Entrepreneurship Minor

The entrepreneurship minor will teach you to think like a startup founder and creative innovator. You don’t need to have an idea for a startup already.

Format: In person
Location: Ithaca, NY
Degree Awarded: Minor

Overview

The purpose of the minor is to equip you with entrepreneurial knowledge, tools, and frameworks you can deploy at any point in your career—whether you start a company, join a startup, invest in new ventures, or strive to enact social change. You will gain hands-on experience in elaborating an entrepreneurial idea. The minor is also useful for those looking to apply an entrepreneurial approach to drive innovation in a corporate setting.

With this minor, you’ll prepare for careers that include:

Capitalizing on opportunities through the creation of new businesses.
Working within startups or large innovative firms.
Participating in initiatives to address social and environmental issues.
Contributing to entrepreneurial ecosystems through consulting, finance, accounting, law, and policy.

Who is eligible?

All Cornell undergraduates except students enrolled in the Dyson School, and any major that includes overlap of two or more core courses.

How many credits are required?

16.5 core credits across areas such as accounting, ideation, entrepreneurial strategy, industries & topics and practical experience. Visit the Cornell University Registrar for full course information.

Core requirements

This minor requires coursework in six areas: 1) overview, 2) accounting, 3) ideation, 4) entrepreneurial strategy, 5) industries and topics and 6) practical experience. Please note that 7.5 credits must be SC Johnson College of Business courses, which include any course code of AEM, HADM, NBA or NCC. A letter grade of a C or better is required. Courses may not be double counted across categories. Nolan students – your one allowed overlap is HADM 1210, and you are required to take 6 (of the remaining 13.5) credits outside of the Nolan school. ORIE students – your one allowed overlap is ORIE 3150.

Overview (3 credits)

The following course is required:

Course code	Course title
AEM 2220	Dilemmas in Entrepreneurship – FA 26 n/a \| SP 27

Accounting (3 credits)

One of the following courses is required:

Course code	Course title
AEM 2210	Financial Accounting – FA 26 \| SP 27
HADM 1210	Financial Accounting (Nolan students only) – FA 26 \| SP 27
HADM 2230	Financial Accounting Principles – FA 26 \| SP 27
NCC 5500	Financial Accounting – FA 26 \| SP 27
ORIE 3150	Financial & Managerial Accounting (ORIE students only) – FA 26 \| SP 27 n/a

Ideation (1.5 credits)

Every great company begins with an idea. Even if that idea changes later, you need a starting point. These courses will provide you with frameworks and hands-on practice in finding your starting point.

Course code	Course title
AEM 2180	Introduction to Design and Innovation (1.5 cr)*
AEM 3110	Design and Innovation – FA 26 n/a \| SP 27
HADM 4144	Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset (1.5 cr) – FA 26 \| SP 27
NBA 5380	The Business Idea Factory (1.5 cr) – FA 26 n/a \| SP 27
DEA 2730	Human Centered Design Methods (pref. to DEA majors) – FA 26 \| SP 27 n/a
MSE 4070	Materials Design Concepts II*
SYSEN 5740	Design Thinking for Complex Systems (2 cr)*

*This class is no longer offered but it is accepted if already taken.

Entrepreneurial strategy (3 credits)

These courses focus on developing your idea further by engaging with customers to gather feedback and planning your go-to-market strategy.

Course code	Course title
AEM 3249	Entrepreneurial Marketing and Strategy – FA 26 \| SP 27 n/a
AEM 3251	The Business Lab and New Venture Management – FA 26 n/a \| SP 27
AEM 4080	Innovation and New Product Management – FA 26 n/a \| SP 27
AEM 4650	Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation – FA 26 \| SP 27 n/a
HADM 4140	Innovation and Corporate Renewal – FA 26 \| SP 27 n/a
HADM 4145	Business Model Innovation and Design*
NBA 3000	The Business of Entrepreneurship – FA 26 \| SP 27
NBA 6230	Actualizing Your Startup: Part I – FA 26 \| SP 27 n/a
NBA 6330	Actualizing Your Startup: Part II – FA 26 n/a \| SP 27

*This class is no longer offered but it is accepted if already taken.

Industries and topics (4.5 credits)

Courses in this category will help you dig deeper on entrepreneurship in a specific sector, or help you develop particular skills valuable for entrepreneurs. Some of these are experiential courses that are also listed for the Practicum; note that courses cannot double-count.

Course code	Course title
AEM 3220	Digital Business Strategy – FA 26 \| SP 27 n/a
AEM 3275	Introduction to Machine Learning in Business – FA 26 n/a \| SP 27
AEM 3330	The Startup and Venture Capital Experience – FA 26 \| SP 27 n/a
AEM 3385	Social Entrepreneurship Practicum: Anabel’s Grocery – FA 26 \| SP 27
AEM 4355	Healthcare Entrepreneurship: Perspectives and Controversies*
AEM 4572	Entrepreneurial Finance and Private Equity – FA 26 n/a \| SP 27
AEM 4615	Digital Platform Strategy – FA 26 \| SP 27 n/a
AEM 4650	The Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation – FA 26 \| SP 27 n/a
FSAD 4444	Fiber Science and Apparel Design Futures (FSAD majors) – FA 26 n/a \| SP 27
FSAD 4660	Textiles, Apparel, and Innovation – FA 26 \| SP 27 n/a
HADM 3610	Communication for Entrepreneurs – FA 26 \| SP 27 n/a
HADM 4130	Entrepreneurial Management – FA 26 \| SP 27
HADM 4315	Nonprofit Social Enterprise and Food Justice – FA 26 \| SP 27 n/a
HADM 4800	Law for Entrepreneurs – FA 26 \| SP 27 n/a
NBA 4720/6720	Family Enterprise Management and Governance – FA 26 n/a \| SP 27
NBA 5070	Entrepreneurship for Scientists and Engineers – FA 26 \| SP 27
NBA 6135	AI & Society*
NBA 6910	Physical Product Entrepreneurship*
PUBPOL 5813	Disruptive Innovation in Healthcare I (1.5 cr) – FA 26 n/a \| SP 27

*This class is no longer offered but it is accepted if already taken.

Practical experience (1.5 credits)

These experiential courses give you first-hand experience in founding and running a new venture.

If you are engaged in practical experience during the semester through your own start-up or someone else’s, you may petition to use that experience as an independent study (AEM 4975). Please reach out to minors@business.cornell.edu for the required form.

Course code	Course title
AEM 3251	The Business Lab and New Venture Management – FA 26 n/a \| SP 27
AEM 3255	Creativity Sprint: an Entrepreneurship Hackathon (1.5 cr) – FA 26 \| SP 27 n/a
AEM 3385	Social Entrepreneurship Practicum: Anabel’s Grocery – FA 26 \| SP 27
AEM 4421	Research and Strategy in Emerging Markets – FA 26 n/a \| SP 27
AEM 4975	UG Experience in Entrepreneurship (1.5 cr) – email minors@business.cornell.edu for required form.
HADM 4315	Nonprofit Social Enterprise and Food Justice – FA 26 \| SP 27 n/a
NBA 6029	Leading Agile Innovation – FA 26 n/a \| SP 27
NBA 6230	Actualizing Your Startup: Part I – FA 26 \| SP 27 n/a
NBA 6330	Actualizing your startup II – FA 26 n/a \| SP 27

Academic policies

A minimum of 12 unique credits (outside of major’s core discipline) must be taken to complete any/all minors. Some majors may be required to take an additional course to satisfy this requirement. All courses must be taken in person (unless through Cornell’s School of Continuing Education) and for a letter grade (grade of C or better is required).

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I’m interested. What’s next?

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Entrepreneurship Minor

Overview

Who is eligible?

How many credits are required?

Core requirements

Academic policies

More about our business minors

Minoring in business

Policies & FAQs

Resources for minors

Current business minor students

I’m interested. What’s next?