Professor Rob Mitchell’s New Venture Creation course, offered to the MBA class, is a whirlwind tour of the many facets of starting an entrepreneurial venture. It’s a month-long elective currently offered in August.
My own favorite assignment is the Idea Log – the goal is to come up with as many ideas per week as possible. This is a great habit for any (wannabe) entrepreneur, since it forces you to see the world in a different way – you see possibilities around every corner! Professor Mitchell is a researcher on the topic of entrepreneurship, so his approach to the subject gives us insight into an academic’s perspective of entrepreneurs. We’re more predictable than I like to think! The course’s case topics range from puppets made from wool sweaters, to street hockey tournaments, and adventure racing. We’re also plowing through a wonderful collection of classic articles, many from the Harvard Business Review, on entrepreneurship; some describe the psychology of bootstrap financing, others alert us to the need for tracking down elusive ‘unk-unks’ (you’ll be glad you heard of them!) Meanwhile, my New Venture team has been testing out many of the suggested forms of feedback. Forget surveys — we’ve long-interviewed our way from bars and swimming pools to the local Toys ‘R Us.
Some of the highlights of the course include an hour of Q&A with Kevin O’Leary (who told us he regards women as being exceptional at finance and investing – he’s written a book on the topic, which will be out in the winter!) and a real yet-to-be-aired Dragon’s Den pitch from a terrifically impressive 15-year old. We’ve also had the chance to interact with numerous entrepreneurs, in the form of business-pitch-speed-dating – each group has 20 minutes to dissect their business ideas with a seasoned entrepreneur, and then rotate to the next expert! Feedback is fast and furious.
My own group is currently exploring an idea for an app. We’ll be test-driving the idea this week in the undergraduate business library on some unsuspecting volunteers; I can’t wait! The initial stages of test-driving business ideas is as tricky and artful as it is exciting.
Sarah Landstreet studied mechanical engineering at McGill University in Montreal. She worked as an engineer in Hawaii and London, England before moving to Belfast, Northern Ireland to launch an American cupcake bakery. After 3 years in the baking business, she sold her company in the winter of 2011, to come to Ivey to study business, focusing on entrepreneurship.