Laboratory to Market, Entrepreneurship for Engineers

Course Description

This course serves as a rigorous introduction to entrepreneurship and small business development from the perspective of the entrepreneur. It is intended to be a self-contained course that introduces the concepts of idea generation, market analysis, fundraising, legal corporate structures, and basic financial accounting for entrepreneurial endeavors. Mastery of any individual subject area is beyond the scope of this class, but the student will be expected to understand the basic concepts introduced and demonstrate the attained knowledge through thoughtful comments and insightful questions in class, written in-class exams, and a graded team presentation. By understanding the basic building blocks of new venture initiation, students will be able to seek out additional resources (e.g. online materials, guest lectures, etc.) that can supplement the material learned in the course.

While this course will focus extensively on the core fundamentals of building a business, the class will also emphasize the inherent experiential nature of entrepreneurship. Successful entrepreneurial students must always be learning from the collective small business and entrepreneurial experience available: from distinguished guest lectures on campus to family barbeques or a conversation with the local barber shop owner. A two-fold approach will be adopted to expose students to the decisions faced by real life entrepreneurs. First, guest lecturers will be invited to speak about their experiences as entrepreneurs. The emphasis of the guest lectures will be on small ventures, not mega-success stories like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. Secondly, students will form teams and look to vet out their own entrepreneurial idea throughout the quarter. This will entail interviewing potential customers, suppliers and key partners to determine the appropriate business strategy for their startup idea.