Summer Springboard
Business & Entrepreneurship
ON THE CAMPUS OF DUKE UNIVERSITY
BUILD ESSENTIAL BUSINESS SKILLS AND TURN YOUR IDEAS INTO REALITY BY LEARNING DIRECTLY FFROM INDUSTRY VETERANS AND PITCHING YOUR VENTURE TO REAL INVESTORS
THIS IS A TWO-WEEK PROGRAM WHERE YOU’LL FOCUS ON ONE COURSE FOR THE ENTIRE DURATION.
Business & Entrepreneurship @ Duke University
- Develop a new business plan, create a pitch deck, and present it to a panel of judges in a shark tank-style environment with professional investors.
- Learn to read and analyze Profit & Loss statements to evaluate investment opportunities effectively.
- Examine best practices in Research and Development (R&D), Operations, Marketing, and Finance, while understanding how to scale a business without sacrificing quality.
- Build a marketing plan and calculate the return on investment (ROI) for a new campaign.
- Visit rapidly growing companies such as First Flight Venture Center, NC Biotech Center, American Underground Business Accelerator, and Biolabs to hear about their challenges and successes with scaling up.
- Explore a wide range of career options in business, from creative marketing roles to financial analysis, and discuss academic paths that align with your unique motivations and talents.
Summer Springboard
Business & Entrepreneurship
About This Course
A business program for teens on a university campus in North Carolina
No matter what path you choose in life, foundational business skills like effective communication, sales and marketing, and financial management will always be invaluable. These skills empower you to turn your ideas into a real business, giving you greater control over your future. In this program, students learn directly from seasoned business veterans about how to start and manage a business. They will create a business plan for a new venture and pitch their idea to actual investors, gaining hands-on experience throughout the process.
From day one, students break into teams to develop an original business concept, which they will refine over the course of the program. Along the way, they build a marketing strategy and create financial projections, learning core business theories as they apply them. The program culminates in a pitch day, where teams present their ventures to an expert panel for professional feedback. Additionally, students have the opportunity to visit influential local business hubs like First Flight Venture Center, NC Biotech Center, American Underground Business Accelerator, and Biolabs, providing real-world insight into the entrepreneurial ecosystem at Duke.
TOPICS YOU'LL EXPLORE
Hands-on Learning
Students engage in hands-on learning by exploring best practices across Research and Development, Operations, Marketing, and Finance, gaining a deep understanding of how to scale a business while maintaining quality. They become part of a simulated startup, working in teams to tackle different business functions. Throughout the program, students develop a new business plan, create their own pitch deck, and present it in a shark tank-style setting to professional investors. They also learn to analyze Profit & Loss statements, build marketing plans, calculate ROI, and visit a fast-growing company to hear firsthand about the challenges and successes of scaling up.
Career Exploration
Business is a very broad field and there are opportunities for a range of personalities and talents. 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. You’ll get a deeper sense of your unique motivations and aptitudes and gain an understanding of the academic options for various specializations within the field of business.
RESOURCES
Course Infosheet
Click here to view or download the printable infosheet for this course.
Program Catalog
Click here to request our catalog to learn more about our summer programs and courses.
Campus Page
Click here to view the website page for this campus and learn more.
“I truly enjoyed everything about this course. The exercises were an amazing way to get my mind going, the simulation was extremely fun, I learned a lot from the guest speakers, and I had a great time getting to know my group and working on the project with them.”
-Noah H. | Alumni Student
Summer Springboard
Business & Entrepreneurship
Meet Your Instructor
Chris is a Lecturer in Management, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship at Poole College of Management, NC State University. Before NC State, he taught entrepreneurship and management at Florida Gulf Coast University and previously at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, where he also directed the MBA Consulting Academy. Chris holds a B.S. in Engineering from West Point and a Master’s in International Economics, International Relations, and Security Studies from Johns Hopkins University.
He consults early-stage life science companies, focusing on marketing strategy, business planning, fundraising, and commercial operations. Before academia, Chris spent 20 years in the medical device industry, including 15+ years at Ethicon Endo-Surgery in leadership roles, and five years as VP of Sales & Marketing at venture-backed startups. He is an active mentor, advisor, accredited angel investor, and member of the Wolfpack Investment Network.
CHRISTOPHER J. LITTEL
“I think that this program was really great way to introduce me to college life-the staff were so great, the classes were interesting, and the students were very fun.”
-John C. | Alumni Student
Summer Springboard
Business & Entrepreneurship
Dates & Tuition
| 2026 Dates |
|---|
| Session 1: June 28 – July 10, 2026 |
| Session 2: July 12 – July 24, 2026 |
Click here to enroll in this course using our online enrollment form.
| Tuition |
|---|
| Residential Tuition: $5,798 |
| Commuter Tuition: $2,998 |
Tuition Protection Plan: Allows for cancellation for any reason up until the day of the program.
| Location |
|---|
| City: Durham |
| State: North Carolina |
| Campus: Duke University |
Summer Springboard programs are not run by our campus partners (with the exception of Cal Poly and NYSID which are run in partnership with SSB). Universities and their affiliated departments and partners do not control and are not responsible or liable in any manner for any part of the Summer Springboard program.