Application Deadline: Entrepreneurs Unplugged – Track 1: To Be or Not to Be… a Founder

Entrepreneurs Unplugged brings Booth students together monthly, led by a facilitator with deep experience in the entrepreneurial space who guides and shapes the conversations. These sessions cover entrepreneurial frameworks, models, and strategies, but the real engine of the program is peer-to-peer sharing, collaboration, and support.

It’s lonely at the top, and early-stage founders tend to face the same practical questions when they start out. The group walks through those questions together. There’s no blueprint for success, but surrounding yourself with founders and founders-to-be provides a sense of community and calm in the middle of the startup storm.

The program is led by Andrea Zechmann, who holds a JD from Hamline University School of Law and an MBA from Chicago Booth. Andrea spent time in product at Tesla, where she helped launch 13 new markets across EMEA, and she has built a company of her own.

Track 1: To Be or Not to Be… a Founder

Exploration and Ideation | Monthly, October through January
Most people ask “what’s my idea?” before asking “should I actually do this?” This track of Entrepreneurs Unplugged flips that. We cover the financial reality of founding a company, what your life as a founder actually looks like compared to working at a company, and the real conditions under which it makes sense to go for it. Then we get practical: how to formulate an idea that’s actually worth pursuing, how to test it before you’ve committed everything, and how to move forward with conviction. This track will give you a peek behind the curtain of what it means to be a founder and whether this is the right path for you.

Session dates: October 22, November 17, December 8, and January 12.