Business & Entrepreneurship at UCSD

From Market Research to Launch Plan

San Diego business and entrepreneurship program for teens

Program Highlights

Engage in the entrepreneurial process by thinking through ideas, planning a business, and managing various business considerations for growing a small business into an enterprise.
Understand how operations, marketing, sales, and finance come together to drive businesses
Learn how to read financial statements in order to decipher a company’s performance
Develop a sales and marketing plan and pitch your venture to investors and mentors
Visit area startups and/or advertising/marketing firms to gain real world exposure.
students on university campus
Tuition:

Residential Tuition :
$5,498

Commuter Tuition:
$3,198

Dates:

Session 1:
June 30, 2024 July 12, 2024

Session 2:
July 14, 2024 July 26, 2024

Session 3:
July 28, 2024 August 9, 2024

Location:

UC San Diego
San Diego, CA

Testimonials

  • I came in knowing next to nothing about business and now I feel that I have flourished in business. This program is very beneficial and I feel that I am ready for college.

    Nathaniel C.

  • Business could be a very real career choice for me! I enjoyed the class, and I think my group’s business model has a lot of potential.

    Burke P.

Course Overview

Summer Springboard’s Business & Entrepreneurship course on the campus of UCSD introduces aspiring entrepreneurs to the world of business and the areas that affect growing a business. Our course explores the aspects involved in starting, owning, and operating a business – from thinking through ideas, planning a business, and managing various considerations for growing a small business into an enterprise. Topics such as entrepreneurship, idea generation, customer relationships and revenue streams, personnel and human resource management, product design, cost accounting, financial analysis, marketing, and more will all be explored.

Throughout the course, students will work in groups to generate a business idea of their own, and then follow the entrepreneurial process to develop the idea into a feasible prospective business startup. Ultimately, students will pitch their innovative ideas to a panel of business and entrepreneurship “judges” in a Shark-Tank type experience.

Meet your instructor

Greg Horowitt

Business & Entrepreneurship UC San Diego

Greg Horowitt is Founding Partner of T2 Venture Creation and a co-author of ‘The Rainforest: The Secret to Building the Next Silicon Valley’. He presently serves as the Director of Innovation Design at the University of California, San Diego.

Learn more

Topics you'll explore

Hands-On Learning


Students will examine best practices in Research and Development (R&D), Operations, Marketing, and Finance. Understand the mechanics of scaling a business while maintaining quality.

Students become part of a new company and configure themselves into teams working on various aspects of a business. The program culminates in a shark tank environment with professional investors.

boy and girl discussing business plan

Career Exploration


Meet with range of business people, from small business owners, mid-level managers and execs from Goldman Sachs, McKinsey consultant, and CEO.

From creative marketers to hard-nosed financial analysts, there are myriad careers you may not have heard of. Together we will discuss the career options and the academic paths to get there.

business guest speaker

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Summer Springboard Pre-College Summer Program