Entrepreneurship Program
Our program has one mission: to help students launch successful businesses that give back to society and hopefully generate social change.
For the serious self-starter…
…there is absolutely no better place to be than the University of Georgia. We have the only entrepreneurship program in the country that is exclusively focused on launching successful student ventures.
Students particpating in the program are infused with an entrepreneurial mindset—a mindset that allows you to recognize opportunity and then develop the networks and skillset to grow it.
How to Participate
Unlike other programs that are based on coursework, our Entrepreneurship program is based on a multitude of opportunities that give students practical hands-on experience and connect them with existing start-ups. The number and array of activities is constantly revolving and all are managed by program director Chris Hanks.
Accelerator Program
Students who are ready to start or expand their business may apply to the Accelerator Program. The Accelerator Program provides student startups with a board of experienced, successful entrepreneurs, advisors, and investors that help student entrepreneurs grow revenues and profits, stay focused on the right strategic issue, and develop key contacts. Participants receive honest, unfiltered advice and feedback, help with critical business decisions, and lasting results for your business. Students are held accountable to key performance indicators and receive real-world perspectives from seasoned mentors and investors.
UGA's Next Top Entrepreneur
This annual campus-wide competition open to any UGA student with an idea for a start up. A combination of American Idol and Shark Tank, UGA’s Next Top Entrepreneur gives students the opportunity to gain insight, build networks, and win capital to launch their business. In addition to prize money, students have the opportunity for angel investment and venture capital. The process challenges students to develop and hone their value proposition and business model. Successful students move on to subsequent rounds in front of real investors until only one—UGA’s Next Top Entrepreneur—remains.
More information and event details
Silicon Valley Trip
Silicon Valley is to private companies what Wall Street is to public companies. Each year, MBA students in MGMT 7520 Implementing Business Plans and select participants from the Accelerator Program are invited to Silicon Valley to learn from the best in the business world. Students are immersed in the venture capital process and startup culture, meeting some of the best venture capitalists and entrepreneurs in the world. The result is an unforgettable experience that for most is the highlight of their MBA at Terry College.
Entrepreneur Society
The Terry Entrepreneur Society is for students interested in developing an entrepreneurial mindset. The group offers meetings and guest speakers. Students also have the opportunity to surround themselves with a small group of like-minded student entrepreneurs facing the same problems and struggles. The Terry Entrepreneur Society provides crucial support and insight into problems and holds each member accountable to their goals.
CEO Roundtables
Business owners who share a commitment to trust, collaboration, and growth craft solutions in a culture of accountability. We offer forums for CEOs to share their toughest issues and challenges of running an aggressively growing business.
Terry Innovation Fund
The Terry Innovation Fund is a catalyst for launching successful ventures. By providing funding and mentoring, we help University of Georgia students launch early stage ventures. Student entrepreneurs can use the funds to accelerate their business development in these ways:
- Developing of proof of concepts
- Pototype development
- Hiring new employees/assembling teams
- Intellectual property development
- Business plan development
- Technology assessments
- Market analyses
- Market entry strategy development
- Accounting, legal and other business advisory services
Students interested in the Terry Innovation Fund must participate in the Accelerator Program where mentors can assess if the venture is worthy of investment.
Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Club
The Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Club (EVCC) serves as a network in the MBA program that encourages students’ abilities to create, build and manage companies.
Lunch Groups
The EVCC hosts business leaders at informal lunches in downtown Athens. These are opportunities to for students to reach out for information and guidance in an unstructured way as well as to help alumni get involved with current students. Topics of discussion often include technology, strategy, marketing, funding, employee management, legal topics and next steps for student businesses.
Conferences, Competitions and Travel
EVCC students travel to conferences including Venture Atlanta, Digital Summit, Digital Atlanta and more and enter business plan competitions such as TYGER and UGA’s Next Top Entrepreneur. Select students also travel to Silicon Valley to meet with venture capitalists on Sand Hill Road as well as visit tech companies such as Google and start-ups in the valley and in San Francisco.
Activities
Students in the EVCC are heavily involved in growing the Entrepreneurship program at the University of Georgia and assist in running both UGA’s Next Top Entrepreneur and the UGA Accelerator Program. They can often be found polishing their leadership and management skills with CEOs and other business leaders in the Athens and Atlanta areas.
Latest News
- Spotlight on Team 14h30 is road map to success Feb 25, 2011
- Doubling Down Feb 25, 2011
- Spotlight on Ken Williams Feb 22, 2011
- $100,000 will go to winning business plan at the 2011 Next Top Entrepreneur competition, under way at UGA’s Terry College of Business Jan 26, 2011
- UGA Terry College of Business MBA student Ken Williams wins business plan competition in Atlanta Dec 13, 2010