ENGIN 6791 - Launching Technology Ventures

This course provides an accelerated introduction to three fundamental aspects of attracting capital and launching startups: presentation, negotiation, and branding. Students form teams to refine, rehearse, brand, pitch, and negotiate terms for business plans they have developed outside of class, or which they are currently developing in other entrepreneurship courses. A recurring theme is that research may be profound and business plans excellent; yet founders must understand brand versus technology, pain points versus product features, presentation versus slides—or they cannot expect to attract capital. Students are evaluated on in-class, case-study participation as well as on public pitches in both filmed and live formats. Students who successfully complete the course will be well positioned for entrepreneurial competitions now, and capital acquisition in the future.