Do you accept non-profits?

Yes, we are very interested in non-profit, low-profit, mission-driven, and hybrid non-profit/for-profit enterprises. We are focused on enterprises that are financially sustainable and that can scale to meet broad social needs. We welcome enterprises that are affiliated with the Sorenson Impact Investing Fund, the Ivory-Boyer Real Estate Center, the Gardner Policy Institute, and the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, and wish to develop further in the MBC program. We welcome startup companies associated with incubators or accelerators in any region who seek a comprehensive program like the MBC.

What types of enterprises are the “best fit” with the MBC?

The program faculty tend to focus first on the entrepreneur: are we convinced this person has the commitment to succeed as a founder? The second hurdle is the viability of the enterprise to grow and be sustainable. The MBC is not a product-development program; it is an enterprise-creation and accelerator program. With this focus, we cannot help an entrepreneur who is still doing product development. Most of the program is geared to help build an integrated model for growth. There is an expectation for those admitted into the program that they will be able to get customer feedback and initial sales within 2-3 months of entering the program. Where individuals are still in a product development phase, the best option is to come back next year.

Are there enterprises that are not a good fit for the MBC?

The MBC program is not suitable for organizations where success depends on long working hours. In these instances, spending 16-20 hours a week on degree work is a distraction from the success of the enterprise, not an acceleration. Many personal-service businesses, including restaurants and retail shops, are similarly not a good match for the MBC.

I have an idea I want to develop; can I do the development while in the MBC?

If you have revenue, you’re probably ready.  If you don’t have revenue, we look for work you’ve done to validate your idea: prototyping, beta testing, market validation, competitive studies, legal entity formation. While we may consider some near revenue companies, we focus on revenue-generating companies.

What funding opportunities are there for MBC founders?

Founders in the Master of Business Creation program have access to many exclusive funding opportunities. Many of these opportunities are provided by the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, which supports founders in the MBC program through a variety of extracurricular programs and initiatives. Funding programs at Lassonde include the Get Seeded milestone funding program and the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge. Lassonde and the Eccles School also have other resources and are always developing new opportunities to support student founders. One new opportunity is the Fenton Founders Fund, which was announced in January 2020 and established with a $5 million investment from the Fenton Foundation. Find more opportunities in the program directory on the Lassonde website. The faculty, preceptors (mentors) and MBC alumni also have a deep network of angels, venture capitalists and banks that founders can explore.

Is the MBC program worth the cost?

The Master of Business Creation program is designed to be high-value. Our graduates consistently tell us the value of what they learned and the services, support and mentoring they received was well in excess of the program’s tuition. The tuition charged is much less than comparable graduate programs. Unlike startup accelerators, the MBC program does not take equity from startup founders. Some scholarship funds are available, but the base cost of the MBC program is already significantly discounted and designed to be affordable without any additional support. Tuition payments are spread over two or three semesters.

Founders enrolling in the MBC program are encouraged to consider the program an investment in their business and their future as entrepreneurs. You leave the MBC program with a toolkit of capabilities from the integrated curriculum that will make you a better founder or leader in any business. Think about the value of learning how to grow a profitable business, personal mentoring, diverse networking opportunities, peer and alumni support, the opportunity to work for yourself, access to free public relations and marketing services, micro business grants, and receiving an accredited master’s degree from a top-ranked school for entrepreneurship. These are some of the qualities that make the MBC program a great value.

Moreover, apart from the out-of-pocket affordability, our current founders and graduates routinely tell us that the program saved them tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars that would have otherwise been spent chasing unproductive strategies, months of wasted or ineffective effort, enabled them to raise significant investment capital, taught them how to reduce expenses, provided introductions to investors, partners, and customers, significantly accelerated their sales, and the like. We encourage applicants to consider total value, not just short-term tuition costs.