How to Explore Entrepreneurship During Your MBA

The student-run INSEAD Entrepreneurship Club (IEC) hosts speaker series, networking events and career treks as well as idea sharing and pitching sessions to provide support for students from the phase of business idea development and validation to actual business model implementation.

The school offers field trips which focus on building businesses in a particular region such as China, India, Russia or Silicon Valley. Led by INSEAD faculty, these trips offer fantastic opportunities to meet with many local executives and investors, as well as INSEAD alumni living and working in that region.

The INSEAD Centre for Entrepreneurship (ICE) looks to promote entrepreneurial ambitions and activities within INSEAD. Three key activities under its realm are the Startup Bootcamp, the Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EiR) program and the INSEAD Venture Competition (IVC).

The popular Startup Bootcamp is an intensive and interactive training program held over a weekend. Many business ventures started by INSEAD MBAs were originally formulated in the bootcamp, before being further developed in various classes.

According to Compass’s Startup Ecosystem Ranking 2015 report, which has insights on the world’s top start-up territories, Singapore and Paris are among the top 15 locations in the world for entrepreneurs. 

In Singapore, Block 71, “the world’s most tightly packed entrepreneurial ecosystem” according to The Economist, is right across the street from INSEAD’s campus. 

In Fontainebleau, a collaborative workspace called “The Mews” houses INSEAD’s aspiring entrepreneurs directly on campus, as a first step towards an incubator.

LaunchPad is a hub specifically for the INSEAD community, to help students and alumni connect to each other and entrepreneurs, business leaders, researchers, angel investors, venture capitalists and philanthropists.

INSEAD MBA students come with a wealth of experience, knowledge and ambition, from all corners of the globe. You will meet many students who have an entrepreneurial background whether they come from accelerators, VCs, fundraising or start-ups. These same people might one day make great advisors when you’re launching your own business.

Learn more about studying at INSEAD.