From Lab to Market: Learning Entrepreneurial Marketing Through Multi-Semester, Stage-Gate, Capstone Project in STEM MBA.

This article focuses on an innovative pedagogical approach to teaching entrepreneurial marketing (EM) within a STEM MBA program, aimed at preparing students to commercialize early-stage technologies. The approach employs a multi-semester, four-course Integrative Project that uses a stage-gate process combining strategic frameworks, customer discovery (including the NSF I-Corps™ program), and action learning based on deliberate practice to develop students’ EM expertise. The project engages students with real patented technologies from a university’s Office of Research Commercialization, guiding them through opportunity identification, product concept development, marketing strategy, sales planning, and strategic commercialization. Preliminary assessments from students, instructors, and commercialization staff indicate that this immersive, experiential pedagogy enhances confidence, communication, teamwork, and business acumen, addressing the challenges of uncertainty and rapid industry change in technology ventures. The article suggests this integrative model contributes to EM theory, education, and practice by bridging gaps between technology commercialization and marketing education, while acknowledging limitations due to its single-institution case study design.