Inspire 2026 Faculty on McIntire Business Institute Summer Course
"Each summer, what I look forward to the most is meeting the fantastic students who join us from all over the DMV and from much further afield. The students are so bright and so motivated, it makes my job a real pleasure." - Eric Martin
The McIntire Business Institute gives students a hands-on introduction to business fundamentals from UVA’s top-ranked McIntire School of Commerce. Below, meet Inspire 2026 Instructor, Eric Martin, who shows students how to tackle fast-paced, real-world projects that build skills, confidence, and lasting connections!
Meet Professor Eric Martin:
Q: Tell us about your journey into the world of business and how you developed your expertise in the field?
A: Like many entrepreneurs, I started off running small businesses and what today we call side hustles while I was in high school. After high school, I moved to college where I studied economics, business, and a whole range of liberal arts topics, and ultimately ended up on Wall Street following graduation. After a couple of years in banking, I had the itch to be more engaged in a start-up and created a company with my mother, which continued to run for several years. After that, I went on to earn my MBA at Harvard Business School. My career post-MBA covered global consulting, finance, and start-ups, including a successful exit to a public company. All of my energy was focused on organic growth. I was fortunate to ultimately join the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia in 2008 as a practitioner professor. Subsequently, I was the faculty founder and long-term director of the Galant Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, and today host the Pan-University Minor in Entrepreneurship.
Q: What knowledge and skills can students expect to learn in McIntire Business Institute this summer?
A: In the McIntire Business Institute’s Business Fundamentals course, students learn specific tools, approaches, and mindsets valuable in any business situation each day. These topics range from product and service ideation to market sizing to break-even analysis and other measures of profit and loss, among many others. It’s a fast-paced, day-by-day learning environment, which is then applied in the afternoons to a start-up that each student has the opportunity to create with a team of self-selected new friends from the MBI cohort.
Q: Do students need a background in business fundamentals to be successful in this class?
A: We have had students over the last two summers who have had coursework in business, as well as those who are starting small businesses, and others who are just seeing the world of business for the first time. It’s not necessary to have any background in business—we have found that the students who are coming in fresh get a great deal out of the course… as do those who have had some previous exposure.
Q: What advice do you have for students interested in taking your class this summer?
A: Students attending this summer’s MBI session should expect a fast-paced environment that runs from early morning to late afternoon each day. The mornings start with brand new challenges, followed by lecture-style learning, and then the afternoons are filled with start-up enthusiasm and hard work. Come in curious, ask great questions, be engaged, meet new friends, and see if you can get a start-up off the ground.
Q: What are you most looking forward to about Inspire this summer?
A: Each summer, what I look forward to the most is meeting the fantastic students who join us from all over the DMV and from much further afield. The students are so bright and so motivated, it makes my job a real pleasure. It’s like being a B-quarterback with A-wide receivers. It’s such a pleasure to meet each and every one of them!