The Entrepreneurship Talent Program (ETP) is a flagship initiative under the Institute for Design Thinking, Entrepreneurship, and Leadership (IDEAL) at Habib University. Designed to nurture entrepreneurial mindset and problem-solving among students and alumni, ETP integrates Habib’s liberal arts ethos with real-world, interdisciplinary innovation. The program empowers participants to build viable, context-aware, and socially impactful solutions that address critical challenges in Pakistan and beyond.
The vision of ETP is to create an inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem that nurtures well-rounded, ethically-driven changemakers who leverage innovation to solve complex societal problems. It aims to empower students with the knowledge, skills, and resources to become socially conscious entrepreneurs who will shape and build a repaired future.
The program cultivates critical thinking and a knowledge base that helps students find the right problems to solve, provides the skills necessary to ideate, design and build viable reparative solutions, and mobilizes an ecosystem that provides resources and support for sustainable and scalable execution of solutions.
ETP offers a robust, year-round structure including:
- Workshops on topics such as ideation, product development, branding, legal frameworks, and pitching.
- Mentorship and Advising with industry experts, alumni founders, and global partners.
- Networking Events that connect students with investors, ecosystem leaders, and peers.
- A culminating Pitch Competition where idea-stage and growth-stage startups present ventures to a panel of judges for funding and mentorship.
Past Workshops and Talks
The pilot year featured expert-led workshops like “What’s in an Idea?”, “Reading the Fine Print”, and “Lean and Launch: Creating Your Product”, alongside fireside chats with global leaders including Zia Yusuf (Boston Consulting Group), Professor Albert Napoli (University of Southern California) and Susan Giesecke (UC Berkeley).
Fireside Chat called Fear of Failure with Zia Yusuf of Boston Consulting Group
Cultivating Reparative Innovation at the Intersection of Liberal Arts and Entrepreneurship
ETP demonstrates how entrepreneurship can be deeply rooted in the values of a liberal arts education—critical inquiry, ethical leadership, and human-centered design. It offers a transformative space for students to build solutions for real-world problems, making it a vital driver in shaping the next generation of Pakistani entrepreneurs and innovators.
Susan Giesecke in a discussion on how to improve networking skills.
