Selecting Your Project

Industry sponsors provide projects which meet two simple criteria: commercialization fit and level of importance.

1. Commercialization Fit:

Projects must be related to some aspect of commercialization (e.g., bringing an idea/product/service to market). Projects are tailored to sponsor needs. Sponsors often want projects to answer some mix of the following questions:

1. Market analysis: What are the characteristics of my market (e.g., segments, size, trends, players)?
2. Customer analysis: Who would be my target customers?
3. Competitive analysis: How do competing solutions/firms compare to my offering/company?
4. IP analysis: What intellectual property is related to my technology?
5. Marketing analysis: How will I identify and reach out to new customers?
6. Business analysis: What business model options exist and how do they compare?
7. Strategy development: What short-term and long-term steps do I take to reach my goals?

Practicum projects can be drawn from any part of the 2x2, idea-market map:

• New ideas applied to new markets
• New ideas applied to existing markets
• Existing ideas applied to new markets
• Existing ideas applied to existing markets (but with new twists)

2. Level of Importance:

Projects must be of importance to the sponsor, i.e., the outcome truly matters (makes the experience more real and rewarding for everyone involved).