Sahlman emphasized that HBS wants its students to see that entrepreneurship is a process that students can learn.

FORBES: How Harvard's Bill Sahlman Turns Leaders into Entrepreneurs

Sahlman told me that beyond high grades and test scores, the HBS admissions department looks for evidence of leadership.

FORBES: How Harvard's Bill Sahlman Turns Leaders into Entrepreneurs

Sahlman holds 30 sessions in his course and in 19 of them he invites the case protagonists to class so students get a chance to ask them questions.

FORBES: How Harvard's Bill Sahlman Turns Leaders into Entrepreneurs

Sahlman pointed out that the goal here is to buy information as inexpensively and quickly as possible by building prototypes, observing how customers react to them, and adapting accordingly.

FORBES: How Harvard's Bill Sahlman Turns Leaders into Entrepreneurs

Sahlman described another case that captured my interest.

FORBES: How Harvard's Bill Sahlman Turns Leaders into Entrepreneurs

"We have an approval and reimbursement system that is expensive, risk-averse and basically hostile to start-ups, " said William A. Sahlman, a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, and an investor in Rest Devices.

WSJ: New Medical Devices Get Smart