicon Valley Venture Challenge (N560), an elite elective course that challenges students to develop a venture plan that will be presented to and evaluated by a board of professional experts in the field of entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley. Throughout the course, students work online and consult with small businesses to develop a venture plan that they present to the board as an experiential component of their classroom education.
After creating the venture plan, students travel to Silicon Valley, present the plan to a 20-member advisory board of professional experts in entrepreneurship, and receive innovation coaching through the board’s feedback.
The Silicon Valley Venture Challenge is taught and designed by Donald F. Kuratko, Jack M. Gill Chair of Entrepreneurship at Kelley and a national leader in the field of entrepreneurship and corporate innovation. His students admiringly call him “Dr. K.”
Donald F. Kuratko, Jack M. Gill Chair of Entrepreneurship at Kelley
Kuratko, who leads the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, says the course is nicknamed the “Ultimate Spine Sweat Experience” for a reason—because of the rigor of crafting a successful venture plan and the intensity of the in-person pitch experience.
“You leave the academic environment, go into the practical world, take the book knowledge you’ve learned, and apply it for real, because the advisory board decides your grade,” Kuratko said. “Afterwards, you learn who they are and why they’re really there—to help you. While there is the challenge of presenting, when it’s over, you get to meet all of them, discuss things with them, and build up a network of some very, very powerful people.”
Benton Miller, Kelley Direct graduate
Kelley Direct graduate Benton Miller and his team had the opportunity to present at Plug and Play, a world-renowned accelerator for startups that has invested in innovative new products and companies such as PayPal, Dropbox, and Honey. Miller said that by the end of the course, he realized that the challenge and the opportunity to dive into innovation in Silicon Valley could be a life-altering experience for students who are pursuing entrepreneurship.
After giving their pitch to the advisory board, students receive critical feedback about their ideas and presentation. They also learn if they received a passing grade. The pitch is followed by a night of networking opportunities: There’s a happy hour with the venture capitalists, then a celebratory dinner with fellow Kelley Direct students and some of the advisory board members.
We all get to go out to Silicon Valley at the end of the course, and you really start to dig deep and understand that this could be a life-altering, life-changing moment for you as a founder.” – Benton Miller, Kelley Direct graduate
“It’s a completely different experience from any of the other classes I’ve ever taken,” Miller said. “Not only are you going to create a life-changing moment for yourself, for your company, and for your career, but you’re also able to have that congratulatory moment, too, where all the pressure relaxes for a moment.”
The Silicon Valley Venture Challenge is what you make it, Miller noted. Kuratko fosters business ideas and opens up his own network to allow students to create real businesses, then students get to take the initiative to create deeper relationships with the venture capitalists.
“I got the feedback from the venture capitalists, and I’m now meeting with about three of them over the next few months to continue pursuing what this idea could look like,” Miller said.
The course also gives students an opportunity to apply the knowledge they’ve gained in the Kelley Direct Online MBA program. Kelley Direct graduate Lakshmi Menon completed the Silicon Valley Venture Challenge at the end of her time in the program and said that it brought together concepts she learned throughout her MBA.
“I’ve been implementing it in bits and pieces in my day-to-day work,” Menon said. “This course also gave me the opportunity to present my idea—my dream—to the venture capitalists and feel the validation that this is real. This is the real application of all the courses. This was proof that what you learn during the MBA is not just concepts here and there—it has true value.”
The Kelley Direct experience delivers value for students because they gain real-world experience with business strategy innovation and apply the knowledge they learn to their actual work settings, Kuratko said.
“You’re seeing a direct application of your knowledge from the Kelley Direct Online MBA right to your careers now and in future things that you’re going to develop in your career,” Kuratko said.