Creative Destruction Lab is revolutionizing management education in the areas of innovation and entrepreneurship. It prepares students for success after graduation in its support of emerging ventures.
CDL applies an experiential learning approach where students (MBAs, Commerce, Executive-MBA, etc) are matched with ventures enrolled in the program. Students get the opportunity for first-hand immersion in the startup ecosystem by taking part in the life of a startup, working on key business development projects for CDL ventures for class credit and developing their entrepreneurial mindset.
CDL offers a unique experience where students get to study the process of commercializing technological innovation through a series of close interactions with real, early-stage technology ventures and potential investors. Ventures enter the CDL program across a variety of streams, providing students with diverse opportunities to get on the ground floor of emerging companies.
CDL’s education programs allow students to apply the principles of entrepreneurial strategy to a real technology start-up. Watch and learn from experienced mentors discussing and advising your venture to prepare you for a job in the global technology ecosystem.
Students must apply to these courses through associated universities. Currently, these programs are offered at the following:
“I found that CDL just even being able to be in that room, seeing people engage with each other. It just sort of removed all that, especially having professors that you knew, who taught you and your other classes, mediating and engaging people and making sure that like all the different voices were heard and that concepts were explained like jargon.”
Lily Elsner
CDL-Oxford - Saïd School of Business, 2020
“I’m thinking the startup space could definitely be something that I’d like to continue along in, just because it’s such an exciting time to work with companies as they’re generating momentum and starting to scale and raise money. These founders are really doing awesome work to solve some pretty crazy challenges that the world faces.”
Ben Slang
CDL-Atlantic - Rowe School of Business, Dalhousie University
“If you’re going to try to do anything in the startup world, you have to understand that execution is just so important. And so I really learned that the execution side is almost more important than ideas.”
Haitham Mansour
CDL-Rockies - Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary, 2021
“The major learning was really that nothing is linear. You can have a set business model, but it’s not fixed in time. It always evolves.”
Rahel Haile
CDL-Montreal - HEC Montreal, 2019
“I was really able to utilize that background and the technical knowledge to solve these real world problems, which is such a unique thing for a student. I think this would have not been otherwise possible if it was not because of the CDL program.”
Amir Hejri
CDL-Atlanta - Scheller College of Business, Georgia Tech, 2021
MBA, PhD students say hands-on experience gained at CDL was ‘priceless’
“If you’re looking for an opportunity to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and actual practice, CDL is the perfect platform.”
How CDL makes the high-stakes world of startups manageable for students
MBA students say it’s easy to integrate into the world of startups — and become passionate about them — at CDL
Mark Ang: Lessons Learned as an Entrepreneur
We sat down with Mark Ang, a participant in the CDL program as an undergraduate student, to chat about his entrepreneurial journey, the part that CDL plays in it and the lessons learned along the way.
Liran Belenzon: From MBA to Startup CEO and Co-Founder
BenchSci’s Liran Belenzon shares his entrepreneurial journey, the part that CDL played in it, and lessons learned along the way.
CDL MBA’s reflect on lessons learned
MBA students from the CDL course reflect on lessons learned from working with startup companies.