For business classes like “Entrepreneurial Thinking,” experience in business development helps take the coursework and learning objectives to the next level – especially when that experience covers the legal field, startup development, and international community and economic investment.

Jonathan Murphy, partner at Fortif Law Partners in Birmingham, taught at the collegiate level for the first time this spring. He joined the Birmingham-Southern Department of Business Programs as an adjunct professor to teach the entrepreneurship course that poses two main questions: how do entrepreneurs think, and what should entrepreneurs be thinking about?

He was immediately drawn to the idea of setting his own background in economic and business development within the liberal arts tradition at the College. Ying Lin, chief of staff at BSC and a friend of Murphy’s, helped him connect with the business department and teaching opportunities.

“I am a big believer in the value of a liberal arts education, particularly in the context of learning how to start, lead, and grow a business,” Murphy says. “I believe that an effective business education should be multi-disciplinary. The ability of business students to leverage their learnings across disciplines will make them more adaptive and effective in the business world.”

In his role at Fortif, Murphy represents Alabama businesses and nonprofits and often works with startup companies as well as accelerators and investors. Fortif is really “a startup business in its own right” since Murphy was the second attorney to join the firm, and they have worked to grow the practice since opening in 2018.

“Our law firm has a dynamic state legislative practice focused on economic and community development matters that I enjoy being a part of,” he says. “Since I get to work with individuals and organizations at every stage and vantage point in the life of a business, I have developed a unique perspective on the entrepreneurial process.”

Murphy brings his current role – working with startups and growing as a startup – to the classroom as well as his past experience. In 2010, he co-founded The Aletheia Project, an organization based in Hoima, Uganda, that provides educational opportunities to the community and invests in economic development within the region. Murphy served as the director of the project for four years before beginning classes at the Washington and Lee University School of Law.

“My background in economic and community development abroad afforded me a lot of opportunities to help community leaders in economically-distressed areas develop into social entrepreneurs who started businesses or initiatives to address the needs of their respective communities,” he says. “Through educational programing and investment, I had the privilege of helping dozens of businesses and initiatives get started with an eye towards economic viability and sustainability.”

His experiences all involved helping people launch successful businesses – the key foundation to what he’s teaching at BSC. Murphy has led students through the broader theories and elements of entrepreneurship as well as the practical components to making a business work.

“We are trying to identify what, if any, characteristics, traits, and competencies correlate to entrepreneurial success,” Murphy says. “There is a lot of fascinating research that has been done around what internal and external factors influence the way entrepreneurs think, and what characteristics are optimal at various stages in the entrepreneurial process.”

Addressing that second question of the class – what entrepreneurs should be thinking about – Murphy and his students have examined concepts like market analysis, opportunity recognition, legal form, and more to look at decreasing the risk of failure, though that is a part of the process, Murphy says. But, with a real-world, interdisciplinary look at business, classes like “Entrepreneurial Thinking” better prepare BSC students for success.