Founder s Forum: Entrepreneurship Lect

Markets, regulations, and supply networks aren’t natural forces—they are contested systems shaped by history. Winning founders must understand these forces to build sustainable traction. This course uses historical industry insights to help entrepreneurs read today’s market, anticipate economic shifts, and rapidly pivot their business models to survive and scale.

By structuring the learning journey around the chronological emergence of the key industries that drive the New York economy—from colonial trading and maritime commerce to Gilded Age finance, 20th-century real estate, and the modern digital and care economies—students analyze how market institutions and venture opportunities are structurally co-determined. Rather than relying on narrow operational metrics, founders learn to critically assess how shifts in technology, globalization, and social institutions drive market disruptions, labor transformations, and industry dynamics.

Through lectures, guest leader interviews, and self-directed assignments, you will learn the core elements of venture creation. Each weekly module pairs an entrepreneurial lesson with a deep dive into a specific New York industry, featuring a Practitioner-Led, Live Case Study guest speaker who successfully navigated the 0-to-1 journey in that sector.