Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/201447
IDEAS AT WORK Approaches to teaching entrepreneurship are often varied, innovative, and experimental—just like entrepreneurial ventures themselves. And like any venture, they often start with a great idea. Below are ideas from several entrepreneurial campuses that might be adaptable to other programs: SPINE SWEAT Kelley School of Business Indiana University in Bloomington A hallmark of Kelley's Johnson Center of Entrepreneurship and Innovation is its Spine Sweat Experience, the capstone to the school's undergraduate entrepreneurship degree program. Now in its 15th year, the course for seniors takes a no-nonsense—and often grueling— approach to teaching what it requires to be a successful entrepreneur. To enroll in the course, students go through an interview process to show they have solid ideas that they're serious about moving forward. Once accepted, students spend the semester conducting market research, refining strategies, and receiving feedback and launching their businesses. For their final exams, students take up to 25 minutes to present their ideas to a panel of investors, who then grill the students on every aspect of their businesses. "If a student says that his revenues went up by 18 percent, the panel will demand to see the research that backs that number up—right then," says Donald F. Kuratko, who created the course. "The students have to know their businesses inside and out." The panel gives each student an A, B, C, or F—the only grade students Students who passed the Kelley School's Spine Sweat Experience hold their certificates of accomplishment. receive for the course. There is no D, Kuratko explains, because a D is no better than an F in terms of creating a viable business. If students fail, they must rely on a different major to graduate or retake the course over the summer. About 20 percent of students fail, usually due to lack of preparation. "We offer to help show them the weaknesses in their plans, but it's voluntary," says Kuratko. "If they don't want to do the work, they can blow us off." Those who retake the course learn their lessons—100 percent pass the second time around. Students who receive As get another reward—each panel member writes them VILLANOVA IN THE VALLEY Villanova School of Business, Villanova University, Pennsylvania Each January, VSB's Center for Innovation, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship accepts 40 students into its Silicon Valley immersion program—called "Villanova in the Valley." Students and faculty spend a week in Silicon Valley 28 November/December 2013 BizEd in California speaking to VSB alumni working at large tech companies such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter, as well as smaller startups. The week ends with a celebration and networking event, where students occasionally land sum- a check for US$1,000. Students who pass are honored at an evening celebration. Students in last year's "Spine Sweat" capstone were particularly dedicated, Kuratko says—two students received A's, and all passed. Kuratko named the course after something his father told him. "He said, 'Unless students go to bed at night feeling their spines sweat, they don't understand entrepreneurship.' In our course, by the end of April, our students tell us that they're lying in bed at night with their spines sweating because if they fail, they might not graduate!" he says. "It's a great challenge, and when they succeed, it's something to be proud of." mer internships at the companies they just visited. The school originally scheduled the trip at the end of May, but found that timing took away some of its momentum. "After the trip, students worked, were the best man at a friend's wedding, or toured Europe—Villanova in the Valley became just one thing they did that summer," says