Entrepreneurship:

I took FSE 301, a class where students learn about Entrepreneurship principles, hear talks from entrepreneurs, conduct analysis and discussions on how to develop businesses models. To practically use what they've learned, students have to develop and pitch a product, refining it based on customer feedback.

In my Entrepreneurship experience, the most valuable articles/discussions that I partook in were the Design and Future Thinking for product development discussion and an Entrepreneurship: What Not To Do discussion, which included comparing themselves to other companies and using meaningless buzzwords. For my personal pitch, I made a Statistics based moodboard product called ReFresher since I have a Statistics minor and struggle with remembering concepts. I researched my target audience, interviewed 24 potential users, and made video pitches to investors. From the feedback loop, I learned that people who took Statistics related to my issues and found my approach a new, innovative way to solve a common problem opposed to searching up answers or memorizing forumlas. I evaluated product-market fit by taking inspiration from Khan Academy and Pinterest to combine academics and creativity.

The most significant component of this competency was the Evidence-Based Pitch Deck (EBPD), which required the application of Design Thinking and Lean Startup principles to transform a theoretical concept into a viable market solution. By analyzing case studies and entrepreneurial podcasts, I developed a deeper understanding of Marketplace Dynamics and the importance of Stakeholder Awareness when scaling a startup from an initial idea to a functional prototype.

Reflection:

Developing the ReFresher MVP served as a critical exercise in transitioning from a technical developer to a solution-oriented entrepreneur. By conducting 24 semi-structured interviews, I moved beyond my own assumptions to identify a widespread 'pain point' in STEM education: the high cognitive load associated with abstract statistical notation. This experience taught me the value of Design Thinking.  Additionally, I had to pivot my initial UI based on user feedback to prioritize associative learning over simple rote memorization. Professionally, this competency strengthened my ability to pitch complex technical ideas to non-technical stakeholders, which is a skill that is essential for my future career in Data Science, where the ability to translate data insights into actionable business strategies is a primary requirement for success.

Connection to Sustainability:

By engineering a platform that makes complex statistical concepts more accessible through visual-spatial learning, I am helping to build a more technically literate workforce capable of tackling global environmental data. Furthermore, ReFresher applies Lean Startup principles to minimize the loss of potential innovations that occur when students are deterred from STEM fields. By digitizing and streamlining the learning process, the platform promotes a sustainable, long-term model for retention and collaboration within the data science/statistics community.

The link to the Evidence Based Pitch Deck: https://www.canva.com/design/DAGyQVHZmzQ/wMamTEZzIOLCPrg2T4cRjQ/edit?utm_content=DAGyQVHZmzQ&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton