SPEC 26
Essentials for Entrepreneurship: An Immersion In the San Francisco Start-Up Culture Winter 2020

This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

Interested in Entrepreneurship and seeing first-hand what it takes to launch a venture? Visit over ten startups in the Bay area to find out! This course is designed to give students interested in Entrepreneurship in-depth insight into the Customer Discovery process, i.e. how startups figure out if their ideas are worth pursuing. We will meet with the founders of 10-15 start-ups in the Bay Area and track their professional and personal journeys. We will look at the impact of company culture, the Bay Area ecosystem and values, financing, and how a Liberal Arts background prepares students for the challenges of entrepreneurship. Student teams will have the opportunity to work on an actual project for one or more of the companies to be visited and present their findings to senior management. We will also visit the Google campus and Stanford School While many of the companies will be technology driven, no technical background is needed and we will strive to have a diverse background in the class. The course will start in Williamstown with a review of idea development tools used in today’s startup environment, particularly those pioneered by Stanford d.School called the Business Model Canvas. Workshops on Design Thinking and maximizing the Williams network will round out the pre-trip coursework. Reading will include “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries, “Zero to One” by Peter Thiel and Edward deBono’s “Thinking Course” as well as articles and podcasts. Then we will go see what is actually happening in the market! Meeting times: 1/6/20 – 1/14/20 Williamstown. 10am-1pm 1/15/20 travel to San Francisco 1/16/20-1/28/20 San Francisco 10am-5pm or as needed based upon project 1/29/20 Travel back to Williamstown Adjunct Instructor Bio: Tonio Palmer is the Entrepreneur in Residence at Williams. Tonio has had a long career in international business and founded a number of companies. He holds an MBA from Wharton and MA from Upenn as a graduate of the Lauder Institute.
The Class: Format: travel
Limit: 12
Grading: pass/fail only
Requirements/Evaluation: final project or presentation
Prerequisites: none; not open to first-year students
Enrollment Preferences: preference given to students with a demonstrated interest in entrepreneurship
Materials/Lab Fee: $3,100
Attributes: EXPE Experiential Education Courses
TRVL Winter Study Travel Course

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