High-performance athletes know that the best path toward improvement is playing back the tape with a critical eye on how to improve. Where are my strengths? What skills, disciplines must I develop to gain an edge? The first day of EBS will draw on this practice and translate it into the entrepreneurial mindset. Your identity as an athlete will help you discover your unique brand to leverage a great idea in your next chapter. We create small teams and introduce the foundational framework.

Building a venture is less about having a brilliant idea and more about methodically proving it can withstand market reality. Throughout the day, athletes learn that the success of any new play or business plan is in the ability to test the idea, iterate and pivot along the way. NYU Stern faculty will teach ways to unlock entrepreneurial thinking to create a viable idea. Through continued peer collaboration, Stern coaching and panel discussion insights from former athletes-turned-entrepreneurs, participants prepare their business models.

The ability to secure resources and convert stakeholders is the final metric of entrepreneurial success, much like closing a high-stakes deal or scoring in a critical game. This hands-on workshop, equips participants with the essential tools and communication frameworks needed to articulate their vision by crafting an investor narrative with clarity, strategic focus and their unique “athlete’s edge". Our third day moves beyond theory to highly practical application, culminating in real-time pitching practice and expert feedback designed to refine communication skills under pressure.

Our final day is the ultimate test of the venture concepts and communication skills developed throughout the week. Participants will step onto the field at The Post Clubhouse NYC to deliver a formal pitch for the real ideas they have been validating, presenting to a panel of expert judges drawn from the venture capital, academic, sports business, and entrepreneurial communities. Similar to a post-season playoff game, we will simulate the rigorous, high-pressure environment of securing seed funding or key partnership commitments. A true synthesis of skills learned, our participants leave it all on the field to win the competition. Filled with real-time feedback, curveballs, and sideline noise, our athletes finish the program ready to jump in. All participants will receive an NYU Stern Executive Education certificate in the graduation ceremony.