The inaugural edition of the Top MBA Programs for Entreprenursip  by Poets&Quants, a leading publication for higher education, has ranked the Esade Full-Time MBA programme #1 in Europe and #5 worldwide for entrepreneurs. Of the 27 business schools to make the ranking, only three institutions are outside the United States: Esade and Insead (Europe) and CEIBS (Asia).

For Luis Vives, associate dean of programmes at ESADE, ‘This programme was named one of the top MBAs for entrepreneurs because of its commitment to a new generation of professionals and managers seeking flexibility, adaptability and fluidity of thought. Not only to respond to change, but to lead it.’ ‘That is why’, he continued, ‘we have designed an innovative and disruptive learning experience that prepares students to change the established parameters and anticipate trends by equipping them with skills such as collaborative leadership, creativity, critical thinking and innovation, amongst others.’

The world’s most disruptive start-ups at Esade

To develop the ranking, Poets&Quants took into account, amongst other factors, the classroom focus on innovation, the campuses’ entrepreneurial ecosystem, and student-launched start-ups. For this latter variable, the US-based publication developed a list of the most disruptive businesses to come out of business schools,  Meet The Most Disruptive MBA Start Ups of 2019 This list included the consulting firm Moonshot Diversity & Inclusion, recently founded by Sophie Van Gool (Esade MBA 2019), whose mission is to close the gender and diversity gap in the world’s companies.

Amongst the factors contributing to the Esade Full-Time MBA’s inclusion amongst the world’s best programmes for entrepreneurs – as also recently reflected in the  —tal y como ha reflejado también recientemente QS MBA Rankings—– is the possibility for students from the institution to develop their projects on the Rambla of Innovation. This learning- and entrepreneurship-support ecosystem, located on Esade’s international campus in Sant Cugat (Barcelona), opened in 2017. Each year, more than 90 lecturers and 2,500 students of more than 100 nationalities and from various programmes use it. Spanning more than 2,000 square meters, it is home to seven learning labs that merge education with innovation and experimentation: Fusion Point, where entrepreneurs conceive of their idea; the Decision Lab, where they put it to the test; the Fab Lab, where they develop the prototype; the EGarage and Finance Lab, where they define their business model; and EWorks and the Media Room, where they create and implement their company.