USC Entrepreneurship Resources

BS in Business Administration (Marshall School of Business)

An undergraduate degree that provides students with a deep grounding in business, and the ability to develop mindset, skills, and fluency needed to: (1) start a new venture; (2) manage a rapidly growing business, or (3) develop and execute new business models in established companies. Students who major in Business at Marshall can also select an emphasis in Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

BS in Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation (Iovine and Young Academy)

A degree that offers a select group of students the opportunity for in-depth learning at the intersection of three essential areas: art and design; engineering and computer science; and business and venture management.

Entrepreneurship (Marshall School of Business)

Available to students in all schools and departments except business majors. This minor provides an understanding of entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial mindset.

Innovation: The Digital Entrepreneur (Marshall School of Business / Viterbi School of Engineering)

Enhance your marketing, invention, and business skills by learning the development processes and project management methodologies used by startups and tech companies.

Media Entrepreneurship & Economics (Marshall School of Business / Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism)

Media, Economics & Entrepreneurship—M{2e}—is an interdisciplinary program that studies the economic forces reshaping the communications landscape. Students get a chance to combine their media skills and their business skills, completing fieldwork with leading companies and developing the ability to lead the next wave of change in media.

Performance Science (Marshall School of Business)

For students interested in understanding the science, best practices, and applied processes that instill a high-performance mindset. This multidisciplinary minor spans business, psychology, biology, philosophy, and athletics, with the goals of optimizing individual mindsets, maximizing performance, and creating an organizational culture of high performance.

Social Entrepreneurship (Marshall School of Business)

For students of all majors who are interested in social innovation and want to use business to solve the world’s most serious problems. Coursework covers social entrepreneurship, best practices in public and private sectors, and management skills required to start and maintain social enterprises.

Technology Commercialization (Marshall School of Business / Viterbi School of Engineering)

Designed for students from a range of backgrounds (e.g., majors in engineering, life sciences or business), to help them acquire the skills that support successfully initiating their own technology-based ventures, working for technology-based start-up companies, and pursuing corporate careers that may involve the commercialization of new technology.

Game Entrepreneurship (Marshall School of Business / School of Cinematic Arts)

For students interested in building a business in the games and digital media industry. Building on the business, production and management courses in the Interactive Media Division, the minor culminates in an advanced game project course, providing students with hands-on mentorship in starting actual companies based on the work they are already doing. Provides a basis in theories of design and production for games, as well as a strong grounding in the business knowledge necessary to become an entrepreneur.

Disruptive Innovation (Iovine and Young Academy)

Utilizes the techniques of human-centered design and an interdisciplinary, hands-on approach to provide students with the knowledge and skills to understand, nurture and drive innovation. Course work delivers a range of fundamental theories, frameworks, and experiences to augment the knowledge students are gaining in their majors with an understanding of the techniques, methods and methodologies of the world's greatest innovators.

Health Innovation (Iovine and Young Academy / USC Keck MESH Academy)

The potential for innovation at the intersection of health, medicine, design and technology is exploding. In order to take full advantage of the entrepreneurial and research opportunities in this space, a new style of undergraduate education is necessary for a new generation of learners – agile and adaptive thinkers who cross easily from discipline to discipline, steadily advancing the role that technology plays in our present and our future.

W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Program: Innovation Track (Viterbi School of Engineering)

Designed for Viterbi Engineering Honors Program students, this program helps build skills in identifying new technology opportunities and aligning technology and innovation strategies. Innovative thinking is here developed -- understood as a mindset that supports the deployment of the structures that underlie technical content.

MS in Entrepreneurship & Innovation (Marshall School of Business)

A 1-year, full-time, experiential degree focused on the graduate student seeking to launch or grow a new venture – from opportunity recognition to business model development to founding team formation, launch, financing, and growth.

MS in Social Entrepreneurship (Marshall School of Business)

A 1-year full-time or 2-year part-time degree focused on the graduate student committed to developing innovative, market-based solutions to social problems in areas such as education, healthcare, sustainability, and the environment.

MS in Integrated Design, Business and Technology (Iovine and Young Academy)

A cross-disciplinary, integrated master’s curriculum that teaches the principles of design as the basis for creative problem-solving. Students become agile thinkers who can analyze the nature of problems and opportunities; envision, propose and implement solutions; and adapt to change and uncertainty.

MS in Product Innovation (Iovine and Young Academy)

A degree to support students interested in reimaging the traditional concept of a product, to encompass not just physical objects, but also virtual, multi-dimensional and cross-platform devices, environments and experiences. This program provides students with expertise in the development and launch of products that address the needs of a technology-enhanced global society.

Foundational and advanced entrepreneurship courses in all of our MBA programs allow students to learn the basics, launch a business, enhance their flexibility in corporate environments, and develop their entrepreneurial mindset.

Master of Business Administration (Full-Time) (Marshall School of Business)

MBA Professionals & Managers (Part-Time) (Marshall School of Business)

Online Master of Business Administration (Marshall School of Business)

New Venture Seed Competition: A multi-round competition with supplementary instruction that allows students to build concepts, refine pitches, develop business models, and find customers. Finals judged by entrepreneurs, VCs, and angel investors.Total prizes: >$85,000.

Athena Female Founders Pitch Competition: A competition focused on female founders, who pitch new and independent inventures before an expert panel of investors, faculty, and experienced entrepreneurs, with finalists presenting at our annual Athena Women's Entrepreneurship Summit. Total Prizes: >$10,000.

Min Family Challenge: A competition designed to encourage the use of innovative engineering and technology in developing sustainable, effective solutions to global problems. Total prizes; $50,000.

Maseeh Prize Competition: A competition with supplementary instruction designed to help engineering students develop business skills while solving global problems in energy, health, education, safety, and the environment. Total prizes: >$50,000.

Social Venture Coaching Competition: A competition established to find sustainable business solutions to the most pressing social needs in Los Angeles, offering USC-affiliated teams the opportunity for six weeks of business development coaching. Total prizes: up to $125,000.

Stevens Innovator Showcase: A competition and showcase, run each Trojan Family Weekend, in which students of all disciplines present their business concepts and prototypes. The most promising concepts compete for cash awards. Total prizes: $30,000.

The USC Marshall / Greif Incubator accelerates the development of the University of Southern California’s top student and alumni entrepreneurs through experiential education, mentorship and community. The Incubator, run the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at USC’s Marshall School, takes founders from feasibility and development work, on to customers, a tested business model, distribution acquisition, team development, and funding (encompassing bootstrapping and investment preparation). Other supporting resources are also provided, including legal and financial assistance.

Located in the heart of Silicon Beach in Marina Del Rey, the Viterbi Startup Garage is a unique incubator for early-stage technology startups. They aim to stimulate the growth of technology-based ventures and support the USC innovation network. VSG residents are supported by the community at VSG, the USC alumni network, mentors, colleagues, investors and potential partners, and receive additional tactical assistance through VSG’s Innovator-in-Residence coaching, topical workshops, and events, all with the aim to accelerate to the next level of growth. All USC-affiliated (faculty, staff, student, alumni) teams with hard technologies are encouraged to apply.

In 2017, the USC Center for Engineering in Education (CEE) at the Rossier School of Education was founded, with the support of the Northrop Grumman Foundation, the Michelson 20M Foundation, Navitas Ventures, and Bisk Ventures. Rossier EdVentures, a part of CEE, offers a suite of entrepreneurship programs. These include an accelerator-like program for early-stage companies with a minimum viable product; a pitch event at USC’s Demo Day and at the Annual ASU-GSV summit; courses, workshops, speakers; and more.

USC Games Summer Bridge is an incubator program for the most promising student game projects. Selected game teams will spend time in a hands-on ten-week workshop with both industry experts and USC Games faculty to develop their student projects into publishable products. Topics covered include incorporation, marketing, finance and pitching to investors or publishers.

The USC Stevens Center for Innovation is a university-wide resource for innovators, designed to harness and advance the creative thinking and breakthrough research at USC for societal impact. The Stevens Center's mission is to maximize the translation of USC research into products for public benefit through licenses, collaborations, and the promotion of entrepreneurship and innovation.

The Alfred E. Mann Institute for Biomedical Engineering (AMI-USC) was established at the University of Southern California in 1998. Its mission is to help bridge the gap between biomedical innovation and the creation of commercially successful medical products to improve and save lives.

The Annenberg Innovation Lab (AnnLab) is a curious, creative and committed Think & Do Tank helping media and technology to work for humans -- not against us. Its collaborative practice is imaginative, rigorous and impact-oriented, and revolves around diverse scholars and practitioners working together to address complex problems and opportunities at the dynamic intersections of media, technology, culture and society.

The West Coast Consortium for Technology & Innovation in Pediatrics (CTIP) is a pediatric medical device accelerator centered at Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and USC. CTIP promotes the commercialization and clinical use of pediatric medical device technology.

The Entertainment Technology Center (ETC@USC) is a think tank and research center within the USC School of Cinematic Arts that helps drive collaborative projects that engage member companies and next generation consumers to understand the impact of emerging technology on all aspects of the media and entertainment industry, especially technology development and implementation, the creative process, business models, and future trends.

The Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at USC Marshall School of Business is among the nation's leaders in entrepreneurship education and research. Its faculty -- a diverse mix of academics and entrepreneur practitioners -- together offer undergraduate and graduate programs designed to help students acquire the tools, develop the skills, and cultivate the mindset central to organizing, launching, and managing successful new ventures.

The mHealth Collaboratory at USC Dornsife College of Letter, Arts and Sciences brings together researchers and partners from across USC and beyond to lead advances in research, well-being and health care through mobile strategies.​

The Ming Hsieh Institute for Research on Engineering-Medicine for Cancer brings together faculty from USC's renowned programs in engineering, medicne, the sciences, and pharmacy to together generate novel thinking, speed discovery and create new pathways by which research can be translated into real improvements in human health. While the institute’s initial emphasis is on developing new treatments and cures for cancer, it ultimately seeks to fuel new approaches to any human health challenge.

The USC Information Sciences Institute(ISI), a unit of our Viterbi School of Engineering, is a world leader in research and development of advanced information processing, computer and communications technologies. The Institute attracts over $100 million annually for basic and applied research from federal agencies and the private sector, with work ranging from theoretical basic research, such as core engineering and computer science discovery, to applied research and development, such as design and modeling of innovative prototypes and devices.

The USC Marshall Center for Global Innovation is the leading center in the world for research on global innovation. The Center creates and disseminates cutting edge research on how innovation helps firms compete, grow, and succeed in today's global environment.

The USC MESH Academy at the Keck School of Medicine empowers the convergence of research disciplines to address the challenges in human health and disease. MESH was formed to create a connective tissue across disciplines to combine USC’s strengths to accelerate the pace of groundbreaking discoveries and their translation into revolutionary therapies.

The USC Institute for Creative Technologies is a DoD-sponsored University Affiliated Research Center at the forefront of advancing immersive techniques and technologies to solve problems facing service members, students and society. ICT brings film and game industry leaders in the artificial intelligence, graphics, virtual reality, and narrative community together to study and develop immersive media for military training, health therapies, education and more.

The USC Stevens Center for Innovation is a university-wide resource for USC innovators in the Office of the Provost. Designed to harness and advance the creative thinking and breakthrough research at USC for societal impact beyond traditional academic means, they focus on the licensing of technologies, expanding industry collaborations, and supporting start-ups. The USC Stevens Center offers support in the following areas:

• Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs)
• patenting and intellectual property (IP) management
• corporate collaborations
• seminars and events
• licensing
• start-up support

The USC Stevens Legal Office Hours Program provides free legal assistance, counseling, and information materials to all USC innovators (faculty, staff, students and alumni) and USC-related, start-up companies. Their services are on-campus and provided by qualified outside corporate and intellectual property attorneys -- available by appointment only on (1) the second Wednesday of each month, from 1:45 PM - 4:45 PM (IP Law), and (2) the third Tuesday of every month, from 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM (Corporate Law). An intake form must be completed and submitted to legalofficehours@stevens.usc.edu prior to scheduling an appointment. Topics for legal counseling include:

• patent searches and provisional/non-provisional patent applications
• patent processing
• patent protection
• IP ownership
• trademark and copyright applications
• drafting articles of incorporation
• drafting bylaws for Corporations (for profit and non-profit)
• contract drafting and contract review
• creating Limited Liability Companies and Corporations
• reviewing business plans

The USC Intellectual Property & Technology Law Clinic, a clinical program run by faculty and student legal interns at USC's Gould School of Law School, provides free basic intellectual property legal assistance to those with limited resources for legal services -- including filmmakers, artists, journalists, musicians, small businesses, non-profit organizations, innovators, and independent developers. The Clinic provides a range of IP-related services, including counseling on copyright and fair use legal issues; registering trademarks; drafting basic work-for-hire agreements, contribution agreements, license agreements, assignments and other contracts relating to IP ownership; and drafting IP policies, Privacy Policies and Terms of Use. (Note: the Clinic does not provide services in connection with patent applications).

The Entrepreneur & Venture Management Association (EVMA) is a graduate student-led organization committed to supporting students interested in pursuing entrepreneurship and related career opportunities in startups and investing.

Lava Lab is a student-run accelerator program in which undergraduates provide their peers with a focused curriculum and veteran Lava Lab alumni mentors.

Sigma Eta Pi at USC is a co-educational, professional society that is dedicated to endowing and uniting all students with a common spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Troy Labs is an undergraduate-run organization focused on supporting USC startups through community, potential access to capital, and growth.

Spark SC is an undergraduate-run entrepreneurship organization at USC dedicated to building communities, unlocking opportunities, and expanding social impact for current and budding entrepreneurs.