“Education is an admirable thing, but it is worth to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” - Oscar Wilde
ABOUT THE COURSE
People had invented new tools and traded with each other long before angel investors and stock markets existed. Indeed, every day we make all kinds of decisions that define our future. These decisions involve risk-taking, problem-solving, empathizing with others, thinking creatively, persevering in the face of adversity, and (often) dealing with failure. This is to say that to be a human is to be, at least occasionally, an entrepreneur.
In that sense, studying entrepreneurship should not only be about learning the formal rules of how to start (and manage) a new business, but also, and more importantly, about learning how to think creatively, developing a positive growth mindset, taking advantage of your personality strengths, overcoming various cognitive biases, and living a life that is aligned with your interests and values. Such skills can help you live a happier and more fulfilling life, both at home and at work.
In this course, we will study a variety of topics and ideas related to the process of starting a new business venture. We will ask questions such as who are the entrepreneurs, how they think, and what makes them “tick.” We will study the entrepreneurial mindset by looking at the stories of elite athletes and breakthrough innovators, so we can learn what sets them apart from the rest.
Of course, most of our time will be spent studying the process of starting a new business venture. We will explore where innovative startup ideas come from, how to become more creative and identify new business opportunities, what makes some business ideas better than others, why some businesses fail while others succeed, what is the best way to create value, and how to more effectively start and grow a business. We will also explain the importance of validating problems and solutions before launching your venture and study different revenue models and pricing strategies.
Along the way, we will dispel many common myths about entrepreneurship and build skills and knowledge that can help us develop a positive growth mindset. Later in the course, we will also have an opportunity to evaluate our own strengths, interests, and values and think about the nature of success, happiness, and failure.
Towards the end of the course, we will also look at the psychology of product development, which will help us design more emotionally compelling products and learn how to market our ideas more effectively. We will also explore various hidden-traps in decision-making (known as cognitive biases), so we can learn how to make better executive decisions.
Over the course of the semester, you will be applying these lessons by working on developing your own business idea. You will first identify a problem, next come up with a creative solution to this problem, and then try to validate whether there is demand for it. You will also develop other aspects of your business, such as your marketing strategy and revenue model. This effort will culminate in writing an executive summary (a short business plan) and giving a startup pitch.
DISCLAIMER
Starting a business is one of the most challenging things you will ever have to do! At least, this is what you will consistently hear from startup founders. Despite that, most of us tend to be overly optimistic about our prospects of success and often neglect the basic facts about entrepreneurship. The vast majority of new startups fail (most businesses don't even get started), and those that do survive are not as glamorous as we tend to imagine. The typical entrepreneur in the US, for example, works longer hours, experiences more stress, and makes less money than their employed counterpart.
This is why it is crucial to approach this class (and topic) from a more holistic perspective. For example, it is critical to examine the most common myths of entrepreneurship. This will allow us to gain a more realistic idea of what it means to be an entrepreneur, which (hopefully) will help us avoid many common mistakes first time founders make. As we will learn, more often than not, the type of things we think matter to be successful (e.g., one’s personality), don’t really matter at all; at the same time, the type of things we think don’t matter as much, actually matter more than we think.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Even though starting your own business can be extremely challenging, it can also be one of the most fulfilling things you will ever do. Very few things in life allow you to derive meaning by doing something you are passionate about while also having a ton of creative freedom. Perhaps, this is the reason why most entrepreneurs, despite working longer hours and making less money, report significantly higher levels of job satisfaction. In fact, three out of four Americans dream about “being their own boss.” For many people, starting a business is still one of the best paths to socio-economic mobility.
Fun fact: You are still far more likely to become a billionaire by starting your own business than playing the lottery.
We will also approach the topic by focusing on some basic principles of human decision-making. This is essential because most of us are prone to what psychologists call cognitive biases (or irrational tendencies in our behavior), which are especially pronounced among entrepreneurs. Understanding these hidden-traps in decision-making is critical to making better decisions, especially in the the context of starting and managing your business. Understanding these processes can also be helpful for designing more effective and emotionally engaging products (a process known as choice architecture).
Finally, I can’t promise you that you will know how to become a successful entrepreneur by the end of the semester. As Oscar Wilde once said, “education is an admirable thing, but it is worth to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” This is especially true for entrepreneurship – identifying, building, and enhancing the skills that can help you succeed as an entrepreneur (and life in general) is something that will inevitably happen outside of the classroom.
However, this does not mean that we should discard the study of entrepreneurship. On the contrary, studying entrepreneurship can provide us with valuable insights about how people make choices and how these choices affect our own lives every day. It can also challenge us to examine the meaning of social progress, our own place in a constantly changing world, and critically evaluate the values and beliefs that we hold the closest to our hearts.
What I can promise you, then, is that if you are motivated and spend the necessary time to explore new ideas and ways of thinking, you will make one more step towards an educated and flourishing life—and this is something valuable in itself. After all, you will have to make all kinds of choices—for yourself, your family, business, or your community—and this is something you can do either intelligently or not.
NOW WHAT?
With this short introduction out of the way now, let’s now focus on starting your own business. Your goal as an entrepreneur is pretty straightforward--create something people love! Then try to make a lot more people love your product. To do this, you will need a great idea, a great team, a great product, and a great execution. So, let's get started!