{"id":33331,"date":"2019-09-23T13:27:41","date_gmt":"2019-09-23T17:27:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/?p=33331"},"modified":"2020-05-11T09:52:06","modified_gmt":"2020-05-11T13:52:06","slug":"fiu-college-of-business-shares-the-secrets-of-unicorn-entrepreneurs-in-new-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/2019\/09\/fiu-college-of-business-shares-the-secrets-of-unicorn-entrepreneurs-in-new-program\/","title":{"rendered":"FIU College of Business shares the secrets of \u201cunicorn entrepreneurs\u201d in new program."},"content":{"rendered":"

Florida International University\u2019s College of Business<\/a> (FIU Business) will launch a first-of-its kind program, Developing High-Potential Ventures with Skills – Not Venture Capital<\/a>. Designed for South Florida entrepreneurs, technologists and students, the program will benefit those in the region who want to create and control wealth by starting and scaling a growth venture.<\/p>\n

Participants in the 10-month program will learn about the finance-smart skills, secrets and strategies of \u201cunicorn entrepreneurs,\u201d those who have taken their ventures from startups to firms worth at least $1 billion, as well as \u201cmini-unicorn entrepreneurs\u201d who have built their companies from startups to firms worth more than $100 million.<\/p>\n

\"Dileep<\/a>
Dileep Rao<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The program\u2019s seminars will help participants develop the right organizational and leadership skills, maximize sales with capital-efficiency, launch a venture, and grow their business without venture capital. The program, offered online and at FIU\u2019s MMC campus, will be led by Dileep Rao<\/a>, an FIU Business clinical professor of entrepreneurship who was a venture financier for 23 years before joining academia, where he has focused on studying unicorn entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I learned is that 94 percent of America\u2019s unicorn firms didn\u2019t need venture capital to take off,\u201d Rao said. \u201cThey developed the right growth opportunity, designed the right finance-smart strategy, learned the skills needed to grow with control, and took off without venture capital. These strategies and skills can help all entrepreneurs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program begins October 22, 2019 with a free \u201cIntroduction to Unicorn Entrepreneurship\u201d session featuring Rao. That is followed by an all-day workshop and eight three-hour evening skill-training seminars that will be held monthly through June 2020.<\/p>\n

Rao teaches the program along with leading South Florida experts who have launched, advised, financed or built unicorns or mini-unicorn companies.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to succeed, get the skills, develop the strategy, become a leader–and they will come to you,\u201d Rao said. \u201cThis is what America\u2019s unicorn entrepreneurs did.\u201d<\/p>\n