Educator Resources

Students focus on developing an understanding of the issues and techniques for growing emerging technology companies. This distinguishes it from courses and programs that focus on business plan writing to enable the actual formation of a venture. Students develop theoretical understanding, practical knowledge and leadership skills needed for leading and growing technology companies. Each year 12 students are selected to participate in this nine-month program, combining a sequence of courses, mentoring and networking activities and a paid internship at a Silicon Valley startup.

Students examine the fundamentals of technology entrepreneurship as practiced in Silicon Valley, and similar regions of innovation around the world. How do you create a successful start-up? What is entrepreneurial leadership in a large firm? What are the differences between an idea and true opportunity? How does an entrepreneur form a team and gather the resources necessary to create a great enterprise? Mentor-guided projects focus on developing students' startup ideas, immersion in nuances of innovation and early stage entrepreneurship, case studies, research on the entrepreneurial process and the opportunity to network with Silicon Valley's top entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.

Students meet with the speakers from the Entrepreneurial Thought Leader seminar (MS&E 472) to drive research and candid discussion about what makes an entrepreneur successful. Topics include venture financing, business models and interpersonal dynamics in the startup environment.

Students increase their ability to understand and improve the organizations within which they will work by studying classical and contemporary organization theory as well as the behavior of individuals, groups and organizations.

Student teams learn how to apply 'Lean Startup' principles to prototype, test and iterate an idea while discovering if they have a profitable business model. Students apply and work as teams to create software, hardware or serve or any kind while learning about the business model canvas, customer development and agile engineering. Projects are experiential and require incrementally building the product while talking to customers and partners each week. This class was adopted by the NSF and NIH as the Innovation Corps.

Student teams experience what it’s like to be an early-stage entrepreneur seeking initial investment. The teams validate their business model using R&D plans and financial projections, and define milestones for raising and using venture capital. The final exam is an investment pitch delivered to a panel of top tier VC partners. The course experiences includes team building, opportunity assessment, customer development, go-to-market strategy and IP as well as guidance from serial entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.