Stanford Ignite participants Enzo Mangubat and Russell Patton work on a quick prototype for a class project. (Photo: L.A. Cicero)
Participants in Stanford Ignite at the Graduate School of Business learn how to move their innovative ideas forward. Offered since 2011, the program is expanding this year to Paris and Bangalore, and next year to Beijing.
By Brooke Donald
Stanford Ignite, a part-time certificate program introduced in 2011 at Stanford, is now expanding to several innovation hubs around the globe.
In a recent workshop at Stanford's Graduate School of Business, groups of students clustered around tables littered with Post-It notes, pencils, iPhones, pieces of string, cuts of cardboard and the occasional screwdriver.
As they tinkered, they talked.
Do you like your bathroom? Is your toothbrush easily within reach? Do you use mouthwash? Is it important to have your toothpaste and toothbrush on the counter, or would you rather have them hidden away?
The assignment was to create a better oral hygiene experience. The students were charged with interviewing their classmates, creating a prototype and presenting it to the class.
The part-time certificate program was introduced in 2011 at Stanford, and is now expanding to several innovation hubs around the globe. Next month, it will start in Bangalore, and in the fall, it will be offered in Paris. There are plans for another program in Beijing next year.
The goal is to provide participants with fundamental business skills such as accounting, finance, marketing, strategy and operations and functional skills such as leadership, negotiation, teamwork and communications.
Practical approach
The Graduate School of Business started the program as another way to support the practical application of innovative ideas. The first summer program was for Stanford graduate students in the sciences and medicine who had great ideas but no business know-how to help bring their innovations to market.
Stanford faculty members lead Ignite instruction, and the experience is hands-on and immersive – intended to replicate what working professionals or graduate students at Stanford would get.
Investors, executives, legal experts and other guests lecture and mentor the participants.
L.A. CiceroSarah Russell-Smith talks about her prototype with a fellow participant.
"It's demanding and challenging, " said Yossi Feinberg, Ignite's faculty director. "The gap between what they know coming in and what they leave with is huge. It's just incredible to see the transformation."
The non-degree program lasts nine weeks and meets in the evenings and weekends, depending on the location. There have been about 60-70 students at a time in each program. A four-week, full-time program is also offered at Stanford in the summer for Stanford-affiliated participants.
