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Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies

  • Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies

    Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies

    The Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies is USC’s hub for entrepreneurship programming, education and thought leadership. Open to all students at any stage in their entrepreneurship journey, the Greif Center’s provides student, faculty, and staff founders with dynamic pipeline programs to help them take the next step in creating a thriving business and with an array of other programs to help develop the entrepreneurial mindset and entrepreneurial skillset. We bring the real world into the classroom in innovative and life-changing ways.

The oldest entrepreneurship program in the United States and the largest entrepreneurship hub at USC, the Greif Center welcomes anyone with an entrepreneurship interest – from the student who has already founded a venture to the student interested in learning more. No prior entrepreneurship experience required.

PIPELINE PROGRAMS

The Greif Center supports the launch, growth, and scale of ventures at every stage of development. Our pipeline programs focus on catalyzing an entrepreneurial mindset to take innovative ideas and transform them into thriving companies. We offer comprehensive guidance and support, including: grants, financial prizes, venture capital investment, mentorship, network building, access to legal resources, workspace, and more.

  • New Venture Seed Competition Presenter

    New Venture Seed Competition

    The NVSC is the largest entrepreneurship competition on USC campus, offering a prize pool of over $150K along with a six-week series of deep dive, focused training sessions through which advanced competitors develop their business models and businesses.

    The competition is open to any member of the USC community with a great business idea – students, recent graduates (within the past five years), faculty, or staff.

    MORE New Venture Seed Competition
  • Three smiling students hold jumbo check

    Blackstone LaunchPad

    The BLP at the Greif Center is a dedicated co-working space for students to work on startup efforts, including early-stage concepts.

    Open to all USC students, the BLP offers students access to advisory resources including the early connections that can help build an idea, motivate a team, and create momentum.

    Learn more about BLP HERE

  • Post-it note stock image

    Marshall Catalyst Micro

    Catalyst Micro is a grant program designed to identify and propel entrepreneurially-inclined students throughout USC campus, providing them with progressive microgrant awards to support extra education and off-campus training, conference attendance, and early startup efforts. The goal is to help students gain independent momentum and initial results.

    MORE Marshall Catalyst Micro
  • Students collaborating in class

    The USC Greif Center e-Council Fund

    Throughout the Academic Year, we provide RSOs across campus with financial and/or in-kind resources for student-run entrepreneurship activities that reflect and help build our USC entrepreneurship community.

  • USC Marshall Greif Incubator

    USC Marshall Greif Incubator

    The Greif Incubator provides high potential startups with office space, mentoring, grant funding opportunities, business/legal support services and more to take founders from feasibility and MVP development to product-market fit, customer acquisition, and investment preparation. This cohort-driven program accepts applications 2-3 times per year.

    MORE USC Marshall Greif Incubator
  • Three students in front of white board

    USC Marshall Venture Fund

    The USC Marshall Venture Fund provides funding for early stage/seed ventures with USC alumni, faculty, or staff as founders, co-founders, or senior management team members. The fund’s primary goals are to educate students on how to evaluate potential investments and advise investment decisions, while engaging alumni, advisors, experts, and other stakeholders to build the entrepreneurial ecosystem at USC and beyond. 

  • Student and mentor in discussion

    Experts-in-Residence

    Every year, the Greif Center invites accomplished entrepreneurial leaders to provide expert mentorship and perspectives for founders through lectures, office hours, and more.

    Meet our experts HERE

    Schedule a Meeting with our Experts (MARSHALL STUDENTS)

    Schedule a Meeting with Our Experts (NON MARSHALL STUDENTS) 

  • Students on campus

    Summer Start Fellows

    Subsidized internships in startups, for continuing students.

INITIATIVES & SIGNATURE EVENTS

  • Four female panelists on stage

    ATHENA & Affinity

    The ATHENA Women’s Entrepreneurship Summit is an annual, signature event that brings together female founders, investors, executives and thought leaders around conversations and issues that matter to all entrepreneurs at every stage. The event includes keynote speakers, panels, and vital networking and fundraising opportunities.

    The summit is part of a larger ATHENA Initiative that includes a year-long series of L{a}unch & Learn sessions, plus a Female Founders Pitch Competition.

    LEARN MORE ABOUT THE 2025 ATHENA WOMEN'S ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUMMIT

  • Marcia Israel Celebration

    Marcia Israel Celebration

    The Marcia Israel Celebration honors student founders’ academic achievements and startups, recognizing the partners and advisors who have supported them along the way. The Celebration is held at the end of each academic year and includes a seated dinner, a celebratory distribution of graduation sashes for those in our program, and the distribution of student awards.

  • Fireside Chats, Bootcamps, and more

    Fireside Chats, Bootcamps, and more

    In addition to its signature events, the Greif Center maintains a regular calendar of events that includes fireside chats with notable entrepreneurs, panels, workshops, bootcamps, mixers, and more.

  • Panelist at a conference

    Startup Spotlight

    An annual showcase of student & alumni ventures, helping propel them further

INTERDISCIPLINARY PROGRAMMING & EDUCATION

The Greif Center partners with others on campus, helping bring our talented students and founders from a variety of disciplines together to learn and create. Our faculty and staff help provide training and mentoring for the co-curricular programs listed below.

We also offer seven entrepreneurship minors – partnered with the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism, the Viterbi School of Engineering, and the School of Cinematic Arts.

  • Maseeh Entrepreneurship Competition

    Viterbi: an annual startup competition providing $50,000 to the winner.

    MORE

  • Min Family Engineering Challenge

    Viterbi: An annual chance to solve social problems using technology.

    MORE

STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

Through the eCouncil (see above), the Greif Center provides vital funding and mentorship to recognized student organizations across campus, to support the programming and activities that the students want to build and lead.

  • TroyLabs

    TroyLabs

    We provide Trojans with a comprehensive pipeline tofacilitate startup development. Community engagement is extremely important to our mission.A community-focused mindset is what allows us to launch new initiatives and connect with entrepreneurs, investors, and students who can benefit from TroyLabs. That's why we host a myriad of community-focused content programming.

    MORE TroyLabs
  • Master of Science in Social Entrepreneurship Student Association

    Master of Science in Social Entrepreneurship Student Association

    The mission of the MSSE SA is to foster new opportunities of growth and open connections for MSSE students andalumni. The SA works to champion a collaborativeenvironment that supports the advancement of the academic, professional, and personal lives of the USC Marshall’s Master of Science in Social Entrepreneurship community and to advocate on MSSE students’ behalf.

    MORE Master of Science in Social Entrepreneurship Student Association
  • Student at Lava Lab event

    LavaLab

    We are the University of Southern California’s premiere, student-run, product incubator. Every semester, LavaLab invites a new cohort of visionary designers, developers, and product managers to build tomorrow’s startups, today.

    MORE LavaLab
  • e-Council

    e-Council

    The “entrepreneurship council” is an assembly of recognized student clubs (RSOs) across USC to share best practices, discuss programming, and ignite collaboration. RSOs can apply to access grant monies to support student-led programming and activities.

  • Spark SC

    Spark SC

    Spark is a student organization working on cultivating an entrepreneurial community at USC & empowering others to turn their ideas into reality. We host events like the Startup Career Fair, 1000 Pitches, Break to Make, Hack Nights, and more!

    MORE Spark SC

CASE STUDIES

Recognized as leaders in their field, Greif faculty regularly publish entrepreneurship-related research in journals across disciplines and present at all major conferences. To date, Greif’s cases have been used in 48 states, 68 countries, and more than 265 institutions worldwide.

Available At:

NEWS + EVENTS

ALL GREIF NEWS + EVENTS

“Entrepreneurs are alchemists. They add value to existence, turning iron into gold – through strength of will, intelligence, and a determination to succeed.”

Lloyd Greif, President & CEO, Greif & Co.

GREIF STAFF

  • Monica Dean

    Monica Dean
    • Managing Director

    Monica has extensive experience in entrepreneurship center leadership having built robust and award-winning programming portfolios. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business (MBA) and Howard University (BS in civil engineering).  Monica is on the board of the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers and VentureWell, is an Investment Committee Member of the Mass Mutual Catalyst Fund, and an Advisory Council Member of the CNBC Disruptor 50.

  • Elissa Grossman

    Elissa Grossman
    • Director of Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies
    • Orfalea Director's Chair in Entrepreneurship
    • Professor of Clinical Entrepreneurship

    Elissa's research concerns social networks in new venturing – encompassing network development for startup resource acquisition and crowdfunding. Her work has been published in journals including Journal of Management and Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. Before joining USC, Elissa was on the faculties of Loyola Marymount University and Baruch College.

  • Sunny Ku

    Sunny Ku
    • Administrative Assistant II
  • Paul Orlando

    Paul Orlando
    • Director of USC Incubator Program
    • Adjunct Professor for the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies

    As Director of the USC Marshall/Greif Incubator, Paul works with businesses founded by USC students, alumni and faculty and teaches Growth Hacking and Venture Initiation at USC. He has also co-founded and led startup accelerators and incubators based in Hong Kong, Rome and online.

  • Amiah Sheppard

    Amiah Sheppard
    • Senior Student Engagement Advisor

    Amiah Sheppard is an impact enhancer. Leveraging her experience as a venture capitalist, limited partner, and internationally sought out Pitch Coach, Sheppard currently runs entrepreneurial programming and funding out of USC Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies’ Blackstone LaunchPad.

  • Jessica Silva

    Jessica Silva
    • Events Coordinator
  • Jackie Yu

    Jackie Yu

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  • Contact

    Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies
    USC Marshall School of Business
    610 Childs Way
    JFF 5th Floor, MC 3365
    Los Angeles, CA 90089-3365

    If you can't find the information you need on these pages, don't hesitate to get in touch by calling us at 213.740.0641 or sending an EMAIL.

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