Want to Be an Entrepreneur? Try These 5 Summer Courses for High School Students 

Some entrepreneurs create their ventures while in high school. Some are seeking a new business idea to build while in college. And others want to develop an entrepreneurial mindset to solve problems and create value. 

Regardless of where they are on their entrepreneurial journey, rising juniors and seniors in high school can take the next step—even if it’s their first—to explore entrepreneurship this summer in the Arthur M. Blank School Summer Program at Babson College, the longtime No. 1 school for entrepreneurship. 

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: Apply by March 15 to secure preferred courses for the Blank School Summer Program. 

Here are five pre-college summer courses for aspiring entrepreneurs of all kinds: 

Startup Sprint: Two Weeks to Launch! 

• Program faculty: Ruth Gilleran, professor of practice in the Operations and Information Management Division who teaches Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship (FME) and Digital Technologies for Entrepreneurs 
• Course description: This course challenges students to build, brand, and launch a real product in just two weeks. Using AI and digital tools, teams move fast—testing ideas, experimenting with marketing, and learning from real customers. If you’re curious about startups and want to learn by doing, this sprint—grounded in Babson’s Entrepreneurial Thought & Action® (ET&A®) methodology—is for you. 
• If this course intrigues you, also consider … Sustainable Venture Studio: Build a Sustainable Business Model, taught by Sinan Erzurumlu, professor of innovation and operations management 
• Read more: AI Joins the Team: How FME Students Are Learning to Use Generative AI 

Collaborating with AI to Develop an Entrepreneurial Venture  

• Program faculty: Angela Randolph, associate professor of entrepreneurship who won Babson’s College-wide Teaching Award in 2024 
• Course description: Build your business at the speed of AI. In this one-week, experiment-heavy course, you’ll learn how entrepreneurs use artificial intelligence as a strategic partner to test ideas and accelerate early venture development. You’ll explore how to prompt, question, and verify AI-generated insights while shaping a concept that reflects your own judgment and creativity. Through rapid research sprints, hands-on prototyping, and simple market experiments, you’ll pressure-test your idea and learn when to trust the technology—and when to challenge it. By the end, you’ll present a small but well-supported venture concept and walk away with practical skills for using AI thoughtfully in any future project. 
• If this course intrigues you, also consider … Entrepreneurship for Artists and Musicians, taught by Randolph  
• Read more: From Text Prompt to Furniture: The Story Behind Babson’s AI Dam Chair 

Finance for Entrepreneurs: Advancing Your Idea from a Hobby to a Career 

• Program faculty: Mark Potter, professor and the Barefoot Term Chair in Finance, who has taught more than 100 courses at the undergraduate, graduate, and executive education levels since arriving at Babson College in 1995. 
• Course description: So, you have an idea, or maybe not, but you’re working on it. What do you need to do to see if it is possible to advance your idea to go from a hobby to a possible job or even career? What do banks and investors want to see, what are the key financial metrics and objectives, and in short, what do you need to know about numbers to get to where you want to go? This course will help you get there. 
• If this course intrigues you, also consider … Think. Build. Lead. Entrepreneurship in a Policy-Shaped World, taught by Eliana Crosina, assistant professor of entrepreneurship, and Andrew Corbett, the Paul T. Babson Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies 
• Read more: Shaq, a Snowstorm Ride, and Other Entrepreneurial Tales from Ring Founder Jamie Siminoff ’99, H’21 

Launchpad AI: Building a Startup from Scratch with the AI-Driven Entrepreneurship Model   

• Program faculty: Paul Cheek, a global expert in innovation-driven entrepreneurship, as well as a serial tech entrepreneur, educator, software engineer, and bestselling author of Disciplined Entrepreneurship: Startup Tactics. 
• Course description: In this dynamic one-week intensive, rising juniors and seniors will step into the shoes of a founder to build a company from “Zero to One.” By merging the timeless “First Principles” of entrepreneurship with the exponential power of modern AI tools, students will learn not just how to use technology but also how to think—and act—like innovators. Guided by the AIDE Model (AI-Driven Entrepreneurship), students will move rapidly through the entrepreneurial lifecycle. They will move beyond theory, utilizing AI as a co-founder to accelerate market research, generate prototypes, and craft compelling narratives, while simultaneously grounding their work in human-centric validation. This is not a coding camp; it is a leadership and strategy intensive designed to build the confidence required to launch real ventures. 
• If this course intrigues you, also consider … Introduction to Franchising: Launching your Brand, taught by Ab Igram MBA’96, executive director, Tariq Farid Franchise Institute 
• Read more: The Age of AI: Seven Things Entrepreneurs Need to Know 

The Business of Fashion and Influencer Brands  

• Program faculty: Kim Jackson, an eCommerce and merchandising leader with more than 30 years of experience building and scaling consumer businesses across digital, stores, and wholesale environments.  
• Course description: From TikTok creators to celebrity founders, many of today’s fastest-growing fashion brands are built online and powered by community. In this course, students explore how influencers and entrepreneurs turn followers into customers and ideas into brands. By the end of the week, teams will create their own creator-inspired fashion brand and pitch their launch strategy.  
• If this course intrigues you, also consider … Fashion and the Environment, taught by Margaret Hassey, assistant teaching professor in the History & Society Division. 
• Read more: Faith, Fashion, and a Dream: Rhesa Teesdale’s Road to Paris Runways 

More Summer at Babson

• Summer at Babson Introduces New Opportunities for High School and Babson Students 
• An Entrepreneurial Summer: How Babson Impacts Communities Year-Round 
• Why Is Babson No. 1 for Entrepreneurship? Here Are 30 Reasons