The Center for Entrepreneurial Studies was established in 1996 to address the need for greater understanding of the issues faced by entrepreneurial individuals and companies.  The CES serves to focus the different entrepreneurial efforts at the Graduate School of Business, those of faculty, students, alumni, and the community. The mission of the CES is to build an understanding of the issues facing entrepreneurial companies and individuals by:

        Promoting research topics relevant to entrepreneurs;

        Enhancing and expanding the entrepreneurship curriculum;

        Engaging with the entrepreneurial community to provide access and resources to our students and alumni; and

        Fostering a lifelong community of GSB entrepreneurs across class years.

We prepare students with the necessary education and experiences by using top faculty and lecturers, original research on entrepreneurship, CES-developed case studies on entrepreneurial issues, and community involvement with leaders from our alumni and general entrepreneur and venture capital population in Silicon Valley.

Activities include:

        Develop and support 27 entrepreneurial courses. Courses include Evaluating Entrepreneurial Opportunities, in which teams of 4-5 students spend 2 quarters evaluating a business opportunity; Entrepreneurship from the Perspective of Women; and Building and Managing Professional Sales Organizations.

        Develop over 30 entrepreneurial cases each year.

        Organize and host speaker and panel series each year.

        Provide continuity and institutional memory for the Entrepreneur Club, the Venture Capital Club, and the annual Entrepreneurship Conference.

        Advise students and alumni pursuing entrepreneurial opportunities.

        Through the Entrepreneurial Summer Program, support MBA students in gaining experience working for early-stage companies by funding students with supplemental salaries. The program also includes several events for students to share their expectations and experiences with faculty and fellow students.

        Develop and support the Entrepreneurial Resource Database (ERDB) and Alumni Online Community to connect GSB students and alumni with investors, service providers, and mentors.

        Sponsor and host Alumni Founders Forums for entrepreneurial alumni to support one another in a confidential monthly gathering.

        Support research such as the Stanford Entrepreneurial Management System (SEMAS) project to understand how management systems emerge and how the strategic process evolves as companies get beyond the start-up phase.