Entrepreneurs are creative thinkers and problem solvers who dive into new challenges and make their own way.
The Entrepreneurship Concentration in the Orfalea College of Business is designed to foster creativity, innovation, and ambition. You might go on to found your own startup, design or improve upon a new product, lead a family business, or pursue a corporate position. With an interdisciplinary curriculum and plenty of hands-on learning experiences, you’ll have options that leverage your personal strengths and build a skill set that sets you apart.
For Questions About Entrepreneurship
Contact: Academic Director | Lynn Metcalf
lmetcalf@calpoly.edu
The Entrepreneurship Minor
The Entrepreneurship Minor is open to students in all majors except business administration and economics. The Entrepreneurship Minor builds on a set of core courses designed specifically to cover the diverse aspects of the entrepreneurial skillset and mindset. Made-for-the-minor electives along with a select set of elective courses from across campus lead to a balanced and interdisciplinary approach to entrepreneurship. You’ll acquire the tools, develop the skills, and cultivate the mindset of an entrepreneur.
Co-Curricular Opportunities for Students in Entrepreneurship
You’ll find a community of students to inspire you and an entrepreneurial ecosystem outside of the classroom, which provides direct, hands-on experiences via the Cal Poly Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Cal Poly Entrepreneurs is a thriving student entrepreneurial community on campus that brings together creative thinkers and doers from all majors.
The Hatchery is an on-campus incubator that offers student entrepreneurs workspace, makerspace resources, and mentoring support. The program is open to all Cal Poly students interested in learning how to take a business from idea generation to launch.
The HotHouse Startup Accelerator is a summer program designed to give you everything you need to launch a real, scalable company. In addition to hands-on mentorship and weekly workshops, companies in the accelerator program have access to $10,000 in seed funding.
Innovation Quest (iQ) is a competition designed to encourage student innovators to showcase what they’ve built, coded, designed or prototyped throughout their efforts at Cal Poly. iQ awards have helped Cal Poly student innovators and entrepreneurs to launch businesses.
Innovation Sandbox is a shared makerspace for students to “play” with the latest prototyping and ideation tools, enabling them to formulate and develop their ideas in a collaborative workspace.