Empowering Undergraduate Entrepreneurship at UT: The Longhorn Entrepreneurship Ambassador Program

Austin is a hotbed for innovation and entrepreneurship, and yet, until recently The University of Texas at Austin provided few structured undergraduate programs focused intentionally on entrepreneurship. That realization propelled PTF Luis Martins to propose the creation of a minor in entrepreneurship as his PTF project. The Entrepreneurship Minor, offered by the McCombs School of Business and open to all undergraduate students at UT Austin, is now a reality, and began accepting applications in February.

The Entrepreneurship Minor aims to empower students with the perspectives, knowledge, and skills necessary to engage in entrepreneurship, broadly defined to include the launch and development of new businesses, as well as the growth and renewal of existing enterprises. It will equip students with entrepreneurial thinking and talents to propel their success in a knowledge-based, innovation-driven economy and across a broad range of industries and settings. At the heart of the 15-credit minor are two courses – the first, MAN 327 Innovation and Entrepreneurship, focuses on concepts and frameworks related to the development and evaluation of entrepreneurial ideas; the second, MAN 327E New Venture Mechanics, focuses on going from an idea to a fully-developed business plan. For the other courses in the minor, students will select from menus that encompass courses from many of the schools at UT.

The goal of the minor is to increase entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial thinking among students graduating from UT, be it by starting their own business ventures, managing new ventures and products within existing organizations, or generating and implementing new ideas in any role throughout their careers. Along with all the other efforts on campus that are focused on innovation and entrepreneurship, Martins hopes that the new Entrepreneurship Minor will help establish The University of Texas at Austin as the preeminent choice in the U.S. for undergraduate students interested in entrepreneurship and innovation.