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Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Economic vitality of the world

The businesses entrepreneurs start create new products and jobs. Acquiring the necessary skills to start or expand a company is more important than ever before.

Look no further than our entrepreneurship and innovation program for a business school and faculty that will prepare you to create and sustain a successful enterprise.

Critical thinking and problem solving will be essential as you navigate everything from preparing a business plan to exploring venture financing — and you’ll have these in spades after completing our entrepreneurship and innovation minor.

You’ll also learn business terms and ideas without needing to be a business major and learn to:

Prepare business plans
Build marketing strategies
Discover where to look for venture financing
Create innovative entrepreneurial and small-business ventures

Sample Classes for Entrepreneurship Minor:

MGMT-230 Exploring Entrepreneurial Opportunities

This course is aimed specifically at attracting students from all disciplines to explore innovation and entrepreneurship in a cross-disciplinary setting. Students will investigate what entrepreneurial opportunities can exist within such fields as creative writing, math, engineering, languages, music and business. The aim of the course is to ignite passion in discovering how an idea can become a real company, through experiential learning using a variety of methodologies. The course will include an introduction to entrepreneurship through an exploration of developing ideas, business model creation and business feasibility analysis. 4SH

MGMT-333 New Ventures: Start-Up to Exit

This course will focus on multiple aspects of new venture start-up, growth and exit to include; the start-up process, the various business models, the legal foundations of a business, business operations, financial management, organizational growth and exit strategies. This course will use a variety of case studies to emphasize real world examples and lead students through core elements of the business plan. Pre-requisite: MGMT-230 or Business major. 4SH.

MGMT-434 Entrepreneurial Experience

Student teams will conceptualize and develop a start-up organization (by trying, failing, pivoting, and repeating). Through this process they will develop an understanding the different challenges and opportunities that an entrepreneur faces and work with active entrepreneurs to provide recommendations to specific real-time challenges. Students will also study several cases that demonstrate different aspects of the entrepreneurial company and gain confidence to use entrepreneurial thinking in future endeavors. Prerequisite: MGMT-230 and MGMT-333. 4SH.

MGMT-437 Sustainable Entrepreneurship

This course will focus on the exploration of entrepreneurship through an analysis of case studies within a variety of entrepreneurial contexts. It will address modern aspects of entrepreneurship such as sustainability, ethics, social innovation, gender and globalization. The context in which entrepreneurial activity is explored will include non-for- profit organizations, non-governmental organizations and for-profit ventures. The course expands on the critical role of entrepreneurs and the role that entrepreneurship plays in the local, national and global economy. Pre-requisite: MGMT-230 Exploring Entrepreneurial Opportunities. 4SH.

For full details, requirements and additional information, download this program’s section of the course catalog.
To see the full course catalog for all programs available, click here.

Alex Fleck is the entrepreneur in residence at Susquehanna University. With experience as a serial entrepreneur with expertise in e-Commerce, lean startup, digital marketing, sales and business development, his role is to help mentor and guide students in their entrepreneurial journeys and accelerate development of those ideas.

Whether a student has a simple idea for an app, a passion for something they’d like to turn into a business or an existing and operating business, Alex is a resource on campus who is available for consulting throughout the semester.

Alex has been running his own businesses for the last 15+ years in markets as diverse as marketing/consulting, e-Books, photography, wristwatches, subscription services and online communities. He has consulted with clients in hundreds of industries such as health & wellness, industrial, healthcare, e-learning, skincare, wineries, wristwatches, financial businesses, and many more. Given his breadth of experience, he is positioned to help students with entrepreneurial ideas excel.

Alex is available to help students with any business idea – small or large. To set up a meeting, email fleckp@susqu.edu or connect with him on LinkedIn to learn more about his experiences.

Business Startup Costs – average startup costs and how they’ll affect your budgeting plan

Best Crowdfunding Sites for Startups – crowdfunding sites can connect your startup to willing investors and fund contributors

How to Get a Business Loan – preparation begins here with seven crucial steps for securing a business loan

The Ultimate Guide to Small Business Loans – comprehensive and free resources about small-business loans and other types of available funding

Business.org – connecting businesses with in-depth research, product reviews and expert recommendations

Sigma Nu Tau

Sigma Nu Tau is Susquehanna University’s honor society dedicated to entrepreneurship. Its mission is to promote, recognize, honor, and reward academic excellence in entrepreneurship and to encourage and recognize the practice of principled entrepreneurship.

Current leaders of the society include Emily Pelletier ’22, president, and Lukas Yurasits ’22, vice president.

In 2021, the honors society was awarded the Gold Outstanding Chapter Award, the highest honor available, and was named as the 1st place overall outstanding chapter in the U.S. Read the full story here.

Innovation Challenge

Susquehanna’s Innovation Challenge is a two-day competition that encourages entrepreneurial thinking and networking to solve a given problem. The event also includes group activities and exercises, and speeches from entrepreneurs.

At the first Innovation Challenge, in 2022, students were asked to identify a problem that exists on campus and pitch ideas on how to solve it to a board of judges including President Green, the Dean of Students and the SGA President. The winner received a $2,000 cash prize.

a group photo of the winners at the Innovation Challenge

House of Hawks

House of Hawks, also known as Susquehanna’s version of Shark Tank, is a business pitch competition where students must submit and present a business idea, product or service to a board of judges.

This event is open to any student of any major that is interested in pitching a business idea with enthusiasm, knowledge, and creativity for a chance to win a cash prize.