You don’t have to wait to have an idea to consider yourself an entrepreneur. While creativity is an important skill for any innovator, at its core, entrepreneurship is about solving problems. It begins with a simple observation: a gap in the market, an unmet need or an inefficiency waiting to be addressed. So, if you’re drawn to identifying opportunities where others see obstacles, then you may already have an entrepreneurial mindset.
Business school provides MBA students with opportunities to gain hands-on experience before launching a venture. Along the way, students develop skills such as collaboration, adaptability and strategic thinking while building networks that bring solutions to life. Whether launching a startup or acquiring and growing an existing business, at Kellogg, students can tap into a broad network of entrepreneurial resources.
Meet four Two-Year MBA student founders who have been supported through various programs like summer stipends, the Levy Inspiration Grant Program, VentureCat, Jumpstart and others. They share how the entrepreneurial ecosystem at Kellogg helped shape their ventures and why the benefits of exploring entrepreneurship extend beyond just launching a company.
Exploring what’s possible
Startup: Arbolito Ventures, an ag-tech startup
The challenge: Smallholder farmers grow much of the world’s coffee, but many are excluded from specialty markets because proving coffee quality is expensive, time-consuming and difficult. This prevents farmers from capturing premium prices and investing in practices that could improve both quality and income.
The solution: A new model that leverages rapid quality-testing technology that verifies coffee quality in seconds at the point of sale. This enables farmers to earn premium prices for premium beans. The approach also reduces uncertainty for buyers and creates a scalable pathway to connect smallholder farmers with specialty coffee markets.
“I have been blown away by the opportunities to explore entrepreneurship and build a venture. I entered Kellogg without a clear idea or company in mind, but the pathway provided has helped me explore markets, narrow my focus and begin building. Through the Levy Inspiration Grant, I traveled to Ghana, Kenya and Zambia to study smallholder farmers’ barriers to export markets. This led me to specialty coffee quality verification and full-time summer work in Peru testing the venture opportunity.”
Learning from others
Startup: Restless, a human performance supplement company
The challenge: Active-duty military, veterans and high output professionals are pushing through long days without the nutrients and steady energy they need. Energy products that spike and crash only make it worse, trapping them in a vicious cycle of crashing, feeling depleted and breaking down over time.
The solution:A formula built to return depleted people to baseline. Clean, steady energy plus electrolytes, nootropics, adaptogens, and key nutrients that fill the deficiencies leaving people depleted in the first place, so they can keep pushing and be there for what matters most.
“Coming from the military, I had no idea how to be an entrepreneur, just that I needed to solve a problem. Once I started talking with other student entrepreneurs and learning from them, the path became clearer. Needless to say, I fell in love with the process and freedom of building a startup. Take New Venture Discovery, join The Garage and attend talks given by founders. Give yourself the opportunity to learn.”
Charting your own path
Startup: Xpnse AI, a financial operations platform
The challenge: Nonprofits and member-based organizations often lack modern financial management tools, forcing them to rely on disconnected processes and manual workflows. The result is limited financial transparency, cumbersome approvals and poor visibility into how funds are being spent.
The solution: A platform designed specifically for these organizations to centralize budgeting, spend requests, approvals and reporting.
“Kellogg offers something for every stage of entrepreneurial curiosity. The New Venture Series is a great starting point if you’re still exploring. I came from consulting, where I lived in strategy, so I wanted to build on my own terms and demonstrate I could execute — a completely different skillset than the one I’d spent years in. I reached out to professors and advisors only when I hit specific walls such as risk and sales. Either way, get clear on what you actually need during your MBA, after graduation, you’ll be the one building that structure for yourself.”
Creating opportunity through exposure
Startup: NextOnCourt, a software solution for racquet sports
The challenge: Coaches lack effective ways to retain and engage players. The current platforms focus primarily on championship-level competition, rather than fostering the connection between players and coaches that many people in the community crave.
The solution: A community-driven platform that combines innovative events with ongoing coaching engagement. The platform enables players to track matches, receive feedback and stay connected with coaches, creating a more engaging and supportive racquet sports experience.
“Regardless of the interest level coming into Kellogg, I would encourage students to explore entrepreneurship in a few distinct ways. First, attend as many speaker events and lunch-and-learns as possible. Second, take at least one of the New Venture classes, such as New Venture Discovery or New Venture Development. Lastly, attend case competitions, such as Venture Cat and the Kellogg Venture Capital Investment Competition. All of these opportunities will help you see if you do want to become an entrepreneur, help you meet people interested in entrepreneurship and expose you to ideas you never thought were possible.”
Read next: On making bold decisions that never felt like risks
The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Kellogg School of Management or Northwestern University.
