The new Master of Business Creation (MBC) Online program option welcomed the inaugural class of founders for 2023-24 at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business this semester.
The MBC is an academic offering of the Department of Entrepreneurship & Strategy in partnership with the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute. Both are part of the Eccles School, which is ranked among the top-5 schools for entrepreneurship by U.S. News & World Report.
The first MBC Online cohort includes 15 founders and their startup companies. The founders are enrolled from states including California, Georgia, Rhode Island and Utah. The startups sell everything from fine art and athleisure clothing to boxes and seed-management software for growers. See a complete listing of founders and startups in the program below.
“We are excited for this new group of founders and the growth of the MBC Online option,” said Paul Brown, a co-director of the MBC program and a faculty member in the Department of Entrepreneurship & Strategy. “The founders are already thriving in this new format, and we look forward to helping many more as we grow this program to support the large number of entrepreneurs who want to grow their businesses.”
The MBC Online program is an expansion of the award-winning MBC Full-Time program. The online option offers the same benefits, including an intense focus on the founder’s startup, applied curriculum, personalized mentorship, substantial scholarships, peer support and discussion, assistance accessing startup funding and more.
As an alternative to the full-time option, the online option allows founders to complete the program on a part-time basis with a flexible schedule and over a longer period of time. The online program can be completed in 14 months compared to 9 months for the full-time program.
All are welcome to learn more and apply to join the MBC Online and Full-Time programs. Anyone interested is encouraged to apply as soon as possible because space is limited. Apply and learn more here.
Angie Grover is one of the inaugural founders in the MBC Online program. She is enrolled from Chicago and is working to grow her startup, Metopio, which provides easy-to-use tools to help everyday people understand populations and places and make better decisions regardless of their data-science experience.
“The MBC program perfectly balances those two elements – education and execution,” Grover said. “It is perfect for entrepreneurs because it directly benefits the bottom line of your business by coupling expertise across so many disciplines into a curriculum that delivers real value and understands the demands we face every day.”
In the MBC Online program, Grover looks forward to mentorship, collaborating with the other founders in the program and learning everything she can to help her business.
“I want to continue to scale and grow Metopio,” Grover said. “The program will help by refining and adding skills that contribute in meaningful ways to Metopio’s success – in the moment – and increase the impact we can have in partnership with our clients.”
Another founder in the MBC Online program, JT Mellecker is originally from Park City, Utah, and now lives and works in Los Angeles. He is enrolled in the program to build his company, Gorilla Packaging Company, which provides packing solutions to wine and beer vendors and other types of companies.
“I joined this program to help further develop my skills in business creation, while allowing me to apply my newfound knowledge directly to my own business,” Mellecker said. “This program will give me the opportunity to collaborate with and learn from other entrepreneurs, as we strive to take our business to the next level.”
Mellecker enrolled in the MBC Online program because it was focused on his business and gave him the flexibility he needed to advance through the program while also working on his business during the day.
“The most unique part of this program is that all schoolwork is directly related to each individual’s business,” Mellecker said. “Every assignment or project directly correlates back to your company. This allows us the chance to apply our coursework to real-life situations, giving us the most authentic and practical experience possible.”
The Eccles School enrolled the first group of founders in the MBC program in fall 2019. It was created to blend the best attributes of a business curriculum with a startup accelerator. The founders develop their startups while taking classes from leading experts and receiving extensive resources and mentorship to help them address their immediate business needs. A viable startup is required to enroll in the MBC program, and classroom learning will be immediately applied to the founder’s company or nonprofit enterprise.
Learn more about the Master of Business Creation program and apply at eccles.utah.edu/mbc.
MBC Online Startups & Founders for 2023-24
Here are the MBC Online startups and the founders enrolled in the program for 2023-24 (in alphabetical order by company):
- Boardlevel.io (Derek Wood, of Warner Robins, Georgia) – Provides stock option/compensation structures based on industry data.
- Colter May (Colter May, of Provo, Utah) – Fine art that honors the grandeur of the American West.
- Essence of Ebony (Imani Powell, of West Jordan, Utah) – The natural-hair home for people of African descent.
- Gorilla Packaging Company (Justin “JT” Mellecker, of Playa Vista, California) – Provides strong, reliable and eco-friendly shipping boxes for all bottle types.
- goTeff (Saron Mechale, of Providence, Rhode Island) – A superfood and wellness brand using the ancient teff grain, the staple of Ethiopian runners.
- Joycash (Bountiful, Utah) – Faster and cheaper cross-border money transfers for people with or without banks.
- Kings Music Studios (Angela Reyes, of Herriman, Utah) – Choir program and recording studio with choral-foundation teachings and performing opportunities.
- Laketti (Kevin Lou, of Taylorsville, Utah) – Athleisure clothing that gives back by supporting organizations that support the community.
- Lounge Littles (Zach Thurston, of Harrisville, Utah) – Premium children’s pajamas that are very soft and fit longer.
- Metopio (Angela Grover, of River Forest, Illinois) – Easy data and tools to understand populations and places.
- Mill Art Consulting (Camilla Fowler, of Cottonwood Heights, Utah) – Customized planning and advising on art-related projects for private and public entities.
- NFUZ Tape (Steven Rosenbeck, of Nephi, Utah) – Kinesiology tape infused with essential oils.
- RecoVRy (Christopher DuHadway, of Centerville, Utah) – Builds VR experiences to help physical therapy patients with dizziness.
- SeedVue (Isaac Roach, of Salt Lake City, Utah) – Seed-management software developed for seed farms and companies.
- Sundial Solar Components (Justin Hicken, of Spanish Fork, Utah) – Designs and manufactures single-axis residential rooftop-based solar trackers.
About the David Eccles School of Business
The Eccles School is synonymous with “doing.” The Eccles experience provides a world-class business education with a unique, entrepreneurial focus on real-world scenarios where students put what they learn into practice long before graduation. Founded in 1917 and educating more than 6,000 students annually, the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business offers nine undergraduate majors, four MBAs, nine other graduate programs, a Ph.D. in seven areas and executive education curricula. The School is also home to more than 20 institutes, centers and initiatives, which deliver academic research and support an ecosystem of entrepreneurship and innovation. For more information, visit Eccles.Utah.edu or call 801-581-7676.
About the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute
The Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute is a nationally ranked hub for student entrepreneurship and innovation at the University of Utah and an interdisciplinary division of the David Eccles School of Business. The first programs were offered in 2001, through the vision and support of Pierre Lassonde, an alumnus of the Eccles School and successful mining entrepreneur. The institute now provides opportunities for thousands of students to learn about entrepreneurship and innovation. Programs include workshops, networking events, business-plan competitions, startup support, innovation programs, graduate seminars, scholarships, community outreach and more. All programs are open to students from any academic major or background. The Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute also manages Lassonde Studios, a five-story innovation space and housing facility for all students. Learn more at Lassonde.Utah.edu.
