WORKSHOP: Entrepreneurship and Design Thinking

Workshop Description:

Have you ever wanted to design, launch and teach an Entrepreneurship class at your school? In this hands-on, activity-based workshop you get to learn and practice cutting edge methods of entrepreneurship and the value of networks. Working in small teams, you start by learning to identify the problems and opportunities. This will form the foundation of your idea about that Entrepreneurship class you want to design. You then use design thinking methods to develop a deep understanding of the problem, and to brainstorm and prototype creative solutions. Following the lean startup methodology, you’ll learn to create an Entrepreneurship module around your solution and to develop a prototype that quickly test its key assumptions. Based on your findings, you will refine your ideas until your users are beaming with delight. The workshop wraps up with a Shark Tank-style elevator pitch of the idea your team develops. Overall the course introduces you to the methods and terminology of modern entrepreneurship, which will help you build skills and competencies that will allow you to design, launch and teach an Entrepreneurship class at your school. Are you ready to change the world?

5 hour workshop outline/schedule

Templates needed:

Define a problem activity

Research handout and template

Research: design a survey to vet student interest

Design pitch to get kids excited!

How it works? template ( will help you design your entrepreneurship course)

Proposal form (template, will help you pitch the course)

Design your pitch with impact! (let students help with this!) engage/enlist students before you even pitch the class to admin!

This workshop will use an example of an Entrepreneurship course I designed, launched and facilitated last year for High School Students. We will use this as an example,as I take you through the process of launching a similar initiative in your school. You will leave armed with resources and a process to startup a similar initiative in your school.

My Course description:

Entrepreneurship 101 - explore • design • test • launch

Great startups often come from founders who had their idea while at school or college. In this class, you’ll develop a roadmap to evaluate your potential startup idea without leaving school! Along the way, you’ll learn how to dramatically mitigate the risks involved in pursuing your idea and put yourself in the best possible position to succeed.

We’ll cover the necessary ingredients in starting a business, including generating, validating, and refining ideas for a new product. We’ll cover the development from idea generation, opportunity, recognition, entry strategy, and growth to get you on the path to a successful launch.

The goal of the course is for all students to participate in Start Up Weekend.

The full syllabus and resources can be found here:

https://www.schoology.com/course/273218622/materials

General Resources: (for you to explore now or later)

Designing a “new” course:

http://teachingcenter.wustl.edu/strategies/Pages/course-planning.aspx#.VUDYH5TF_qo

https://www.uoguelph.ca/tss/resources/idres/packagecpd.html

http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/course-design/

http://ualr.edu/pace/tenstepsud/

http://www.iie.org/Blog/2013/January/Designing-Entrepreneurship-Programs

MIT’s 4 week program on Entrepreneurship for High School Students:

http://www.launchsummer.org/index.html

8 classes you need to take to become an Entrepreneur:

http://www.inc.com/john-rampton/what-classes-to-take-in-school-to-become-an-entrepreneur.html

Design Thinking and Entrepreneurship via Edutopia

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/entrepreneurship-design-thinking-part-1-kim-saxe

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/entrepreneurship-design-thinking-part-2-kim-saxe

Design Thinking and Entrepreneurship via Harvard:

http://www.summer.harvard.edu/programs/pre-college-program/courses/entrepreneurship-design-thinking

Build Your Network:

Entrepreneurs you’ll need to follow on Twitter:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XrzQWLjuCXK8rRFgX0xl2FBYZnh5aFsZYZnt5SI5sas/edit#

Questions to ask yourself once you decide to pursue your “Big Idea”:

Use the following questions to make decision about a business idea of your choice. Be sure to write out your answers...to remember your decisions and build on them.

1. How can you describe the business...in only one paragraph please?
2. What is your product, service, system or experience?
3. Who will buy it, use it?
4. Where should you locate the business?
5. How can you attract customers?
6. What is your competition?
7. How much should you charge for the products or service?
8. What advice do you need and who can provide it?
9. How will you organize the managers and/or workers of the business?
10. How will you split the profits? Who is responsible for the losses?
11. What should you consider to be able to produce the product and get it to the customer?
12. How much money is needed to get the business started?
13. How many customers will you have per month and how much will they buy per month?
14. How much does it cost to make the product or provide the service?
15. What are your operating costs? (Include your own salary)
16. How much money will your business earn each month by selling your product or service?
17. How much investment will you need to keep the business going until you make a profit?
18. What is your potential profit per year for Year I, Year II, and Year III?
19. How much money do you need to borrow to start this business?
20. How will you make the business grow in the future?