CDL Certificate – HEC Paris
Launched in 2020, the CDL Certificate – HEC Paris puts students on the front lines of launching a startup.
Work Directly with Successful Entrepreneurs
Started at the Rotman School of Management in 2012 and now at nine locations worldwide, the Creative Destruction Lab is a seed-stage program with a proven track record for vaulting science- and technology-based startups to commercial success. To date, CDL has helped nurture companies worldwide worth over $5.9 billion in equity.
Thirty MBA students have the opportunity to work directly with the companies in CDL-Paris. Students help these ventures develop financial models, evaluate potential markets, and fine-tune their strategies for scaling up their businesses.
For the nine months of the certificate, students gain first-hand experience in all aspects involved in founding a company, including:
- Creating the idea/business
- Protecting yourself from competition
- Designing competitive advantage
- Building a business model
- Financing a new ventures
As a participant in the CDL Certificate – HEC Paris, you begin by developing your understanding of entrepreneurship in the classroom (CDL Intro and Advanced Courses), but the majority of your time will be spent working as a consultant for one of the companies in CDL-Paris. You benefit from close interactions with real, early-stage ventures, their mentors and potential investors.
About the Creative Destruction Lab-Paris
Founded in 2020 in partnership with HEC Paris, CDL-Paris works with climate-orientated startups to help them commercialize solutions designed to preserve and protect the natural world. Each year, 25 highly scalable startups are admitted to the program. Using an objectives-based approach, the CDL’s mentors help companies cut through distractions and focus on meeting critical short-term goals.
HEC Paris is only the eighth university worldwide to become a CDL site. Established by Professor Ajay Agrawal at the Rotman School of Management, the CDL has welcomed 1,000 entrepreneurs representing over 70 countries since its inception in 2012. CDL-Paris is being led by Thomas Astebro, Professor of Entrepreneurship at HEC Paris.