The Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition curriculum at Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University is led by entrepreneurs who have acquired dozens of companies and are active owners and investors. The curriculum will expose students to the latest thinking on ETA models and strategies and provide practical content on how to become a business owner using ETA.
The coursework will do that by focusing on tools and strategies that build entrepreneurial leadership methods, team building, mindset and investing strategies, which translate into practical methods to support their success as leaders, individuals and investors. Critically, the curriculum will provide students with direct access to guests who are investors, ETA entrepreneurs and advisors.
Courses
-
ETA 1 - Entrepreneurship and the Good Life (Fall evening course meeting weekly over 14 weeks): This course focuses on 1) ETA journey from employee to business owner, with emphasis on the “sponsored searches,” 2) mindset, wealth and fulfillment creation strategies, and leadership styles of ETA entrepreneurs, 3) introduction to the Promise Partners ETA Incubator (founded by a WSOM professor) and the strategies used by the group that have helped over 65 people acquire 85+ companies using ETA (including 44 WSOM Alumni) post graduation. See the syllabus for ETA 1.
-
ETA 2 - Search Funds and Small Firm Management (Spring evening course meeting weekly over 14 weeks): This course focuses on 1) defining the different types of ETA strategies with a particular emphasis on "search funds,” 2) exploring the most common industries targeted by ETA entrepreneurs including healthcare and software, and 3) the post-acquisition experience of leading a small business. The course will also utilize in-class role plays of real-world small business leadership scenarios. See the draft syllabus for ETA 2.
-
ETA 3 - ETA Strategies for Mid and Late Career Professionals (All in class work completed in one weekend, Jan. 5-7, 2024): This course is designed for mid- and late-career professionals who are introduced to frameworks and real‐world solutions to pursue the acquisition and leadership of a company using various ETA strategies with focus on "self funded searches.” The class will walk through the lifecycle of a typical path to finding and running a business, including information on raising capital, searching for a company, buying a business, leading that business and then ultimately selling it. See the draft syllabus for ETA 3.
All three courses emphasize experiential learning components with class guests who are primarily ETA entrepreneurs, and relatable ETA case studies, including examples from the 40+ Weatherhead alumni who have become business owners using ETA strategies.
Students that take all three courses will be exposed to a wide diversity of case studies, guests, and small business leadership scenarios/role plays across all stages of the ETA journey. These courses are also valuable to professional managers interested in using the strategies and practices of entrepreneurial leaders in larger company settings to excel as “intrapreneurs,” a leadership approach that is of high value to employers.
*Courses can be taken in any order.