*For more information regarding course equivalencies please refer to the Course Equivalency section, under “How to Read a Course Description“, in the CoE Bulletin Website: https://bulletin.engin.umich.edu/courses/course-info/
300 Level Courses
ENTR 390. Special Topics in Entrepreneurship
Advisory and Enforced Prerequisite: None. (1-15 credits)
Those topics with projects (i.e. TechLab; Reimagining Companies Through Innovation) are overseen and graded by faculty and may also involve mentoring by representatives from industrial, governmental and/or non-profit organizations. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
400 Level Courses
ENTR 404. Starting Your Side Gig: E-Commerce Entrepreneurship
Advisory and Enforced Prerequisite: None. (2 credits)
Focus on the skills necessary to launch a successful e-commerce venture. Students work in teams to explore fundamentals for selling consumer products online, resulting in the creation of their own e-commerce site. Topics include basic business setup, market segmentation/forecasting, customer/competitor analysis, search engine optimization strategy, sourcing/fulfillment planning, and social media strategy. Through case studies, speakers, individual, and group exercises, students are introduced to the online world (and pitfalls) of business, retail, and e-commerce. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 405. Digital Product Design
Advisory and Enforced Prerequisite: None. (3 credits)
Students are immersed in the complete digital product development process, from identifying product needs to prototyping and refining designs using industry-standard software. Simulating a tech company environment, students gain user experience/user interface design skills to make iterative feedback-driven improvements. Through lectures, case studies/guest speakers, and guided workshopping on individual prototypes, students learn to discover and meet digital product needs, create with design software, and apply feedback to continuously improve their products, culminating in a final project portfolio. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 407. Entrepreneurship Hour
Advisory and Enforced Prerequisite: None. (1 credit)
This weekly seminar series invites disruptive, influential, and respected entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and business leaders to speak to students about their personal experiences founding, financing, and managing a startup venture. Following the lecture, students will be able to meet the guest speaker and network with members of the entrepreneurial community. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 408. Patent Law
Advisory and Enforced Prerequisite: None. (1 credit)
Inventors and entrepreneurs have four concerns related to patent law: protecting inventions during product development, determining invention patentability, avoiding infringement and leveraging a patent as a business asset. This course addresses these concerns through the application of case law and business cases to an invention of the student’s choice. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 409. Intro to Venture Capital
Advisory and Enforced Prerequisite: None. (1 credit)
Successful entrepreneurship and early stage venture capital appear to require a mixture of four very different traits and abilities: innovation/vision, evaluation, operation/management, and dedication. This course dives deep into these four pillars of success for the next generation of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 410. Finding Your Venture
Advisory and Enforced Prerequisite: None. (2 credits)
This course provides a framework for identifying clear, impactful opportunities. Every student will leave with a viable business opportunity to pursue in addition to a set of valuable and repeatable skills that will be an asset in any entrepreneurial setting. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 411. Entrepreneurship Practicum
Advisory Prerequisite: By application and permission of instructor. Enforced Prerequisite: None. (3 credits)
The Practicum immerses students in the entrepreneurial process in a supportive classroom environment. Students critically evaluate and then pursue the development of their own ideas for new ventures. Throughout the course, students work closely with entrepreneurship faculty and mentors. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 412. Advanced Entrepreneurship Practicum
Advisory and Enforced Prerequisite: None. (3 credits)
The Advanced Entrepreneurship Practicum is the second part of the entrepreneurship practicum experience led by the Center for Entrepreneurship. In this course, you will experience running, growing, and leading a sustainable venture by applying fundamental and practical skills of entrepreneurship. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 413. Entrepreneurial Marketing
Advisory and Enforced Prerequisite: None. (2 credits)
This course presents a pragmatic approach to marketing for new ventures. The course examines general marketing terms and principles, including the nature, dynamics, and strategies of marketing decision for new ventures. Students will apply these concepts to situations and problems relating to real ventures. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 414. Startup Sales
Advisory and Enforced Prerequisite: None. (2 credits)
Focus on the challenges startups face in understanding customer needs and developing effective sales
strategies. Students learn to qualify buyers, handle objections, and present unique differentiators using a
structured framework. Through collaborative activities and diverse readings, students will gain essential tools to create a lean sales strategy that optimizes resources and enhances success rates in entrepreneurial ventures. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 415. Entrepreneurship Ownership
Advisory Prerequisite: Junior standing or above or permission of instructor. Enforced Prerequisite: None. (1.50 credits)
This course provides an analytical framework to improve understanding of individual and shared ownership models in entrepreneurial organizations, and the way alternative ownership decisions affect organizational dynamics. It also looks at the mechanisms that entrepreneurs can use to create specific ownership structures and organizational cultures. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 417. Entrepreneurship Hour Discussion Session
Advisory Prerequisite: Concurrent enrollment in ENTR 407 Entrepreneurship Hour. Enforced Prerequisite: None. (1 credit)
In this faculty led discussion section for the Entrepreneurship Hour seminar series, students learn about, discuss and debate the key characteristics of entrepreneurship. Students also form small, multidisciplinary groups where they reflect on entrepreneurship and how it applies to their life goals. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 419. Innovation for Urban Impact
Advisory and Enforced Prerequisite: None. (3 credits)
Students acquire hands-on experience in urban revitalization and collaboration with entrepreneurs tackling community challenges, as cities evolve amidst shifting demographics and technological innovation. Students gain practical skills and apply entrepreneurial strategies to design innovative, impactful ventures that reshape cities and drive meaningful change in a dynamic urban landscape. Through lectures, case studies, guest speakers, site visits, discussions, individual assignments and quizzes, group exercises, and the final team project, students gain the skills and perspective to act. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 420. Re-imagining Companies Through Innovation
Advisory and Enforced Prerequisite: None. (3 credits)
Analyze all aspects of a company, develop market intelligence, and provide advice that will reshape that company. Students acquire consulting skills, technology, and market assessment, analyze privately held companies, and evaluate their capacity to innovate. This Practicum is offered in collaboration with the U-M Economic Growth Institute, which has decades of experience providing strategic guidance to manufacturing companies. Student project teams are directly involved in gathering and interpreting to recommend decisions, and help reinvent the firm. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 422. Organizational Values and Ethics in Startups
Advisory and Enforced Prerequisite: None. (2 credits)
Focus on the ethical challenges and social responsibility issues faced by entrepreneurs. Through case studies, media analyses, self-reflection exercises, and team projects, students will examine the impact of ethical decision-making on emerging ventures, company culture, and the broader community when creating services or products. The development of individual and organizational strategies for addressing the impact of these challenges will be explored. Students will gain skills to develop intentional thought, preparing them for leadership in entrepreneurial ventures. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 423. Leading an Entrepreneurial Team
Advisory and Enforced Prerequisite: None. (2 credits)
Future entrepreneurs are taught how to identify and prioritize the “who” (human capital), the “what” (skills), and the “why” needed for business growth. Students will learn how to establish and promote a high-performing company culture, essential for leading successful entrepreneurial ventures. Coursework involves case studies in organizational structure and development, and active role-play exercises. Students learn the fundamentals of the CEO role, establishing and protecting a startup culture, and best practices in recruiting, interviewing, and managing an organization. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 490. Special Topics in Entrepreneurship
Advisory and Enforced Prerequisite: None. (1-15 credits)
Special topics of interest selected by entrepreneurial faculty. Those topics with projects (i.e. Climate Change; Defense and Security) are overseen and graded by faculty and may also involve mentoring by representatives from industrial, governmental and/or non-profit organizations. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
500 Level Courses
ENTR 500. An Introduction to Innovation: Tools for Career Success
Advisory Prerequisite: None. Enforced Prerequisite: Senior or Graduate Standing. (3 credits)
Students will learn a wide range of concepts and skills to successfully navigate innovation-focused careers in small, medium, and large businesses and institutions. Students will study intellectual property, market and industry analysis, product-market fit, equity and stock options, program and project management, communication, securing investment and government funding, and more. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 510. Compensation, Funding, and Ownership
Advisory Prerequisite: None. Enforced Prerequisite: Senior or Graduate Standing. (3 credits)
Ownership in any size business is a continuum that ranges from 100% investor owned to 100% employee owned. Students will thoroughly deconstruct this continuum from all perspectives (as employees, founders, and investors) and learn by role playing how the myriad of models affects compensation and a company and society’s culture. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 520. Technology-Inspired Business Models
Advisory Prerequisite: None. Enforced Prerequisite: Senior or Graduate Standing. (3 credits)
This course provides the framework that helps innovators understand the difference between innovative Value Creation and Innovative Value Capture. Built around a series of analytical tools, this course uses lectures, guest speakers, classroom discussions, group activities and personal research to explore the applications and interactions of these tools. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 530. Innovation and Intellectual Property Strategy
Advisory Prerequisite: None. Enforced Prerequisite: Senior or Graduate Standing. (3 credits)
The course examines intellectual property (IP) strategies for new ideas and startups, including barriers to entry for competitors and infringement risk reduction. Topics include IP procurement, technology transfer, due diligence, and preparing for and avoiding litigation. Students should have their own research to apply what’s learned in the class. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 540. Business Math for Innovators
Advisory Prerequisite: None. Enforced Prerequisite: Senior or Graduate Standing. (1.50 credits)
This course introduces non-business students to the essentials of “business math.” Students will learn how existing departments of new companies raise funding, develop profit, deal with others, mitigate risk and more – the basics of business performance and valuation through the numbers. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 550. Interpersonal Skills: Leveling Up to Leadership
Advisory Prerequisite: None. Enforced Prerequisite: Senior or Graduate Standing. (3 credits)
Do you know how to give your best interview? Or talk to and lead people? Learn the Emotional Intelligence framework to better understand and manage yourself and others, and build strong relationships and lead teams. Develop your own Personal Leadership Plan to help you “level up” as a graduate professional. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 560. Project Management and Consulting
Advisory and Enforced Prerequisite: None. (3 credits)
Successful project managers and consultants possess skills to manage teams, clients, activities, communications and resources to produce desired outcomes. Students will be introduced to tasks and challenges fundamental to complex projects. Projects are overseen and graded by faculty and may also involve mentoring by representatives from industrial, governmental and/or non-profit organizations. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 570. Creativity and Product Development
Advisory and Enforced Prerequisite: None. (3 credits)
Through readings, discussions, individual assignments, reflective surveys, group exercises, and a final team project plus presentation, students examine the importance of creativity as a human skill and resource. Students learn techniques to innovate with a curious and creative mindset, and enhance communication skills while exploring, prototyping, and iterating on new product ideas. Customer discovery, journey mapping, market needs and opportunities, inquiry, story-telling, and collaborative product development are incorporated. CourseProfile (ATLAS)
ENTR 599. Special Topics for Entrepreneurship
Advisory and Enforced Prerequisite: None. (1-4 credits)
Special topics of interest selected by Entrepreneurship faculty. Those topics with projects (i.e. TechLab; Climate Change) are overseen and graded by faculty and may also involve mentoring by representatives from industrial, governmental and/or non-profit organizations. CourseProfile (ATLAS)