Course Announcements

Fall 2024 Course Announcements

Finance

Introduction to Decentralized Finance (DeFi) (3.0 credits)
FINC-GB.3360 
Prof. Ian D'Souza
Mondays, 6:00pm-9:00pm
Specializations: Finance, FinTech

This full-credit course provides an Introduction to DeFi – What, Why, When, How? and explicitly focuses on the DeFi stack & Dapps that run on Ethereum (ETH), as it is the oldest chain for DeFi and also has the most capital locked into those protocols (TVL) – approximately 70% share. We will discuss key applications given ETH’s composability as well as unique DeFi risks & regulations compared to Traditional Finance (TradeFi).

Management

Introduction to Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition & Search Funds (1.5 credits)
MGMT-GB.2131
Prof. Andrew Breen
Wednesdays, 6:00pm-9:00pm (2nd half)
Specializations: Management, Strategy

While the promotion of tech entrepreneurship has grown substantially in the past 20 years, core entrepreneurship -- small business owner-operators -- are still the vast majority of occurances of running a business. These are not high-profile nor receive the headlines but are the greatest wealth creator in the US economy. In the past 30 years, a variant on this small business owner-operator model has emerged: Entrepreneurship through Acquisition (ETA). ETA takes a small-to-midsized business (SMB) that has achieved some level of product-market fit as well as financial stability and acquires the company putting a new CEO -- oftentimes a newly minted MBA -- in place to drive growth and optimization. Since many SMBs are run as “lifestyle” businesses, the current owner has little incentive to grow them beyond what meets their personal financial needs. This has a dual effect of a) suppressing acquisition multiples (typically 3-6x EBITDA) and b) creating ample opportunities for immediate financial impact under professional management. This creates an attractive asset class for investors which, over the past 30 years, has achieved 3x the returns vs. traditional mid-to-large private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC).

Technology

Data Management and Strategy: Building a Growth-Driven Data Strategy (1.5 credits)
TECH-GB.2149
Prof. Julia Bardmesser
Mondays, 6:00pm-9:00pm
Specializations: Business Analytics, Management of Technology and Operations

It’s commonly held that the majority of all digital transformation initiatives fail. Current prediction is that the AI initiative will experience an even higher level of failure. While there are a lot of reasons for this failure rate, the major one is that digital transformation is first and foremost a cultural transformation and that transformation requires the understanding by the business leaders of how data and data capabilities directly relate to the company’s mission and growth. This course will introduce students to the key data management capabilities and teach the fundamentals of business data management disciplines. At the end of the course, students will a) understand the difference between data and data capabilities, b) learn the framework for creating and executing business data and analytics strategy that truly drives business growth, c) the purpose and implementation styles of key data management capabilities. After developing a basic understanding of the key topics covered in the class, the students will be prepared to make business decisions that create value from data, digital and analytic assets, avoid common mistakes that lead to high failure rates of digital transformation initiatives, and have incisive conversations with technology, data and analytics experts and be able to ask pertinent questions on a wide range of data and analytics topics. Examples of issues to be addressed in this course: a) The pivotal influence of data and AI capabilities on the choice of a company’s business growth strategy, b) How data management capabilities should be evaluated and incorporated into business decisions. c) Data management capabilities considerations in M&A. Unique regulatory data management requirements for the regulated industries (financial services and healthcare) d) Applicability of data management to the non for profit and mission critical organizations e) Evaluation of data related operational risks and issues and mitigation strategies.

Fall 2024 By-Permission Only Courses

Experiential Learning - By-Application Courses

CPRL Education Practicum (12-credit opportunity)
CONS-GB.3012

Through the CPRL Education Practicum, Stern MBA students have the opportunity to work with a consortium of business, policy, education, and law students from top tier upper-level graduate programs. This is an intensive, full-semester seminar and practicum in the theory and methods of managing, governing, and transforming public- and social-sector organizations in P-12 education. This study-away experiential offering is structured with three components: Seminar: Theoretical seminar in the design, governance, transformation and democratic accountability of public sector organizations. 

Skills Training: Professional skills training in the competencies required for success as managers and leaders of modern public- and social- sector organizations. Consulting Engagement: Students support education organizations in thinking through some of their challenging issues and provide actionable solutions. CPRL offers a limited number of CPRL Scholar Awards of up to $20,000 granted to exceptional students to apply to their NYU tuition in return for a commitment to spending time after graduation in a public or nonprofit job in the education sector. To apply, please email experiential@stern.nyu.edu. If you have any questions about the course or would like to be connected to current students or alumni, please send your request to experiential@stern.nyu.edu.

NYU Impact Investment Fund (NIIF) (3 credits applied in the Fall semester)
Independent Study
Faculty: Andrea Armeni
Year long, Wednesdays 12:00pm-1:20pm
To apply, visit Experiential Learning website

The NYU Impact Investment Fund (NIIF) is a unique inter-disciplinary, experiential learning course which is offered in tandem with a student-led and operated Impact Investing Fund of the same name. Students participating in NIIF are expected to enroll in the NIIF course for the full academic year (fall and spring) and will receive 1.5 credits for each semester of participation. The class will be divided into five Deal Teams. The Deal Teams will have a sectoral focus (e.g., Financial Inclusion, Environment, Healthcare/Aging, Education and Food Systems) for sourcing prospective investment clients.

Board Fellows (3 credits applied in the Fall semester)
Independent Study
Prof. Nicole Sebastian
Year-long, Fall 2024 to Spring 2025, *Meeting time varies
To apply, visit Experiential Learning website

The NYU Stern Board Fellows Program provides MBA students with the opportunity to learn more about what it is like to be on the board of a non-profit. Students work New York City-based nonprofit organizations to complete a strategic governance project for the board while attending their board meetings and working with board/organizational liaisons. 

With the assistance of the Experiential Learning team, as well as a program advisor who is an expert in board service and governance, Fellows will be matched with one of our partner boards in teams of 3-4. Our selection and matching process reflects each student’s strengths, as well as each organization’s needs. Facilitated peer-learning sessions will ensure that Fellows are also able to learn about other students’ unique board experiences.

Stern Signature Projects (3.0 credits)
Independent Study
Faculty: TBD
Day/Time: TBD
To apply, visit Experiential Learning website in August 2024

Stern Signature Projects (SSP) is an experiential platform that provides unique applied learning opportunities which align Stern MBAs with leading faculty and research centers with the NYU network to tackle complex questions and leverage system-level thinking to help solve some of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. Anyone can read business concepts in a textbook, but through SSP our students have the chance to tackle those issues and drive thought leadership in real time.

Finance

Global Real Estate Immersion: UAE (3.0 credits)
FINC-GB.2344
Prof. Sam Chandan
Global On-Site and Pre-Departure Meetings (see syllabus)
To apply: Global Real Estate Immersion: London | CampusGroups: Faculty-Led Travel Courses

While commercial real estate development, asset management, and the legal and tax framework of investment and lending remain inherently local features of a worldwide sector valued at more than $300 trillion, institutional real estate equity and debt capital flows have become increasingly global over the last several decades.

For students seeking careers in the institutional real estate industry in New York and other global cities, interaction with cross-border investors, lenders, property technology entrepreneurs, and others will be the norm rather than the exception. This course introduces students to real estate finance and investment analysis in non-US settings, special issues when deploying equity and debt capital internationally, and approaches to analyzing global real estate portfolios. 

The highly experiential course is structured around direct interaction with global real estate developers, investors, lenders, and policymakers in a major non-US market, supplemented by pre-departure meetings in November and December, local site visits in London, and case-based deliverables. 

This course will count toward the Real Estate specialization. For questions, please contact: realestate@stern.nyu.edu and intl@stern.nyu.edu.

Managing Investment Funds (3.0 credits)
FINC-GB.3320
Prof. Anthony Marciano
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:00pm-1:20pm
To apply, visit nyumpsif.com/

The Michael Price Student Investment Fund (MPSIF) is a family of funds managed directly by NYU Stern MBA students. The fund, part of the overall NYU endowment, was established in 1999 through a generous gift from Michael Price, managing partner, MFP Investors, LLC and former chairman of Franklin Mutual Series funds. MPSIF provides students with hands-on experience managing a real fund with significant assets. The fund is divided into three equity funds - Growth, Value and ESG - and Fixed Income. While each fund has its own performance benchmark, MPSIF's primary goal is to deliver positive returns that exceed the dividend payout rate of 5%. As of February 2024, MPSIF had assets under management of around $2.5 million, excluding more than $2 million in mandated distributions since its inception to the Price School. Since March 2000, MPSIF has earned a cumulative return (after trading costs) of about 300%, or 6.1% per annum. About 40 students enroll each year and are responsible for screening and evaluating stocks, preparing and presenting pitches for buy and sell recommendations and strategizing on broader portfolio allocation and risk management decisions. Students also write a newsletter and prepare annual and semi-annual reports to the MPSIF Board of Advisors. Students gain invaluable experience in investment management, which provides a competitive advantage when interviewing for summer internships or full-time employment after graduation. Managing the diverse tasks in MPSIF relies on teamwork and the course requires students to draw on their knowledge of finance, macroeconomics, accounting, competitive analysis, strategy and marketing.

Interarea

Leadership Fellows (1.5 credits x 2 semesters)
INTA-GB.3130 
Fridays, 10:00am-4:00pm

Looking to receive feedback on how you show up in groups? Ready to get out of your comfort zone? Craving an opportunity to build real connection with your peers? The year-long, cohort-based experiential Leadership Fellows course allows you to practice navigating real-world leadership challenges.

Components of the course include: 

  • Monthly Friday session with cohort of 12 students invested in your growth with an emphasis on peer feedback 
  • Immersive leadership development exercises
  • Deep dive into core leadership topics
  • Exclusive access to alumni speakers 

If you have any inquiries about the course, please direct your inquiries to kk4843@stern.nyu.edu.

Management/Experiential Learning

Endless Frontier Labs (3 Credits x 2 semesters)
MGMT-GB.3339
Prof. Deepak Hegde
Thursdays, 9:00am-11:50am
To apply, see here
To sign up for an Info Session, see here

The Endless Frontiers course is a capstone course in entrepreneurship.  It will introduce you to the challenges of building, financing, and scaling science and technology based startups.  You will learn about these challenges by interacting with founders of startups admitted to the Endless Frontier Labs (EFL) program, as well as business leaders and elite investors who mentor the startups admitted to the program.  In the five years since its founding, the EFL has established itself as one of the most impactful programs in the world for science- and tech-based startups. From 2019-2023, 183 companies have graduated from the EFL. Of those graduates, 116 have collectively raised more than $1.8 billion in capital to fuel their ambitious missions. 54 additional companies are set to graduate from the EFL in May 2023 as a part of the 2023-2024 cohort. EFL program graduates include Immunai (Life Sciences, 19-20 Cohort),  C2i Genomics (Life Sciences, 19-20 Cohort), PhagoMed (Life Sciences, 20-21 Cohort), Databento (Deep Tech, 20-21 Cohort), Jetpack Aviation (Deep Tech, 20-21 Cohort), Kintsugi (Deep Tech, 20-21 Cohort), and Shiru (Deep Tech, 20-21 Cohort), among others. By interacting with the founders of such companies, you will develop a deep appreciation for how cutting-edge scientific ideas are commercialized and disrupt markets.   

This unique nine-month course is a “big picture” experiential learning opportunity: you’ll be paired with one of the EFL Startups with novel tech- or science-based innovations for regular, weekly assistance with business priorities. The emphasis of the course is not on understanding conceptually difficult material, but on applying simple ideas systematically to resolve the tremendous uncertainty faced by early-stage startups attempting to disrupt existing markets and industries. Accordingly, classroom discussions will focus on applying basic analytical tools, drawn from strategy, economics, and finance to develop business models, evaluate the size of markets, assess financing options of early-stage ventures, and the risks and potential of ideas. Due to the course’s special circumstances, which involve working with new companies seeking capital: 1) students sign a non-disclosure agreement, 2) penalty is imposed for missed classes, 3) interested students must apply to the course to be considered. The course will run over the Fall and Spring with students working in teams. 

EFL graduate companies include Immunai, which is developing technology to reprogram the immune system for better detection and diagnosis of dreaded diseases; Shiru, which leverages precision biology to identify functional and nutritious protein ingredients to promote sustainable food production; Kintsugi, which is using voice biomarkers to detect mental disorders early; Stratyfy, whose proprietary machine learning products enables superior financial decisions while minimizing risk and mitigating bias; and C2i Genomics, a company that is transforming cancer diagnosis and treatment, among many others.

Marketing/Experiential Learning

Consulting Lab: Branding & Innovation (3 Credits)
MKTG-GB. 2368
Prof. Fran Gromley
Wednesdays, 6:00pm-9:00pm
Apply by Monday, May 13 at 9:00am via the following link.

This course is designed for advanced MBA students seeking real world consulting experience. Professor Gormley, who has extensive consulting experience, will coach teams, and oversee the partnership with Estee Lauder, in conjunction with Professor Taylor. The branding and innovation project has been carefully constructed to ensure students get a meaningful experience developing strategies and creative ideas that will catapult a business forward. Students will work in teams to solve a critical marketing challenge facing our partner organization. Estee Lauder is one of the world’s leading companies with a large portfolio of well-known brands. The challenge Estee Lauder has posed is not focused on fashion or luxury. Learnings from this project have broad applicability and may apply to AI. The final deliverable is a client presentation with actionable, well-developed branding and innovation recommendations. Executives from Estee Lauder will select a winning team who will present to leadership in February 2025. Students will learn how to create strategic development frameworks and concepts as well as valuable consulting skills, including building client relationships and optimizing presentation skills.

Operations Management

Ops in Entertainment: Las Vegas (3.0 credits)
OPMG-GB.2313
Prof. Harry Chernoff
Trip and Pre-/Post-trip meetings (see syllabus)
See syllabus for application

When we think of entertainment, perhaps the most popular location that comes to mind is Las Vegas. Behind the glitter & excitement are industries dedicated to supplying entertainment to customers. Operations address the supply side of business, including how products are produced, how services are supplied. This course goes behind the scenes to observe & analyze the operations involved. This course presents an opportunity to observe and study the entertainment industry including strategy formation & decision-making. The entertainment comes in various forms. The underlying driver is gaming, but the industries surrounding the various forms of gambling have also become major profit centers. During a 1-week visit to Las Vegas, students will observe and study some of the major industries that comprise the broad scope of entertainment in this city. Although Operations Management models, techniques and strategies in this field are applicable anywhere, Las Vegas is the epicenter of the industry.

Spring 2025 Course Announcements

Management Communication

Storytelling for Impact (1.5 credits)
MCOM-GB.2107
Prof. Diane Lennard
Thursdays, 1:30pm-4:20pm

A story can influence, persuade, and inspire action. This course is designed for students who want to explore the power of stories in a business context and improve their storytelling abilities. In each class session, students will have the opportunity to practice delivering a story that is based on their own experience, and then receive feedback on the story’s impact from their peers and the professor. Students will learn how to find, develop, and tell compelling stories that elicits an emotion/response/reaction from their audience. Practice exercises will focus on expanding their range of expressiveness and enhancing their ability to communicate congruently. Throughout the course, students will engage in a process of personal reflection on their stories and storytelling techniques, view videos, and read articles. They also will develop a library of personal stories that can engage audiences and make their messages memorable.

Management

Becoming You: Crafting the Authentic Life You Want and Need (3.0 credits)
MGMT-GB.2307
Prof. Suzanne Welch
Tuesdays, 6:00pm-9:00pm 
*MGMT-GB 2307 is a 3 credit version of MGMT-GB 2107

Becoming You: Crafting the Authentic Life You Want and Need (Extended Version) is a semester-long, transformational journey that helps students discover their authentic purpose and a career rich with meaning. The course is designed to answer the often elusive question, “What should I do with my life?” by guiding students through an expanded methodology focused on Values, Aptitudes, and Economically Viable Interests. This extended course offers a deeper dive into new activities, discussions, and a revamped Capstone project, complete with workshops throughout the semester. At the heart of Becoming You is the belief that the most fulfilling lives are lived in one’s “Area of Transcendence,” the intersection of your deepest values, unique skills, and the economy’s most rewarding opportunities. This course helps students navigate the path toward living a life aligned with their purpose—doing what they want, what they should, and what the world needs. The full-semester version offers more time for reflection, personal exploration, and skill-building through team projects, discussions, guest speakers, and career exploration exercises. With an extended Capstone project, students create a detailed, actionable roadmap to pursue their “Area of Transcendence.” Through a mix of lectures, readings, exercises, videos, and assessments, Becoming You takes students on an intense journey of self-discovery. For some, it means total reinvention, while for others, it's about tweaking or confirming their current career path. Whether you experience a major shift or a subtle adjustment, the course aims to leave students with a sense of alignment between their career choices and personal values. A fee of approximately $200 will be charged to cover the mandatory assessments, which will appear on the NYU Bursar account after the drop/add deadline.

Spring 2025 By-Permission Only Courses

Experiential Learning - By-Application Courses

Stern Signature Projects (3.0 credits)
INTA-GB.XXXX
Faculty: TBD
Day: TBD, 6:00-9:00pm
To apply, visit Experiential Education

NYU’s research continually drives innovation for the global challenges of tomorrow. Stern Signature Projects (SSPs) pair student teams with research centers and SMBs to address some of the most pressing issues of the 21st century. Structured as semester-long academic independent studies, these opportunities allow students to customize their MBA experience by driving thought leadership across an array of global and interdisciplinary questions. Each semester’s unique projects take place domestically and globally.

FinTech Experiential Learning (3.0 credits)
INTA-GB.2313
Prof. Kathleen Derose
Tues & Thurs, 10:30-11:50am
To apply, visit Experiential Education

This inter-departmental course provides hands-on experience in the emerging Fintech discipline. It is intended to immerse students in a semester-long project evaluating fintech innovation projects within the financial services sector. The projects will enable the partner company to develop a deep understanding of the financial services customer of the future, and the products and services the financial institution will need to deliver. Fintech refers to financial sector innovations involving technology-enabled business models that can facilitate disintermediation, revolutionize how existing firms create and deliver products and services, address privacy, and regulatory challenges, provide new gateways for entrepreneurship, and see opportunities for inclusive growth.

CPRL Education Practicum
Faculty: TBD
Day/Time: TBD
Please email experiential@stern.nyu.edu if you are interested in applying

Through the CPRL Education Practicum, Stern MBA students have the opportunity to work with a consortium of business, policy, education, and law students from top tier upper-level graduate programs. This is an intensive, full-semester practicum and seminar in the theory and methods of managing, governing, and transforming public- and social-sector organizations in K-12 education. *This course takes place at Columbia University*

Tech and the City (3.0 credits)
TECH-GB.2345
Prof. Arun Sundararajan
Tues & Thurs, 1:30-2:50pm
To apply, visit Experiential Learning

Students work with founders and investors to understand business models, assess metrics and their connection to growth and funding, and lead a customer-centric assessment of the company's products. Weekly critical reflection activities that include structured discussions, journal writing and in-class peer presentations coupled with guest sessions from industry experts allow students to deepen their understanding of both their own company as well as the other participating startups.

Experiential Learning/By Lottery

Communication for Consultants (3.0 credits)
MCOM-GB.3311.30
Prof. Brian Hanssen
Wednesdays, 6:00-9:00pm

Clients expect the consultant to listen well to their perceived needs, engage collaboratively with their staff and ultimately communicate their insights in a manner that leads to some form of change. In this experiential learning offering, students will take on client engagements. Each project will be based in NYC and have an impact on the City. The assignments will require participation from the initial client meeting, through data collection and finally presenting to the client. While the course experience will entail considerable field work, students will be supported by class work that focuses on the communication tools in a typical consulting contract.

Consulting Lab: Branding + Innovation (3.0 credits)
MKTG-GB.2368.30
Prof. Fran Gormley
Wednesdays, 6:00-9:00pm

Consulting Lab: Branding and Innovation is an experiential course designed for MBA students seeking real world brand consulting experience. Students work in teams to solve critical global branding challenges facing partner organizations. Students will learn global branding frameworks and concepts as well as valuable consulting skills, including managing complex projects, enhancing team dynamics, building client relationships, and optimizing presentation skills. Each team (5-6 students) presents their own unique and innovative marketing strategy for the same client.

Consulting Practice - two sections (3.0 credits)
MGMT-GB.3306.30
Faculty: TBD
 
Mondays, 6:00-9:00pm
MGMT-GB.3306.31
Faculty: TBD
Mondays, 6:00-9:00pm

In the business world, consultants help analyze and solve organizations’ most challenging problems. Consultants tackle these challenges by applying a structured approach to their analyses; this in turn allows for successful problem-solving across industries. Through the Stern Consulting Corps (SCC), students learn these skills in a hands-on, for-credit course with blue chip brands as the project partners. In SCC, teams of MBA students create lasting, business-driven impact with our partners by crafting actionable business plans and targeting opportunities for growth.

Finance

Managing Investment Funds (3.0 credits)
FINC-GB.3320
Prof. Anthony Marciano
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:00-1:20pm
To apply, visit nyumpsif.com

The Michael Price Student Investment Fund (MPSIF) is a family of funds managed directly by NYU Stern MBA students. The fund, part of the overall NYU endowment, was established in 1999 through a generous gift from Michael Price, managing partner, MFP Investors, LLC and former chairman of Franklin Mutual Series funds. MPSIF provides students with hands-on experience managing a real fund with significant assets. The fund is divided into three equity funds - Growth, Value and Fixed Income. While each fund has its own performance benchmark, MPSIF's primary goal is to deliver positive returns that exceed the rate of inflation. Based on the February 2021 Annual Report, MPSIF had assets under management of $2.9 million, excluding more than $1.88 million in mandated distributions since its inception to the Price School. Since March 2000, MPSIF has earned a cumulative return (after trading costs) of 284.2%, or 6.8% per annum. About 40 students enroll each year and are responsible for screening and evaluating stocks, preparing and presenting pitches for buy and sell recommendations and strategizing on broader portfolio allocation and risk management decisions. Students also write a newsletter and prepare annual and semi-annual reports to the MPSIF Board of Advisors. Students gain invaluable experience in investment management, which provides a competitive advantage when interviewing for summer internships or full-time employment after graduation. Managing the diverse tasks in MPSIF relies on teamwork and the course requires students to draw on their knowledge of finance, macroeconomics, accounting, competitive analysis, strategy and marketing.

Marketing

Commerce & Craft of Cinema: Cannes Film Festival (3.0 credits)
MKTG-GB.2142 (Part I) On campus classes at Stern during Spring 2024 semester.
MKTG-GB.2143 (Part II) Travel component to festival during Summer 2024 semester (late May). If graduating in 2024, your official graduation date will be designated as September 2024.
Prof. Alvin Lieberman
Trip and Pre-/Post-trip meetings (see syllabus)
To apply, visit here.

This is a specialized EMT course, designed to provide students with a framework for understanding the dynamics of the global film industry including the complete process from crafting the idea for a film script, hiring or becoming a producer, financing the project, selling it to a studio or independent production company, building a team, production elements, post production including music acquisition, and the selling or distribution to a global marketplace. The course will include learning about distribution and exhibition, marketing and building audience awareness, research applications, international licensing, and preparation for a career in the industry. It consists of class sessions in the Spring semester and travel to the festival in the Summer semester. In addition to tuition, students have to pay for travel and living expenses.

Operations Management

Operations in Panama: A Man, A Plan, A Canal (3.0 credits)
OPMG-GB.2312
Prof. Harry Chernoff & Prof. Kristen Sosulski
Trip and Pre-/Post-trip meetings (see syllabus)
See syllabus for application

This exciting advanced elective from the ToPS department will be a three (3) credit course studying the history, major business operations, and future of the country of Panama. 
 
Panama has developed as the economic hub of Latin America and leads this area of the world in economic, logistics and hospitality operations. Our course tracks the development of the country as an independent nation and highlights the importance of Panama in the Global Shipping Supply Chain. 
 
Through readings, classroom discussion and a one-week visit to the country, students will learn, analyze and observe the intricacies of the Panama Canal, various hospitality developments and the history and future challenges that Panama faces. 
 
The Panama Canal is certainly the country’s major attraction, and process techniques and strategies abound within this fascinating operation. Included in our week travel in Panama will be extensive real estate projects and major tourism improvements that have been provided by the financial revenues from the canal. The course is a unique opportunity to learn about these operations and speak to the major decision makers leading Panama.