LAUNCHING AN INTERDISCIPLINARY ENTREPRENEURIAL …€¦ · & BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS WEEK 1 Needed...
Transcript of LAUNCHING AN INTERDISCIPLINARY ENTREPRENEURIAL …€¦ · & BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS WEEK 1 Needed...
LAUNCHING AN INTERDISCIPLINARY ENTREPRENEURIAL CAPSTONE
DESIGN EXPERIENCE: BLAST-OFF OR FIZZLE OUT?
JARED BECKER: SENIOR IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
THOMAS M. KATONA: ASST. PROF. BIOMEDICAL ENG. & BUS INESS
LYNNE SLIVOVSKY: PROFESSOR COMPUTER ENGINEERING
LUCAS TOOHEY: SENIOR IN BUSINESS ENTREPRENEURSHIP
JONATHAN YORK: ASSOC. PROF. BUSINESS ENTREPRENEURSH IP
WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT
� Culminating event
� Full year design experience
� Student teams from engineering & business
� Student initiated projects
� Lean Launchpad + Agile Engineering
CONTEXT: CAL POLY
• ~20,000 Students (90% Undergrad)
• CIE in 5th Year
• EVERY STUDENT DOES SENIOR PROJECT
WHAT WAS THE MOTIVATION
What if you could get
real time information
about home water
usage?
THE PROBLEM
THE SOLUTION: INTERDISCIPLINARY ENTREPRENEURIAL CAPSTONE COURSE
ArchitectureEngineering Business
AgricultureScience
& Math
Liberal
Arts
YEAR 1: PILOT COHORT
ArchitectureEngineering Business
AgricultureScience
& Math
Liberal
Arts
HOW IS IT DIFFERENT?Existing
Interdisciplinary
Engineering
Course
Existing
Single
Discipline
Courses
Interdisciplinary
Entrepreneurial
Course
Teaming
Structure
Teams assigned by
faculty
Teams assigned
or individual
projects
Team formation by
students
Project ScopeProject scope
defined
Project scope
defined
Creativity and
ideation define
starting assumptions
Opportunity
Identification
Receive
requirements from
industry sponsor
Requirements
based on
engineer’s
desires
Lean Startup
methodologies
Customer
Discovery
Industry Sponsor
Calls/Meetings
Industry Sponsor
Calls/Meetings
Customer
development as
continuous process
Engineering
Methodology
Design (Fall), Build
(Winter), Test
(Spring)
Design (Fall),
Build (Winter),
Test (Spring)
Agile engineering
Product
DevelopmentDesign/build/test Design/build/test Iterative prototyping
Funding Industry SponsorInternally
supported
VentureWell Course
Development Grant
Project Teams
Lean Startup
Design Sprints
??
WHO CARES?
Participant College & Discipline
# of Participants
# of Graduating
SeniorsBusiness (Total) 26 700Business – Entrepreneurship 22 37
Business - Marketing 1 106Industrial Technology 3 52
Engineering (Total) 40 920Aerospace Engineering 1 58Biomedical Engineering 3 69
Computer Engineering 9 71Computer Science 4 86
Electrical Engineering 7 118General Engineering 1 15
Industrial Engineering 1 69Manufacturing Engineering 1 14
Mechanical Engineering 12 192Software Engineering 1 26
Agriculture (Total) 1 930Agriculture Business 1 162
~4% of Engineering &
Business StudentsIn Year 1
in one class
SOUNDS GREAT…..SO WHAT HAPPENED
NO PLAN SURVIVES FIRST CONTACT WITH CUSTOMERS
TRIED FORMING TEAMS USING LEAN LAUNCHPAD PLAYBOOK
� 3 info sessions with food in spring 2015
� ~30-40 students per info session
� Not a single project pitched at these sessionsbecame part of the class
� Small % of the students enrolled in the class
+ ≠
SET UP SYLLABUS TO START VALUE PROP & BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS WEEK 1
� Needed substantial time for team formation
� Team dynamics, project viability and projectscope became early focus
� Had to drastically re-orient class
Summary Topics/Exercises
Key Deliverables
Week 1 - Research on companies and startups in the domain of interest
- Real Startup Deep Dive Paper
Week 2 - Domains of interest ideation- Intro to Lean LaunchPad (value
propositions and customer segments)
Week 3 - Finalize teams and domains - Team Contract- Initial Concepts Due
Week 4 - Intro to value proposition canvas- Customer archetypes
Week 5 - Group presentations on initial value proposition canvas
- Design concept activity
- Initial Value Proposition Canvas
Week 6 - Value proposition canvas- Value proposition mad libs
- Initial customer interview list
Week 7 - Customer development interview skills
- Revised customer interview list and questions
- Design Concept Update Due
Week 8 - Business model canvas seminar and BMC risk assessment activity
Week 9 - Engineering requirements
Week 10 - Customer discovery debrief and BMC revision
- First customer interviews completed
Week 11 Final Presentations and Minimum Viable Products
Final Presentations and Minimum Viable Products
Week 12 No Class – Finals Week Low Resolution Design Documentation
HOW DID WE ADJUST (1ST QUARTER)
TEAMFORMATION
VALUE PROP
CUSTOMER DEV. + ENG.
REQUIREMENTS
SECOND QUARTER
� Series of 3 design sprints
� Action in the face of ambiguity
� Example Design Sprint� Commit to testable MVP with metrics
� Build/code/hack/model a functional prototype
� Defend all aspects of prototype vs. customerdevelopment AND engineering requirements
� Minimum # of customer interviews
� Updated business model canvas
IMPORTANT LESSONS FOR TEACHING
� Teaching team matters a lot
� Philosophical compatibility
� Trust / Ability to yield control
� Regular discussion and review (adaptable)
� Team should be relational vs. transactional
� Our predictions on projects weren’t always correct
- Visual + Audio + Touch-
- Imersus-Jared Becker
Mechanical Engineering
-Class Highlights-
The WHY of engineering
Speak another language
Real opportunities
-Class Lowlights-
Differing goals among students
Slow start
Differentiating between class and company
ONLINE APPLICATION INTERFACE
Add
Screens
Search Content
VIRTUALITY REALITY INTERFACE
TAKEAWAYS...
- Truly “ learn by doing ”
- Perform al l aspects of business
development in one sett ing
- Work amongst and/or lead a
diverse team
- Timing & Pace
- Expectat ions/Commitment
PROS CONS
Knowledge Gap