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My Own Business Institute at the Leavey School of Business celebrates 10 years of offering free, accessible and actionable business education

Jesus Flores’ real estate business was already 9 years old and thriving before he even wrote his first business plan. He needed to secure a new bank loan, and doing so required a level of paperwork he had not seen before.

Now, as president and CEO of the Latino Business Foundation Silicon Valley (LBFSV), he sees similar situations all the time — people who became small business entrepreneurs organically out of opportunity or need rather than deep intentional planning. Using educational resources from the Leavey School of Business’ My Own Business Institute, Flores and his team serve truly small community businesses — landscapers, small retail shops, restaurants and more — mostly with fewer than 10 employees each.

“Most of the time, they need extra income to pay rent, to pay their bills or college for their kids,” Flores says, “so they say, ‘Okay, I know how to do a service, I'm going to start selling that service.’ Or ‘I know how to cook tamales, so I'm going to start selling those tamales.’ So they start that business, and one day they find that they are successful.”

For these businesses, a moment arrives when they need to get organized. For some, it’s right at the start, when developing a business plan or choosing the right structure. But often it’s much further along the path, when securing a loan or needing to get taxes in order for an audit. So where do they turn next? For LBFSV — plus roughly 120 community partners like them — the answer is MOBI.

“I think there are different levels of education that other places, other schools, other organizations provide, but the ones that our community needs are the ones that MOBI has,” Flores says.”

This year, MOBI is celebrating a decade at Leavey. That’s 10 years of providing free, accessible online resources to budding entrepreneurs in underserved communities — and to anyone who simply needs to know the basics of starting, managing and growing a business. MOBI has thrived at Santa Clara University precisely because of partnerships like the one with Flores and the LBFSV, according to Trish Kalbas-Schmidt, senior director of institute relations and program development and MOBI’s first-ever employee at Leavey.

“MOBI is very special because it offers a lot of opportunity to a lot of different people,” she says, “but it is completely online, asynchronous learning. I often say our partners breathe life into the program.” MOBI provides the education, and partners around the country and world provide the community connections.

The common goal for those partners and MOBI is to provide access to empowering business education to people who might not get it otherwise. Partners help MOBI deliver education to an Ohio community using entrepreneurship to reduce dependence on food stamps, to a Texas program designed to help former inmates find a second chance through business, to a New York government program designed to reduce unemployment by supporting business launches, and much more. 

“The partner piece is such a big part of the 10-year story here at Santa Clara University,” says Jill Martin, director of operations and communications. “It has allowed MOBI to reach so many different organizations and allowed them to create different models. I don't think any two partners necessarily use MOBI the same way.” 

The Roots of MOBI

The focus on partnerships and community means MOBI is working exactly as intended. The program has been housed at the Leavey School of Business since 2015, but it traces its roots all the way back to the 1992 riots in Los Angeles.

After witnessing the destruction of those riots, entrepreneur Phil Holland believed entrepreneurship was the right tool for rebuilding a healthy community. He and his wife, Peggy, an educator, started by developing a free, in-person course on the basics of starting a business in the Compton area of L.A. The course grew rapidly, including early efforts to translate it into Spanish and reach a broader audience. By 2000, MOBI offered the first completed, graded free online course about starting a business in the world.

When the Hollands sought a long-term home for MOBI, they found the right fit in the Leavey School of Business, starting with conversations with former dean and current MOBI executive director Drew Starbird. A $17.5 million endowment got MOBI up and running at the school in 2015, with one stipulation: It must be free and accessible forever.

Ten years later, the mission holds true. MOBI’s education is accessible in the literal sense — meaning anyone with an internet connection can access it — but it is also designed and written in an accessible, understandable manner.

“I found it very easy to use, very easy to understand, very relatable,” says MOBI user Amy Hochman. “It seems like the people who wrote it were very thoughtful, and very supportive of the person who is starting their own business, who may not have any resources to do so.”

Hochman found MOBI as part of the New York State Department of Labor’s Self-Employment Assistance Program (SEAP), a MOBI partner. Hochman spent years as an experienced and accomplished video editor in New York media, but major job losses in the industry have forced her to pivot. Using MOBI resources, she was able to turn her passion for Reiki, a form of alternative healing, into a small business called Crescent Moon Reiki NYC. 

Hochman had never written a business plan, so the most basic of basics were helpful. But so were more advanced lessons about social media marketing and about setting expectations regarding initial business returns and saving accordingly. “I did the ‘Starting a Business’ course, and I'm already looking at their other courses,” Hochman says.

Users like Hochman find plenty of reasons to return. The modular nature of MOBI’s offerings mean they appeal to entrepreneurs at several stages of their business journey. “I describe it as the foundation of a house,” Kalbas-Schmidt says. “So whether you want to build a rancher or you want to go 30 stories up, we offer that education.”

Adapting and Expanding

MOBI’s mission remains largely the same as it was in 1992. What has changed is delivery topicality.

As of 2025, MOBI offers six courses in English and five in Spanish. Within those courses, the material has been adapted to the times. During the pandemic, for instance, there was an increasing need for education about social and digital marketing, as well as the logistics of doing business from home. MOBI also has expanded to include audio and video learning options for people who prefer to learn in different formats. 

The curriculum has been overhauled more broadly, too, Martin says. Originally there were models focused on starting a business and expanding a business, but the team realized something was missing in the middle. So they added a module about managing a business to round out the offerings.

“If they notice there is a trend,” Flores says, “they respond to it.” He also praises MOBI’s staff for listening to user feedback. Knowing that many of his own clients at LBFSV have a limited education, he’s particularly mindful of the language used in courses. When he makes suggested changes in wording to ensure everything is easy to understand, MOBI staff is open to them.

That’s because accessibility remains at the core of MOBI’s mission. It’s not enough just to be free. The material must be understood so that users can act upon it.

“There's a lot of great entrepreneurial education out there, and it's even for free,” Kalbas-Schmidt says. “But if you don't have the background to understand what they're teaching there, you can’t move forward. MOBI makes no assumptions about educational background, business experience or technical aptitude. We like to say MOBI really minds the gap between dreaming and doing. Whether you are pursuing entrepreneurship or hoping to learn more about business for a job or career, MOBI can help build confidence.”

By the Numbers

• 1992: Phil and Peggy Holland create a curriculum and begin teaching their local community how to start a business
• 2000: The year MOBI offered its first free online course
• 2015: The year MOBI became part of the Leavey School of Business
• 2.8 million-plus: The number of MOBI website users since in the past decade
• 101,730: People who have registered for MOBI courses in that timeframe
• 22,575: People who have earned a certificate or badge by completing a course
• 400,000-plus: Yearly MOBI site users
• 15,000-plus: Yearly MOBI course enrollees
• 120: Partner organizations, both national and international