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HBS Launches $699 AI Avatar Startup Bootcamp Nationwide

8/24/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Harvard Business School launched an eight-week startup bootcamp that uses AI faculty avatars.
The HBS Foundry program costs $699 and is offered through roughly 100 universities nationwide.
Avatars such as a digital Jeff Bussgang lead weekly live sessions paired with AI-driven pitch simulations.
Tom Eisenmann said the avatars are deliberately tough, rarely approving a startup idea on the first try.

History

Historical Context

In 2012 Stanford professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller launched Coursera, creating large-scale MOOCs that showed online platforms could reach millions. By 2024 Coursera hosted about 7,000 courses from over 375 institutions, solidifying a model Harvard and MIT expanded with edX. Harvard Business School’s Foundry now builds on that legacy, using AI avatars like Jeff Bussgang to run eight-week bootcamps for dozens of universities.

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Story summary

Harvard Business School launched an eight-week startup bootcamp that uses AI faculty avatars.
The HBS Foundry program costs $699 and is offered through roughly 100 universities nationwide.
Avatars such as a digital Jeff Bussgang lead weekly live sessions paired with AI-driven pitch simulations.
Tom Eisenmann said the avatars are deliberately tough, rarely approving a startup idea on the first try.

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