Entrepreneurship & Corporate Innovation

Develop the tools to drive innovation and start new ventures

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Gain the special skills and knowledge to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset and promote innovation within a business or organization. An online MBA with a concentration in entrepreneurship and corporate innovation will not only prepare you start your own business, but also empower you with the tools to create forward-thinking strategies in any corporate setting.

In this program, you’ll learn how to:

Help launch new products, secure venture capital, and market existing services to new industries
Drive innovation and new ideas within the corporate environment
Start, grow, or mature small businesses

Learn from the best minds in the field

World-renowned, full-time Kelley School of Business faculty teach Kelley Direct courses in entrepreneurship and corporate innovation.

2025 Model Entrepreneurship Program Award

Awarded to Indiana University by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Build a launching pad for your career

An online MBA in entrepreneurship and corporate innovation will enable you to lead within national and international corporations—or take the leap and start your own business.

As a Kelley Direct online MBA student, you get the dedicated support of an experienced career coach throughout the program and even after graduation. Your coach can help you navigate challenges and opportunities in your current role, as well as carve a path for your future career goals.

Explore career services

Grow your professional network

Whether you’re taking the next step in your career or navigating a career change, Kelley Direct Student Leadership Associations (SLAs) offer welcoming, supportive networking opportunities with people in your chosen field. Join the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital SLA for in-person and online meetups, discussions, and professional development events.

Get the Kelley Direct student experience

Major requirements

You’ll need to successfully complete the first block of the Kelley Direct Integrated Core curriculum before starting the entrepreneurship and corporate innovation major. Majoring in entrepreneurship and corporate innovation requires 12 credits of coursework, making up half of the 24 open elective credits required to earn your Kelley Direct Online MBA.

Required courses (6 credits) include:

The remaining 6 credits can be fulfilled with your choice of entrepreneurship and corporate innovation elective courses and capstone experiences.

Learn more about the Kelley Direct curriculum

Take a brief tour of an entrepreneurship and corporate innovation course

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This unique course is the Silicon

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Valley Venture Challenge.

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Its nickname is the Ultimate Spine Sweat Experience.

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Now, before you get too scared, let me just explain this

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to you, why it's such a great challenge.

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You're gonna work online like every other course,

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to develop a business plan, a venture plan

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that you're going to actually then present.

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But you're gonna get on a plane, fly to Silicon Valley

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and present this plan to a 20 member advisory board.

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So you leave the academic environment,

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you go into the practical world, you take everything

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that you've learned from the book knowledge,

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and now you apply it for real

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because they're gonna decide you're grade

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and afterwards you're gonna learn who they are

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and why they're really there to help you.

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So while there is the challenge

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of presenting when it's over, you get to meet all of them

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and discuss things with them.

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You build up a network of some very, very powerful people.

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We all get to go out to Silicon Valley at the end

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of the course, and you really start to kind of dig deep

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and understand the fact that this could be life altering,

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life changing moment for you as a founder, to be able

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to present a plug and play was amazing.

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So Plug and Play is a world renowned accelerator

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for startups that have helped out companies like a PayPal.

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The ability to be there with Dr.

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K and the venture capitalists

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and the IU alumni was absolutely amazing.

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Once you're done pitching to the VCs

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and you get your grade, literally about two minutes

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after you're done pitching to the VCs, they,

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they tell you how they graded you.

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You pass or failed, is you have a happy hour

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with all the venture capitalists that that came there.

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And then after that, you have a big celebration

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with your classmates with some

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of the VCs at dinner that night too.

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And to me, that is a complete difference, uh,

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between any other class I've ever taken.

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Not only you're going to create a life-changing moment

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for yourself or for your company, for your career,

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but you're also able then to have

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that congratulation moment at the end of it too,

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where you have a kind of, all the pressure relaxes

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for a moment, you're able to have those conversations

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and create those deeper relationships.

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The Silicon Valley Venture Challenge is what you make it.

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Dr. K fosters your business ideas

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and opens up his own network to allow you

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to create a real business.

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After I got the feedback from the VCs, I'm now meeting

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with about three of them here over the next few months,

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continue pursuing what this idea can look like.

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I recently graduated with Silicon Valley Challenge was one

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of the last courses

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that I did at the Kelley School of Business.

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It brought together all the concepts

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that I learned throughout my MBA.

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I've been implementing it in bits

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and pieces in my day to Bday work,

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but this course gave me the opportunity to present my idea,

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my dream to the venture capitalist and get their validation.

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This is real. This is the real

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application of all the courses.

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So this was a proof that what you learned during the MBA,

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it's not just some concepts lying here and there,

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and it has true value.

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You know, overall, the Kelly Direct experience really

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delivers because you're taking the very knowledge

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that you're learning and applying it into your own work

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settings, into your own leadership abilities,

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into your own team.

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Really, you're seeing a direct application

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of your knowledge from the Kelly Online MBA in the KD

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program, right to your careers now

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and in future things

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that you're gonna develop in your career.

Explore more MBA concentrations

The Kelley Direct Online MBA program offers seven different majors to choose from, as well as the option to forgo a major and complete your course requirements with any combination of open electives you choose.

In addition to entrepreneurship and corporate innovation, you can also major in:

We don’t use an online program manager (OPM): What it means for you and the value of your MBA

At Kelley Direct, our approach to business education is drastically different from any other MBA program. We deliver our #1–ranked online MBA program—with signature in-person experiences and an innovative curriculum taught by full-time faculty—at a much lower price than our competitors. How?

Discover how we deliver on your online MBA experience

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