Teaching Responsible Entrepreneurship for Startups

The NYU Entrepreneurial Institute (eLab) helps launch startups by leading university-wide initiatives and commercializing technology created by NYU’s 60,000 students, faculty, and researchers. In its efforts to expand and enhance its curriculum, the eLab enlisted a Capstone team to produce a roadmap for introducing, integrating, and implementing ethical considerations into its curriculum and teaching ethically responsible entrepreneurship. The team conducted 40 interviews within and outside of NYU to inform their knowledge of the field. The team used its findings to identify five key issue areas and develop scenario-based resources for the eLab to integrate into its curriculum. These resources comprise four mini cases covering topics related to responsible entrepreneurship—including transparency, organizational structure and culture, core value alignment, and partnership alignment. The team also hosted a roundtable discussion at the NYU Entrepreneurship Festival on alignment on core values, sustainable methods for values through growth, and accountability in the long term.