New York City, USA
The program begins at Columbia Business School’s Manhattanville campus in New York City, where participants spend six weeks combining academic coursework with ideation, customer discovery, and early-stage validation.
Founder Development Program in GenoaNEW
Founder Development Program in Genoa
Overview
Entrepreneurship is an increasingly common path for ambitious graduates. The question is not whether to build, but how to do so in a way that stands up in competitive, global markets. Most university programs force a tradeoff. Students either pursue a degree or focus on building a company. They offer exposure to entrepreneurship, but not the environment, pressure, or support required to actually launch and fund a venture.
The Founder Development Program in Genoa is built as a transatlantic collaboration between Columbia Business School Executive Education and Genoa Founder School. It combines Columbia’s experience in developing venture-backed companies and access to the United States startup ecosystems with Genoa’s integration across European institutions, companies, and mentors, creating a platform for building and scaling ventures across markets.
Through Columbia Business School, participants are connected to one of the most established entrepreneurship ecosystems in the world. For more than 30 years, the Lang Entrepreneurship Center has helped make venture creation a viable path, providing the curriculum, mentorship, funding access, and founder community behind hundreds of venture-backed companies.
That foundation is combined with Genoa’s close integration with European institutions, companies, and mentors, along with hands-on learning, one-on-one guidance, and time in key startup environments, including Silicon Valley. Participants are not working on theoretical ventures. The expectation is to build companies that can stand up outside the classroom, with real progress behind them, including traction, product development, and early engagement with customers or investors.
In Collaboration With:
Impact
Participants strengthen their ability to build and scale a venture by:
- Developing a company in real market conditions, with the time, structure, and support to focus on building
- Building the skills, judgment, and mindset required to navigate uncertainty, make decisions under pressure, and move from idea to execution
- Learning how companies are built and funded today, through direct exposure to founders, operators, and investors
- Clarifying whether entrepreneurship is the right long-term path, based on direct experience rather than theory
- Earning a Master’s degree that strengthens future career options, whether continuing as a founder or pursuing other paths
Participant Profile
The Founder Development Program in Genoa is designed for highly motivated graduates and early-career professionals who are committed to building a company and are prepared to operate in a rigorous, fast-moving environment that combines academic study with venture development.
It brings together a small group of participants who are serious about entrepreneurship, not as an interest, but as a path. While backgrounds may vary, the common thread is a willingness to take ideas into the market and learn through execution. Participants typically include:
- Aspiring Founders: Individuals with a clear intention to start a company and a willingness to move beyond ideas toward building, testing, and refining a venture in real market conditions.
- Early Builders with Momentum: Participants who have already begun developing a venture and are looking to accelerate progress, refine their approach, and move toward funding.
- High-Achieving Graduates: Recent graduates who want to pair a Master’s degree with the opportunity to build a company in parallel, rather than delaying one for the other.
- Unconventional Backgrounds with Entrepreneurial Drive: Individuals who have taken unconventional paths, including those who have stepped outside formal education or career tracks to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities.
Participants should demonstrate the ability to succeed in a demanding academic environment while advancing a venture. Just as important is a willingness to engage with peers, contribute to a shared learning environment, and support others working toward similar goals.
Key Learnings
Participants develop practical frameworks and capabilities to build, evaluate, and scale new ventures, including:
- Opportunity Identification and Validation : Learn how to move from idea to opportunity through structured discovery, customer insight, and iterative validation. Develop the ability to test assumptions and refine concepts based on real market feedback.
- Business Model Design and Strategy : Understand how to design, evaluate, and adapt business models in dynamic and competitive environments. Explore how companies create, deliver, and capture value across different industries and markets.
- Customer Insight and Early Traction : Develop the ability to understand customer needs, define a clear value proposition, and build initial traction through direct market engagement.
- Financial Thinking and Venture Economics: Build the ability to assess financial viability, develop projections, and understand key drivers of growth, including unit economics, valuation, and capital requirements.
- Leadership, Decision-Making, and Execution : Strengthen the ability to lead under uncertainty, make decisions with incomplete information, and manage the challenges of building and scaling a venture.
- Fundraising and Investor Engagement : Understand how early-stage ventures are financed, how investors evaluate opportunities, and how to position and communicate a venture effectively in funding conversations.
- Operating Across Ecosystems : Gain perspective on how ventures are built and scaled across European and U.S. environments, including exposure to startup ecosystems in New York and Silicon Valley.
Program Content
The program is structured as an integrated system for building a venture—from identifying high-potential opportunities to scaling a company in real market conditions.
Sessions are led by Columbia Business School faculty and experienced practitioners, combining rigorous frameworks with direct insight from current practice. Each concept is applied in real time, ensuring that learning is immediately embedded into the venture-building process.
The curriculum is organized across seven core themes, each aligned with a critical stage of venture development. Together, they equip participants with the judgment, tools, and capabilities required to evaluate opportunities, make decisions under uncertainty, and build companies that can compete and grow in global markets.
Recognizing Opportunities Using Strategic Foresight
Identifying what to build—and why it matters
This pillar focuses on how founders identify high-potential opportunities, anticipate change, and position ventures in dynamic markets.
- Picking Winners
- Seeing Around Corners: Disruptive Opportunities for Founders
- Think Bigger: How to Innovate
- Understanding Artificial Intelligence and the AI Business Landscape
- The Next AI: Don’t Fear, Steer
- Data as an Asset in the Age of AI
- Placing Bets on New Technologies
Venture Design: Testing Business Models from Start to Completion
Turning ideas into viable, testable ventures
This set of sessions equips participants with the tools to design, test, and refine business models through real market feedback.
- Picking Winners: The Four Stages of Validation
- Designing Business Experiments
- From Creating Value to Capturing Value
- Platforms & Business Model Innovation
- The Platform Playbook
- Customer Centricity
- Understanding Customers
- Marketing Strategy
Financial Thinking, Data, AI, & Decision-Making
Building analytical rigor and economic understanding
Participants develop the ability to interpret financial data, evaluate performance, and make decisions grounded in evidence.
- Understanding Financial Reporting
- Financial Statements as a Diagnostic Tool
- Under the Hood: Financial Planning and Analysis
- Quantitative Intuition
- Become a Fierce Interrogator of Data (and AI)
- Decision Biases and Group Dynamics
Fundraising, Markets, & External Positioning
Engaging investors, markets, and external stakeholders
This pillar focuses on how ventures are positioned, financed, and communicated to the outside world.
- Pitching Investors
- Demystifying Fundraising
- Understanding Venture Capital Funds
- Pitching to Outsiders: Valuation
- Social Capital is Startup Capital
- Brand Leadership
- Purpose-Driven Entrepreneurship
- Privacy and Ethics in the World of AI
Leadership, Teams, & Organizational Effectiveness
Building the organization behind the venture
These sessions develop the leadership capabilities required to build teams, shape culture, and scale organizations.
- Playing to Win vs. Playing Not to Lose
- Organizational Alignment
- Leading Organizational Culture
- Values-Based Leadership
- The Founder’s Leadership Credo
- Motivating Teams and Developing Talent
- Managing Stakeholders Effectively
- Influencing Without Authority
Collaboration, Communication, & Negotiation
Operating effectively with others under pressure
This pillar strengthens interpersonal effectiveness—critical for founders working across diverse teams and stakeholders.
- Get People to Your Side: The Power of Adaptable Communication Styles
- Understanding Style Differences to Build Relationships
- Applying Social Styles for Effective Teamwork
- The Art of Single-Issue Negotiation
- Creating and Claiming Value: Solving the Negotiator’s Dilemma
Scaling, Execution, & Growth
Moving from early traction to sustainable performance
Focused on execution under real-world pressure, this pillar addresses the realities of scaling a venture.
- Managing Growth
- Legal Issues for Start-Up Entrepreneurs
Program Locations
The Founder Development Program in Genoa is structured across three locations, each designed to support a different stage of venture development:
Silicon Valley, USA
The program continues in Silicon Valley, where participants spend six weeks testing and refining their ventures within a leading startup ecosystem, focusing on validating assumptions and engaging with customers, partners, and investors.
Genoa, Italy
The program concludes in Genoa, where participants spend five months advancing their ventures while completing academic coursework delivered by Columbia Business School faculty and the Genoa Founder School, working toward traction and funding.
It culminates with a Demo Day, where ventures are presented to investors, operators, and members of the broader entrepreneurial community.
Program Director
Murray Low
Academic Director in Executive Education
Adjunct Professor Management Division
Teaching Faculty
Distinguished guest faculty and thought leaders bring fresh perspectives and cutting-edge insights from diverse fields, enriching your learning with globally recognized expertise. Specialized experts, selected to address key themes and challenges, offer targeted knowledge and practical experience tailored to your needs. Together, this extraordinary team empowers you to develop the skills, mindset, and strategies to lead with confidence and purpose.
Robert N. Bontempo
Academic Director in Executive Education
Adjunct Professor of Business
Bruce Craven
Academic Director in Executive Education
Adjunct Associate Professor of Business Management Division
Moran Cerf
Academic Director In Executive Education
Director, Center for Advanced Technology and Human Performance
Adjunct Professor of Business Columbia University
Hod Lipson
James and Sally Scapa Professor of Innovation,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University
Malia F. Mason
Courtney C. Brown Professor of Business
Management Division
Senior Vice Dean For Faculty Affairs
Dean's Office
Rita McGrath
Academic Director in Executive Education
Author, Seeing Around Corners and The End of Competitive Advantage
David Rogers
Academic Director in Executive Education
Bestselling Author, The Digital Transformation Roadmap and The Digital Transformation Playbook
Miklos Sarvary
Carson Family Professor of Business
Co-Faculty Director, Media and Technology Program
Vice Dean for Executive Education
Amir Ziv
Professor of Professional Practice Accounting Division Columbia Business School
Ed Zimmerman
Partner, Chair, and Co-Founder, Emerging Companies and Venture Capital Practice
Academic Recognition
Upon successful completion of the program, participants receive a Certificate in Business Excellence (CIBE) from Columbia Business School Executive Education, recognizing their achievement in a rigorous, globally delivered venture-building experience.
Participants also gain access to select Columbia Business School Executive Education alumni benefits, including ongoing learning opportunities and connection to a global network of professionals and leaders.
In addition, qualified participants who complete the required academic components are awarded a Master’s degree from the University of Genoa, further strengthening their academic and professional credentials.
Application Process
The application process is designed to support a thoughtful and selective admissions experience for participants prepared to succeed in a rigorous, venture-focused environment.
1: Submit Your Application
Prospective participants submit an online application through the program website. After submission, applicants receive a confirmation email acknowledging receipt of their application.
2: Application Review
Applications are reviewed in collaboration with Genoa Founder School, which oversees the final admissions decision process. Reviews consider each applicant’s background, motivation, entrepreneurial potential, and readiness for the program experience.
3: Admissions Decision
Applicants are notified once a final admissions decision has been made. Accepted participants receive official next steps for enrollment.