Welcome to the Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship at Brown University! 

Since our founding in 2016, the Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship has served as the hub for students eager to learn about entrepreneurship. Our approach to teaching entrepreneurship is grounded in the structured process for solving problems detailed in my book See, Solve, Scale: How Anyone Can Turn an Unsolved Problem into a Breakthrough Success. This framework guides students to identify consequential problems, develop thoughtful solutions, and scale their ventures to create lasting change. We are deliberately agnostic about the specific form those ventures might take (for-profit, nonprofit, or other). As a result, we are attracting thousands of Brown students from all degree programs and from all disciplines to learn and deploy this methodology. That only makes sense, given how eager Brown students are to solve problems. We are even hearing from many prospective Brown students who tell us that it is because of Brown’s commitment to and approach to teaching entrepreneurship that they are interested in applying. 

With the support of our generous alumni, the Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship brings its pedagogical approach to teaching entrepreneurship to undergraduate, master’s, and all other graduate students at Brown in three key areas: curricular offerings, co-curricular programming, and venture support. 

• Curricular: Our academic courses provide a rigorous foundation in problem-solving methodologies, entrepreneurship strategy, and venture development. Our courses equip students with the analytical tools and strategic frameworks necessary to tackle complex challenges. We now offer over twenty-five courses. And we launched Brown’s first undergraduate certificate program. We also support academic research of faculty and their students.
• Co-curricular: Outside the classroom, we offer many non-credit bearing opportunities to learn elements of the entrepreneurial process through workshops, speakers and events. These help students complement the perspectives they learn in the classroom in real-world contexts.
• Venture Support: In addition to motivating students to learn about entrepreneurship as this structured process for solving problems, we empower them to do it. We provide the resources students need to develop ventures through funding, mentorship, and access to a robust network of experienced advisors. 

The Nelson Center has experienced significant growth in recent years. In our own terms, I like to say we are scaling. In the 2024-2025 academic year, for example, over 1,664 students enrolled in entrepreneurship courses at Brown—nearly one-quarter of the undergraduate student body. This exciting period of growth prompted a national search, resulting in the hiring of five new faculty within this academic year.

The Entrepreneurship Certificate was Brown's first undergraduate Certificate Program offering, and it has continued to grow since its launch in 2021 with 14 students. Today, 53 students in the Class of 2025 have earned the certificate. Best of all, and so true to the Brown curriculum, they represent over thirty different concentrations. Additionally, we supported the launch of the Brown Alumni Entrepreneurship Group in 2023 to support alumni entrepreneurs and their ventures. 

Since our inception, student ventures who were past Brown Venture Prize winners have collectively raised over $95.6 million. These funds are being deployed to address critical issues worldwide. Student ventures are combating climate change, enhancing the well-being of vulnerable youth, and making cancer drugs more affordable and accessible. This diversity of solutions reflects Brown University’s commitment to student-driven inquiry and liberal learning. We are proud to showcase many of these students and their ventures on our Impact page. 

Because our small team could not do anywhere near what we do without the continued support of hundreds of our friends and alumni, we invite you to explore all that the Nelson Center has to offer and to join our dynamic community of problem solvers dedicated to making a meaningful impact on the world. If you find yourself on campus, please come to say hello and witness our work in action. 

Ever true, 

Danny Warshay ‘87, P’20, P’23.5
Executive Director
Professor of the Practice