Specialization details
Develop an understanding of opportunity identification and evaluation. Explore strategy, business planning and execution, customer experience design, marketing, sales, and leadership - all from a new venture perspective. An entrepreneurial mindset is tremendously valuable for those working at large organizations, scale-ups and start-ups.
Students in this Specialization often take co-op positions as Finance Analysts, Business Developers, and Enterprise Co-ops.
Course requirements
Specialized courses
To obtain the Entrepreneurial Mindset Specialization, you must complete these courses:
| Mandatory Courses (1.0 Course Credits) | Three Courses from the Following (1.5 Course Credits) |
|---|---|
| BET 320 - Entrepreneurial Strategy | AFM 326 (0.25 unit) - Student Venture Fund: Analyst |
| BET 340 - Essentials of Entrepreneurial Planning and Execution | AFM 377 - Private Equity and Venture Capital |
| AFM 426 (0.25 unit) - Student Venture Fund: Associate | |
| AFM 470 - Financial Management of High Growth Companies | |
| BET 350 - Customer Experience Design | |
| BET 400 - Marketing Foundations for Early-stage Ventures | |
| BET 420 - Entrepreneurship for Social Impact | |
| BET 430 - Sales Fundamentals | |
| BET 450 - Leadership | |
| BET 460 - Business Negotiations | |
| BET 470 - Family Business | |
| BET 580 - Consulting | |
| ENBUS 203 - Green Entrepreneurship | |
| MGMT 220 - Entrepreneurship and the Creative Workplace |
Mandatory AFM courses
In addition, you must complete the upper-year courses required for all AFM students. Note that AFM 344 is the recommended course selection for this specialization, but you may choose one of the other options listed.
Pairing specializations
The Entrepreneurial Mindset Specialization can be taken as a primary specialization and paired with another one or combined with another field of study at uWaterloo as a means of application. It pairs well with the Professional Accountant, Financial Markets or even the Sustainability Specialization.
There is a difference between a good idea and a great opportunity. This Specialization will not only help you to understand the difference; but also to learn how to think like an entrepreneur in order to develop opportunities. Whether you aspire to work in the public or private sector, at a large established organization, a start-up, or a scale-up, having an entrepreneurial mindset will equip you with the skills to shape the future.
If you want to manage new initiatives at a public accounting firm or work with organizations in virtually any sector to help them innovate, consider this Specialization as a paring with the Professional Accountant Specialization. As a professional in the financial services sector, you may aspire to raise funds for new ventures or help organizations synergize through mergers. In that case, you may choose to pair it with either the Financial Markets or Professional Accountant Specialization. Perhaps you want to work with a team to start a business. In that case you could pair it with another Specialization or combine it with study in a one of a variety of fields available at uWaterloo such as Human Resources Management, Digital Arts Communications, Economics or Sports Management (to name a few).
Extracurriculars
If you want to get involved in co/extra-curricular activities associated with the Entrepreneurial Mindset Specialization, below are some examples:
Connect with alumni
The alumni profiles shown below are examples of SAF graduates employed in roles that involve knowledge and skills associated with the curriculum of the common pairings of the Career Specializations referenced.