Interdisciplinary Arts 0352 - Enterprise Practicum

Students in this class will have an innovative idea for a social impact initiative or a business venture, will have developed this idea into a rough plan through an entrepreneurship class, and will trying to figure out how to take the next step towards action. In this class students will take an entrepreneurial nonprofit or for-profit venture and, work-shopping with professors and class, take real steps to prototype and test their idea. Students will be required to do research and exploration outside of the classroom, identifying real customers/participants, taking steps to interview them, learning about the concerns and life. Students will identify assumptions and ideas, and work through a process to develop "minimally-viable-products" or prototypes, that can be put in front of potential customers/participants for feedback, validation, and then iteration. The class will culminate with "pitch" presentations to real funders and investors for feedback. This rapid prototyping and iteration as opposed to 40pg business plans is not just a methodology, it is a philosophy that is beginning to permeate design, nonprofit management, and even government. Students will learn about design thinking, user feedback, social enterprise and impact, the Lean Start-up Model, as well as some humility as customer/participant reality is never what we expect. Prerequisite: A previous entrepreneurship class, an existing enterprise idea, and approval of professor

Writing and Research In this course, students are expected to spend at least eight to ten hours a week of preparation and work outside of class time. This time includes reading, writing, research, and talking with target customers/participants.