🚀 What Is This Course?
This capstone is run as a VENTURE STUDIO. You will practice entrepreneurial thinking by working through a design-thinking-style methods sequence:
- DISCOVER a real challenge
- INTERPRET it through primary research
- IDEATE many possible solutions
- PROTOTYPE and test
- SHOWCASE what you learned and what you'd do next
The emphasis is on EVIDENCE, ITERATION, and REFLECTION—not on having a "perfect idea" on day one!
📅 Course Logistics
| 🕓 Meeting Times | Monday & Wednesday, 8:00–9:30am |
|---|---|
| 📆 Dates | Mon Jan 12 – Fri Apr 10, 2026 |
| 📝 Make-up Class | Fri Jan 23 (Monday schedule; MLK holiday week) |
| 🎉 No Class | Mon Jan 19 (MLK Day) Washington Break: Mon Feb 23 – Fri Feb 27 |
| 🌟 Required Event | Entrepreneurship Summit Booth Showcase Fri Mar 20 (time TBA) + Attend 3 summit panels (with proof!) |
🎯 Learning Outcomes
By the end of the term, you will be able to demonstrate (with evidence!):
- Problem-solving via an entrepreneurial method (define → test → learn → iterate)
- Working with uncertainty and ambiguity – making decisions with incomplete information
- Learning from failure – running fast experiments, extracting signal, pivoting or persevering
- Perspective taking and empathy – interviews, observation, interpreting user needs
- Creativity with limited resources – scrappy prototyping, using what you've got
- Responding to critical feedback – iterating based on peer/advisor/customer input
- Teamwork and collaboration – roles, accountability, constructive conflict
🔄 How the Course Works
We use a flipped + studio cadence. Most "content" happens before class (short readings/videos + guiding worksheets). Class time is for workshops, critique, synthesis, prototyping, and coached decision-making.
Expect frequent feedback and frequent revision!
📅 Weekly Rhythm (typical):
| Before Monday | Complete the guiding worksheet + required prep |
|---|---|
| In Class | Workshop + studio time + critique |
| After Class | One small experiment/prototype/test + a short learning-log entry |
🎁 Gift-Giving Exercise (Early Term)
You will design and deliver a small 'gift' (time, attention, introduction, prototype, or $0-$10 physical item) to someone connected to your problem space.
The goal is not generosity-as-performance; it is to learn how access, trust, and reciprocity change the quality of discovery.
📦 Major Deliverables
Individual Work:
- Venture Log (weekly) – Your running notebook of evidence: interview notes, experiments, decisions, reflection. Each week include a "reading-to-doing" note!
- Book-to-Venture Memos (3) – After each required book, 1-2 page memo connecting key ideas to your project
- Final Reflection – Your personal learning journey
Team Work:
- Challenge Brief & Research Plan – Scoped challenge + stakeholders + concrete research plan
- Fieldwork Evidence Pack – Min: 6 interviews + 60 min observation with usable notes
- Interpretation Pack – Needs statements, persona(s), customer journey map, 'How Might We' framing
- Ideation Pack – 50+ solution ideas, concept selection rationale, initial value props
- Prototype & Test Pack – Low-fi → higher-fi prototypes, test results, iteration notes
- Summit Booth Package – Demo, poster, 1-page handout, feedback-capture plan
- Final Venture Dossier – Evidence-based narrative of process, learnings, what's next
📈 Grading (Specifications / Bundles)
Work is assessed Satisfactory / Needs Revision against clear checklists. Final grades are earned by completing bundles of work at a satisfactory level.
This rewards iteration and learning (including failed ideas that generate strong evidence)!
🪙 Flexibility Tokens
You begin with 2 tokens!
A token can be used to:
- (a) Submit something late, OR
- (b) Revise and resubmit after an unsatisfactory mark
🏅 Grade Bundles
Up to 3 unexcused absences
All Core Deliverables
+ 10/12 Venture Log entries
Up to 2 unexcused absences
Everything in C
+ 2 Mastery Options
Up to 1 unexcused absence
Everything in B
+ 2 more Distinction Options
(4 total beyond C)
✨ Mastery / Distinction Options (choose your adventure!):
- External validation depth – 6+ additional customer/user conversations with synthesis
- Second prototype cycle – meaningful iteration based on test evidence
- Go-to-market experiment – landing page + email capture + outreach; report results
- Technical feasibility check – consult 2 experts; document constraints and costs
- Funding narrative – draft crowdfunding page OR short investor memo
- Operations plan – partner map + milestone roadmap + budget/unit economics
📖 Required Books (3)
Application-first: these aren't just readings, they're tools!
Your Music and People
Creative and considerate fame
Relationship-building, generosity, audience, distribution. Includes the Gift-Giving Exercise!
Business Secrets of Drug Dealing
An Almost True Account
Operating under constraints: risk, trust, sourcing, pricing. Creates your team "Rules of the Game" list.
Co-Intelligence
Living and Working with AI
Using AI as co-worker/coach for research, synthesis, prototyping—with verification!
🗓 Course Schedule
(subject to iterative adjustment—we're entrepreneurs, after all!)
| Date | Module Focus | In-Class | Deliverable(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPRINT 1: Discovery & Interpretation | |||
| Mon Jan 12 | Orientation + course methods | ET-7 + design-thinking modules; studio norms; Venture Log setup | Prep: Start "Your Music and People" (~1/4); bring 5 marked passages + 1 idea to test |
| Wed Jan 14 | Opportunity identification | Problem inventory; choose 2-3 candidate challenges; Gift-giving exercise kickoff | Venture Log #1 (Fri Jan 16) – include Gift Plan + recipient rationale |
| Wed Jan 21 | Discovery methods | Interviewing practice; observation planning; empathy map. Gift debrief | Gift delivered by Fri Jan 23; capture response in Venture Log |
| Fri Jan 23 | Make-up class (Mon schedule) | Fieldwork kickoff; interview script critique; recruiting participants | Challenge Brief v1 + Research Plan |
| Mon Jan 26 | Discovery synthesis I | Share initial interviews; define what you don't know; research backlog | |
| Wed Jan 28 | Interpretation workshop | Affinity mapping; needs vs. solutions; evidence standards | Fieldwork Evidence Pack (Fri Jan 30) |
| Mon Feb 02 | Interpretation workshop II | Personas + customer journey; emotional/cognitive/functional needs | |
| Wed Feb 04 | Framing to action | POV statements; 'How Might We'; prep for advisor panel | Interpretation Pack + Book Memo #1 (Fri Feb 6) |
| SPRINT 2: Ideation & Prototyping | |||
| Mon Feb 09 | Advisor Panel (Red/Yellow/Green) | Teams present framing + evidence; receive traffic-light feedback | |
| Wed Feb 11 | Decision making under uncertainty | Pivot/persevere/abandon memo; experiment backlog; team role clarity | Decision Memo + backlog (Fri Feb 13) |
| Mon Feb 16 | Ideation sprint | 50 solutions; divergent thinking; constraint-based creativity | |
| Wed Feb 18 | Concept selection | Converge: shortlist; value props; quick concept tests | Ideation Pack (Fri Feb 20) |
| 🏝 Washington Break: Feb 23-27 – No Class 🏝 | |||
| Mon Mar 02 | Prototyping sprint I | Low-fi prototypes (sketch/lego/ad/pretotype); test plan | |
| Wed Mar 04 | Experiment design | Build–Measure–Learn; metrics that matter; rapid outreach | Prototype Pack v1 + Book Memo #2 (Fri Mar 6) |
| SPRINT 3: Testing & Summit | |||
| Mon Mar 09 | Prototyping sprint II | Narrow 3–10 → 1; higher-fidelity build; feasibility checks | |
| Wed Mar 11 | Testing day + iteration | Run tests; analyze; decide next iteration | Prototype Pack v2 (Fri Mar 13) |
| Mon Mar 16 | Summit prep I | Booth narrative; poster layout; demo rehearsal; lead capture | |
| Wed Mar 18 | Summit prep II (mock booth) | Full dry run; critique; logistics; risk list | Booth Package due |
| 🌟 Fri Mar 20 | 🚨 ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUMMIT – BOOTH SHOWCASE 🚨 Required course commitment – treat it as a major field test! |
||
| SPRINT 4: Go-to-Market & Close | |||
| Mon Mar 23 | Post-summit learning | Debrief; pattern-find; update assumptions; next experiments | |
| Wed Mar 25 | Venture model + feasibility | BMC update; revenue model; unit economics assumptions | Post-summit update (Fri Mar 27) |
| Mon Mar 30 | Go-to-market experiments | Acquisition channels; outreach scripts; partnerships | |
| Wed Apr 01 | Planning forward | Roadmap; budget; risks; compliance; what 'next' looks like | GTM + financial snapshot + Book Memo #3 (Fri Apr 3) |
| Mon Apr 06 | Final dossier studio | Peer review; evidence gaps; revision plan | |
| Wed Apr 08 | Final studio + showcase | Final share-out; course retrospective; close-out | Final Dossier + Reflection (Fri Apr 10) |
⚠ Studio Policies & Expectations
🏪 Attendance
This is a studio course; being in the room matters. Excused absences include documented illness and verified varsity/team obligations.
🕑 Late Work
Without a token, late work is not accepted. With a token, you may submit up to 72 hours late.
🤖 AI Tools Policy
You may use generative AI for brainstorming, drafting, analysis, coding, and rapid iteration. BUT:
- Treat outputs as untrusted – you're responsible for verification
- Keep an audit trail in your Venture Log (tool, prompt, what you used, what you checked)
- Do NOT fabricate interview data or represent AI output as participant quotes!
🎁 FREE TOOLS 🎁
You will receive paid access to the following tools for the entire course:
Build fast. Ship faster. On us!
📚 Academic Integrity
Follow university policies. Honesty in evidence and attribution is non-negotiable.
♿ Accessibility
If you have approved accommodations, please coordinate early so we can build them into the studio workflow.
This site is always under construction... just like your venture!
You are visitor number:
(Not really, but isn't this nostalgic?)