Entrepreneurship

Male student in business attire presenting onstage.

MBA student Will Zacher presents during the finals of UB's 2018 Henry A. Panasci Jr. Technology Entrepreneurship Competition. Photo: Nancy J. Parisi

Take advantage of UB’s thriving entrepreneurship ecosystem — and bring your game-changing ideas to life.

Through innovative programs and strategic partnerships, we provide the tools to help you become a successful entrepreneur while you're an MBA and throughout your career.

Entrepreneurship in the MBA Core

Whether you dream of launching a startup or wish to take your entrepreneurial spirit to a corporate environment, discover the mindset that all entrepreneurs share in this foundational MBA course.

  • Experience what it takes to move from a "big idea" to a company launch
  • Understand the need for a relentless focus on customer buy-in
  • Explore the importance of teams, the process of risk mitigation and the concepts of "spiraling iteration" and "fail fast" 
  • Consider the importance of entrepreneurial development as a sustainable competitive advantage
  • Examine how individuals and companies use social entrepreneurship to create innovative solutions to societal problems

Startup and Innovation Collaboratory powered by Blackstone LaunchPad

Set your ideas in motion. The Startup and Innovation Collaboratory powered by Blackstone LaunchPad is an on-campus startup incubator and idea-sharing center, where you can receive one-on-one mentoring to help get your business off the ground. Through innovation sprints, seminars and other opportunities, you will also gain skills in intrapreneurship, the ability to solve problems and develop innovative, profitable solutions within existing organizations.

Entrepreneurship Lab (eLab)

Go to boot camp — for entrepreneurs. In this hands-on, 3-credit course, you'll develop the skills to evaluate your entrepreneurial ideas and manage a new venture, as well as meet with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and angel investors. In the final pitch competition, you'll compete for startup funding, co-working space and other benefits for your business.

As a UB MBA, you can also choose from other startup-focused elective courses focused on technological entrepreneurship, small businesses, startup marketing strategies and more.

Henry A. Panasci Jr. Technology Entrepreneurship Competition

Our Success
“UB BLAST was an ideal opportunity to truly test what I have spent time learning in the MBA program. The technical skills I gained — including analysis, operations and supply chain planning, and drafting a business plan and pitch — were certainly helpful.”
9/1/21

Andrea Kraft, MPH/MBA

  • Winner of UB BLAST (Business, Law and Surgical Technology)  Competition
“We received a lot of support and assistance from the UB community that helped us build early confidence and momentum.”
9/1/21

Eric Reich, JD/MBA ’02

  • Co-Founder and President, Campus Labs

From left, Reich and Michael Weisman, MBA ’01, won the inaugural Panasci competition for their startup, Campus Labs, which they later sold for more than $40 million.

“I wouldn’t have gotten off the ground without the support of the professors at the UB School of Management and resources on campus such as UB’s Blackstone LaunchPad.”
9/1/21

Will Zacher, MBA ’19

“Our experiences at UB have been amazing. There are so many people at the university and the larger Buffalo startup community who will drop everything to help you.”
11/14/24

Ryan Young, MD/MBA ’21

  • Opollo Technologies
  • Winner, University at Buffalo’s Henry A. Panasci Jr. Technology Entrepreneurship Competition
“I knew that to be successful in my career, I would need global exposure. I wanted to get a different experience from Indonesia and was really keen to taste a cold winter—and, oh boy, did I get what I wanted.”
8/11/22

Ridzki Kramadibrata, MBA ’99

  • President, Grab Indonesia, one of Southeast Asia's "super apps," with over 214 million downloads across eight countries
“Without a doubt, the hardest challenge was going from zero to one—earning that first dollar with a new product and becoming profitable. I attribute much of that success to the great education I received at UB. ”
8/11/22

Jason Lee, JD/MBA ’07

  • Founder and CEO, Celant Innovations
“LeaderCORE taught me to self-reflect and learn from failure, to seek feedback and continuously improve myself, and to have the global and diversity mindset I need for my business.”
8/11/22

Akruti Babaria, BS ’05, MBA ’12

  • Project Manager, Nova Healthcare Administrators Inc.; Founder, Kulture Khazana LLC
“We have a pretty crazy dream—changing the world. I know it’s cliché, but somebody has to be crazy enough to think they can do it for it to even be a possibility. ”
8/11/22

Sara Dhewanto, MBA ’02

  • Founder and Managing Director, duithape
“When we think about the many different people and departments from across campus that have helped Lindsay Macaluso and Chris Miano along the way, it is a testament to the support system that is quickly developing for our UB entrepreneurs.”
9/1/21

Tom Ulbrich

  • President and CEO, Goodwill of Western New York, on Macaluso being recognized at the Forbes Under 30 Summit
“I doubled down on marketing and consulting classes because that’s what I wanted to do in my career, while gaining a working understanding of disciplines like accounting, finance and supply chains.”
8/11/22

Terry Rice, MBA ’05

  • Business Development Consultant; Business Development Expert-in-Residence at Entrepreneur Magazine; adjunct faculty, Digital Marketing, New York University
“The eLab allowed us to conceive, develop and pursue our idea. We received much-needed guidance, encouragement and validation. Taking this class was one of the best decisions I made in my graduate studies career.”
8/11/22

Bernard Cohen, BS Engineering/MBA ’18

  • CEO and Founder, Chip-Down
"One aspect of growth mindset I love so much is not being afraid to fail, or rather embracing failure as a means to learn and grow,” says Scott. 
8/11/22

Alexandra Eidens, MBA '08, and Scott Eidens, MBA '09

  • Alexandra, CEO, and Scott, COO, Big Life Journal
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Compete for more than $50,000 in startup capital and in-kind services to move your idea to the next level. The Panasci Technology Entrepreneurship Competition was created by the School of Management and the UB Office of Business and Entrepreneur Partnerships and is funded with a $1 million endowment from the late Henry A. Panasci Jr.

The inaugural winners, Eric Reich, JD/MBA ’02, and Michael Weisman, MBA ’01, sold their company, Campus Labs, for more than $40 million. Ogechi Ogoke, a doctoral student in chemical and biological engineering took first place in the 2019 University at Buffalo’s Henry A. Panasci Jr. Technology Entrepreneurship Competition (Panasci TEC) for a patient-specific cell therapy that can be used as an alternative to a liver transplant.

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Campus and Community Resources

Entrepreneurship is helping to fuel the renaissance of Buffalo, and you can be part of it by taking advantage of other resources on campus and around the city. 

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