• Fall 2024 Course Announcements
• Fall 2024 By-Permission Only Courses
• Summer 2024 Course Announcements

Fall 2024 Course Announcements

Finance

Introduction to Decentralized Finance (DeFi) (3.0 credits)
FINC-GB.3360 
Prof. Ian D'Souza
Mondays, 9:00am-11:50am
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 12:00-1:20pm
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, 12pm-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, 9am-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.

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.

Summer 2024 Course Announcements

Management

People and Organization Analytics (1.5 credits)
MGMT-GB.3167
Prof. Anat Lechner
Mondays & Wednesdays, 6:00pm-9:00pm (Summer 2 - Online)
Specializations: Management

This course navigates the convergence of data science, human resources, and organizational behavior, delving into the dynamic field of People Analytics. Merging data-driven insights with strategic decision-making, HR transforms its talent acquisition, development, retention, and overall workforce orchestration strategies and conduct. Using machine learning coupled with insights from organizational psychology, HR can utilize and offer profound understandings of employee behavior, performance metrics, and engagement dynamics while also managing the ethical complexities, hurdles, and potentials inherent to human capital optimization data. This course is designed to help students immerse themselves in the emerging field of People Analytics. As students navigate through this domain, they unravel the transformative potentials intrinsic to harnessing data for optimizing human capital within organizational frameworks.