Thomas F. Cone Center for Entrepreneurship

Every business starts as an idea someone decided to take seriously. The Thomas F. Cone Sr. Center for Entrepreneurship exists to help Belmont students do exactly that: move an idea from imagination to something real, tested, and running.

Founded in 2003, the Cone Center is open to every student at Belmont, not only those studying business. Our students come from fashion, music business, physical therapy, religion, social enterprise, and nearly every college on campus. Programming is co-curricular and free, which means students can build alongside their major rather than instead of it.

The Cone Center for Entrepreneurship empowers students with the entrepreneurial mindset and equips them with the skills and competencies to build and deploy transformative ideas.

That work moves through stages. Ideation starts with Bootcamp and pitch competitions, where students shape a rough concept into something they can defend in front of a room. Incubation continues through the Entrepreneurship Village, mentorship from Entrepreneurs-in-Residence who are Belmont alumni themselves, and the Learning Lab, where students run two operating retail businesses on Belmont Blvd: House of and Bruin Bodega.

The result is a pipeline that keeps growing. More than 900 businesses founded by Cone Center alumni are operating today, in Nashville and around the world.

The Princeton Review ranks Belmont's entrepreneurship program #1 in Tennessee.

National Recognition

Our program has been named a National Model Undergraduate Program for excellence in entrepreneurship education by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) and is ranked No. 1 in Tennessee by The Princeton Review. These awards and distinctions place Belmont's Thomas F. Cone Sr. Center for Entrepreneurship among the most exceptional entrepreneurship programs in the country.

By the Numbers

The economic impact of entrepreneurship

Cone Center alumni have started more than 900 businesses across six countries. Each year at the Belmont Entrepreneur Awards, we recognize the Top 100 alumni founders of the year, the graduates whose ventures are doing the most measurable work in the world.

The 2025 Top 100 Founders employ more than 5,000 people worldwide and generate over half a billion dollars annually. Those numbers start somewhere smaller. They start with students learning to spot a problem, test an idea, and keep going after the first version does not work. That is the entrepreneurial mindset, and this is what it builds.

Small businesses contributed 55 percent of total net job creation in the United States from 2013 to 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Our alumni are part of that.

Co-Curricular Programming

A hands-on approach

The hands-on approach at the Thomas F. Cone Sr. Center for Entrepreneurship is what sets us apart. Students do not study entrepreneurship in the abstract. They run the Learning Lab, our two student-operated retail businesses on Belmont Blvd, or they build ventures of their own with real support behind them. Programming is co-curricular and open to every college, so it fits alongside any major.

That work is shaped by Belmont's SOUL framework, and in particular by the call to seek excellence with humility. Entrepreneurship asks for both at once. Students set a high standard for what they are building, then stay honest enough to hear that the first version was wrong and begin again. The Center is where character and competence get practiced together, and where students start forming the kind of founder, leader, and neighbor they want to become.

Entrepreneurial thinking

Opportunity recognition. Identifying real problems, evaluating whether an idea is worth pursuing, and testing assumptions before committing resources.
Business model design. Understanding how a venture creates and captures value, and how to pressure-test a model before it meets a customer.
Knowing the numbers. Reading a P&L, managing cash flow, understanding margin, and making decisions that hold up financially.
Ethics and values. Examining business ethics alongside personal values, so students know what kind of founder they want to be before the hard decisions arrive.

Leadership in practice

Ownership and accountability. Carrying a project from start to finish with real stakes, following through without supervision, and learning from a decision that did not work out.
Leading peers. Holding teammates accountable without formal authority, giving and receiving feedback, and working through disagreement toward resolution.
Judgment under pressure. Making the call when a plan does not hold and there is no obvious right answer, then defending it with evidence.

Student Entrepreneurship

This is the programming pathway for students building or exploring their own business ideas. Some of it is a progression, moving from a first idea through validation, mentorship, competition, and funding. The rest is open to anyone curious enough to show up.

The entry point for any student with an idea and no clear next step. A half-day workshop offered twice per semester, facilitated by the Entrepreneurs-in-Residence and invited guests. Students learn to validate a concept, identify their customer, and take the first concrete steps toward launching. Completing Bootcamp is the prerequisite for Sprint.

For students actively building. Six sessions over two weeks working one-on-one with mentors to refine the model and test assumptions. This is where ideas meet reality. Sprint requires an application and is open only to Bootcamp graduates.

An ongoing community for students pursuing a business idea. Meets every other Friday, led by an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, in a low-pressure format built on peer and mentor connection. Registration is required for the first session of each semester; after that it runs as a drop-in.

Three competitions across both semesters, awarding more than $20,000 in total prize money. Panels of alumni entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and community partners judge each one and give participants direct feedback.

Business Pitch Competition ($8,000+). Open to undergraduates at any stage. A one-minute pitch and a defense of the model in front of judges. Anchors Big Idea Week.
Business Venture Competition ($8,000+). Goes deeper into operations, financials, and traction. Students show real progress and defend the decisions they have made.
Buntin Pitch Competition ($5,000+). For ventures in the creative economy, produced with the Massey College of Business, O'More College of Architecture and Design, Watkins College of Art, Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, and the College of Music and Performing Arts.

Funding for students starting a business, designed to cover the small early expenses that come with getting off the ground. It removes financial barriers for students already doing the work.

A campus-wide week built around the entrepreneurial mindset rather than any single program or business. It draws students from across disciplines into conversations about ideas, ownership, and building something that matters. Anchor events include a keynote speaker, a hands-on workshop open to all students, a smaller lunch with the keynote, and the Business Pitch Competition.

An all-day celebration of student entrepreneurs that takes over the Belmont lawn. Any student or alum can claim a tent and table to sell products, run demonstrations, and meet customers. Nearly 1,000 students, faculty, staff, and neighbors attend each year.

Open to all students, covering legal guidance and specialty topics including marketing, customer discovery, SEO, and accounting, led by working experts.

Wellcore-eligible events that count toward graduation credit. Most are coffee talks where an alumni entrepreneur or local business owner shares their story and stays to talk. For students outside the College of Business, this is often the first door into the Center.

The Learning Lab: Bruin Bodega and House of

The Learning Lab is the Center's Campus-Based Business Program and has been a flagship of our work since 2003: two student-run retail stores operating in roughly 3,400 square feet on Belmont Blvd. Students do not just work here. They run the businesses.

We employ 30 students per year organized into five teams: Finance, Merchandise and Inventory, Marketing, Events, and Management. Every team carries real responsibility, real deadlines, and real consequences, which is the whole point. Students learn by doing, and they learn fastest from the decisions that do not go their way.

Bruin Bodega

Opened October 2025. A campus market spotlighting alumni-founded food brands and student consumer packaged goods products. In partnership with Conexion Americas' Mesa Komal kitchen, the Bodega carries products from local chefs, bringing culturally diverse food options to the Belmont community and surrounding Nashville neighborhood. Open to all Nashville neighbors.

Watch Student Stories

House of

Opened in 2015. A women's clothing boutique targeting an 18 to 24 year old audience, located on the main road adjacent to campus. Features alumni and student-designed products. Students manage buying decisions, visual merchandising, and brand-building in a live retail environment.

Learning Objectives

The Learning Lab is intentional training, not retail work. Each operational area maps directly to a set of learning outcomes. The six areas below run through both stores.

Entrepreneurial Mindset

Problem identification, iteration, ownership thinking, and learning from failure. Students treat the store as theirs to improve, not just manage.

People and Leadership

Hiring, scheduling, giving feedback, conflict resolution, managing peer-to-peer teams, professionalism, goal setting, and accountability.

Business Strategy and Operations

Setting goals, measuring performance, and making decisions with real consequences. Students understand the ‘why’ behind every operational choice.

Financial Literacy and P&L Ownership

Reading and managing a real budget, understanding margins, pricing strategy, managing inventory costs, and interpreting financial statements.

Marketing and Events

Hands-on campaigns, pop-ups, social media, in-store merchandising, understanding the customer, and building loyalty. The store is a live test lab.

Merchandising and Inventory

Vendor relationships, buying decisions, inventory management, and product selection grounded in sales data and business strategy.

The Cone Ecosystem

The Cone Ecosystem is the network that gives the Center its reach: alumni, community partners, and Nashville relationships that connect students to the world they are heading into.

Entrepreneurs-in-Residence

Each year we bring successful alumni entrepreneurs onto staff as Entrepreneurs-in-Residence. EIRs advise student founders one-on-one, lead Founders Club, facilitate Idea Bootcamp, bring in speakers, and open doors across Nashville's entrepreneurship community. They have built companies themselves, which is why students listen.

Alumni Network

Cone Center alumni have started more than 900 businesses across six countries. They come back to the Center as competition judges, mentors, donors, Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, vendors for the Learning Lab stores, and speakers at workshops and Wellcore events. The network is not a mailing list. It is people who show up.

Belmont Entrepreneur Awards

Each year the Center honors Belmont alumni who exemplify excellence in entrepreneurship and business leadership. The annual banquet recognizes 100 outstanding alumni founders and brings together students, faculty, community partners, and Nashville entrepreneurs. For current students, it is a direct look at what is possible after graduation.

Community Partners

The Center works with organizations across Nashville and beyond that share a commitment to entrepreneurship at every level. These include the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, LaunchTN, Conexión Américas, Corner to Corner, and a range of other local and national organizations supporting entrepreneurs. These relationships give students exposure to entrepreneurship well outside the campus bubble, and give partner entrepreneurs access to Belmont's network and resources.

Jobs and Internships

The Center maintains a jobs and internship board connecting students to entrepreneurial companies. Alumni, EIRs, and community partners post opportunities directly, which turns Center programming into a path toward real roles.

The board lives at belmontetp.com.

Student Organizations

Students may join Belmont's distinguished chapter of Collegiate DECA. Collegiate DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management in colleges around the globe. DECA competitive events connect college to careers by reinforcing 21st Century Skills: Financial, Economic, Business and Entrepreneurial Literacy; Creativity and Innovation; Critical Thinking and Problem Solving; Communication and Collaboration; and Leadership and Responsibility.

Students may also join Belmont's internationally recognized chapter of Enactus. This chapter is made up of a dedicated group of students from majors across campus — including business, finance, design, political science, social entrepreneurship, computer science, education, and more — who use their skills to serve marginalized populations around the world through the power of free enterprise. By partnering with nonprofits and social entrepreneurs in Nashville and abroad, our Enactus team gives students the opportunity to apply classroom learning to real-world situations while helping those in need.

Selected students are invited to join Sigma Nu Tau, an entrepreneurship honor society with the mission to promote, recognize, and reward academic excellence in entrepreneurship and to encourage and recognize the practice of principled entrepreneurship. Selection is based on a student's year in the program, grade point average, and involvement.