Entrepreneurial

Education @ GT
I am a dreamer.
I don’t want to stay a dreamer my entire life.
Life is too short.
I want to learn how to translate my dreams into reality.

Vien T. Ha
4th year, ME
ECE/ME Startup Lab, 2014
3
23,000 graduate and undergraduate
students in the heart of Atlanta… and
beyond.
– Engineering — Management — Computing
– Science — Architecture — Liberal Arts
5,000 int’l students (China, India, Korea…)
800,000 MOOC students.

Largest engineering school in the USA. 4

Bold Entrepreneurial Goals

100 GT research startups per year

300 GT student startups per year

5
What

Why

How
6
What

Why

How
7
 evidence-based
entrepreneurship
What

Why

How
10
 Entrepreneurial Mindset?

Entrepreneurial Confidence!
 a Georgia Tech tradition

Drownproofing
Created in 1940 by Fred “Crankshaft” Lanoue
Required for graduation until 1988!

13
Were we afraid of water after this?
NO

14
Was Drownproofing about water safety?

NO 15
Drownproofing was a way to show students
what they were capable of when pushed
to their limits.
It taught students how to be

confident

16
The Student Experience
 The Student Experience
50 % students
participate in
coop (take up
job after
graduation)
 The Student Experience
50 % students
participate in
coop (take up
job after
graduation)

Internships
broaden
experiential
opportunities
 The Student Experience
50 % students
participate in Undergraduate
coop (take up research experience
job after changes perspectives
graduation)

Internships
broaden
experiential
opportunities
 The Student Experience
50 % students
participate in Undergraduate
coop (take up research experience
job after changes perspectives
graduation)

Internships Study abroad

broaden creates
experiential international
opportunities understanding
 The Student Experience
The “new” student
50 % students
is passionate
participate in Undergraduate
about ideas,
coop (take up research experience
innovation,
job after changes perspectives
changing the
graduation)
world

Internships Study abroad

broaden creates
experiential international
opportunities understanding
 The Student Experience
The “new” student
50 % students
is passionate
participate in Undergraduate
about ideas,
coop (take up research experience
innovation,
job after changes perspectives
changing the
graduation)
world

Entrepreneurship
Internships Study abroad
empowers students
broaden creates
to act on their ideas
experiential international
and translate their
opportunities understanding
dreams to reality
Entrepreneurial Mindset
 Entrepreneurial Mindset?
Entrepreneurial Confidence!
 Entrepreneurial Mindset?
Entrepreneurial Confidence!
Confidence to create their own job
Drownproofing 2.0
What

Why

How
27
tricky…
traditional MBA …
not the kind of
drownproofing
we need!
 non-business
students want to
learn
entrepreneurship
 Undergraduate
Architecture 332
Computing 1,549
Engineering 9,253
Ivan Allen 562
Scheller College of Business 1,280
Sciences 1,020
No College Declared 686
Total 14,682

Graduate
Enrollment by College Architecture 451
approximated Computing 2,034
Engineering 4,102
Ivan Allen 219
Scheller College of Business 769
Sciences 836
No College Declared 16
Total 8,427
 Undergraduate
Architecture 332
Computing 1,549
Engineering 9,253
Ivan Allen 562
Scheller College of Business 1,280
Enrollment by College
approximated Sciences 1,020
No College Declared 686
Total 14,682

Business Graduate
students Architecture 451

are < 10% Computing 2,034

Engineering 4,102
of our Ivan Allen 219
students Scheller College of Business 769
Sciences 836
No College Declared 16
Total 8,427
 Undergraduate
Architecture 332
Computing 1,549
Engineering 9,253
Ivan Allen 562
Scheller College of Business 1,280
Enrollment by College
approximated Sciences 1,020
No College Declared 686
Total 14,682

Sci/Eng Graduate
students Architecture 451

are > 75% Computing 2,034

Engineering 4,102
of our Ivan Allen 219
students Scheller College of Business 769
Sciences 836
No College Declared 16
Total 8,427
 aha! moment:
let’s teach THEM
as well!
aha! moment #2:
THEY won’t
take a business
class!
“Don’t take a job,
make a job”
 1000 students
70 startups so far
 StartupLab
pilot in Spring 2014
30 slots
open only to EE, ME, BME
curriculum informed by
NSF I-Corps
taught by VentureLab
could we teach entrepreneurship
like we teach chemistry?
 StartupLab
pilot in Spring 2014

YES!
30 slots
open only to EE, ME, BME
curriculum informed by
NSF I-Corps
taught by VentureLab
could we teach entrepreneurship
like we teach chemistry?
 StartupLab
pilot in Spring 2014
30 slots - 300 students applied
formed into interdisciplinary
teams of 4-5 members
7 teams
1800+ interviews
3 student startups formed!
 StartupLab

formal in Spring 2015

120 slots - filled immediately
26 teams
4000+ interviews
 StartupLab
now taught Fall and Spring
150 slots - filled immediately
36 teams / semester

students come to GT
because of this course
 StartupLab
structure

Tuesday - lecture hall

all of the students

Thursday/Friday - lab
5 sections - team presentations
StartupLab ?
StartupLab Capstone
pLab Capstone Job?
 Job?

pLab Capstone

Startup?
 Startup Summer
pilot in Summer 2014
students already graduated
8 slots for TEAMS
competitive - 80 applied
2000+ interviews
6 student startups formed!
 Startup Summer
formal in Summer 2015
students already graduated
13 slots for TEAMS
competitive - many applied
now with seed funding
$20k convertible note
$10k startup budget
Startup Summer

20 TEAMS
competitive - 120+ applied
$20k convertible note
$10k startup budget
Startup Launch
2017
two semesters long!
31 TEAMS
competitive - 200+ applied
$20k convertible note
not just GT … 11 universities
 two semesters long!
46 TEAMS
350+ applied
$20k convertible note
pro-bono legal support
? StartupLab
 GT 1000 for
Entrepreneurs
1/3 of all freshmen claim
startup experience
targeted toward introducing
freshmen to available resources
for entrepreneurship
Design & Creativity
teaching students the principles
of brainstorming and
design thinking

teams working on real world

problems
 Idea2Prototype

challenging the maker mentality

can the students take the idea

that they discovered in
StartupLab and prototype it?
 Entrepreneurial
Confidence Startup
Launch
Capstone

Idea2Prototype

StartupLab

Design & Creativity

GT1000 for Entrepreneurs

62
 $30M gift
“… to be used for programs, activities,
and initiatives designed to advance
entrepreneurship in the student body.”
AND BY THE WAY…
EMBA Capstone

revamped in 2017
three semesters
startup creation via EBE
63 students / 13 teams
remember this …
 remember

2 to 3 will be clear failures

 remember

2 to 3 will be clear failures

2 to 3 will make you remember why

you teach