Class 9: September 15, 2026 · ENTR 5000
Notes from September 15, 2026. These notes record the discussion and instructions given that day. For current requirements and due dates, use the assignment guidelines and semester schedule.
Share work in a way that helps everyone learn
The class reviewed progress on the questions, blockers, and success criteria chosen last Thursday. Small groups gave each person time to tell the full story of what they tried and how it went before asking questions or offering feedback.
Three feedback norms guided the discussion:
- No apologies for sharing work in progress. Describe what happened honestly. If you made less progress than intended, examine why and identify concrete changes for the next sprint.
- Give specific positive feedback. Name the choice, effort, or detail that worked and explain why. This helps a peer recognize strengths worth repeating; generic praise provides less guidance.
- Evaluate effectiveness against the goal. Clarify what the person was trying to accomplish before suggesting improvements. Discuss the work and process, rather than judging the person or simply saying you like or dislike the idea.
Improvement can come from both reducing unhelpful habits and amplifying things that already work. Peers may notice useful strengths that feel ordinary to the person doing the work.
Capture feedback while it is fresh
After sharing, take 60–90 seconds to write down the useful feedback in short bullets. A simple note is enough for now; more systematic storage can come later. With everyone’s agreement, recording your own part of the conversation and summarizing the transcript is an optional alternative.
Reviewing a summary can help you remember others’ advice and notice ideas that were implicit in your own explanation. Capture first, then examine and refine what the summary says.
A prototype delivering real value
The wardrobe app was used to choose shoes for an outfit through an MCP connection. A follow-up request returned a photo of the suggested shoes. This was a small but real use case: continue testing a working prototype in everyday situations and use friction—such as needing an extra request for the image—to identify the next improvement.
What peer feedback revealed
The discussion illustrated three useful contributions peers can make: connect you to tools, reveal blind spots, and improve a process. Before building a mobile app, investigate the needs of both iOS and Android rather than discovering platform constraints after committing to an approach. An LLM may answer within the assumptions of your question; another person can help examine the broader goal and expose assumptions you did not know to question.
The AI Daily Brief distinction between efficiency AI and opportunity AI came up in the discussion. Today’s process-improvement example focused on efficiency: AI can reduce the time spent on recurring tasks. Small savings accumulate, but compare those savings with the time needed to build the automation. When a project needs data, look for a small, accessible starting point—such as your own material or willing participants—so you can test the idea and get unstuck.
Prepare for the first sprint presentation — Thursday, September 17
Plan for three minutes total, structured as two consecutive 90-second parts:
- Project pitch: explain the problem, what you are building to address it, and why you are well placed to do it.
- Progress update: focus on the two or three most useful takeaways in each of two overlapping categories: AI/technology (skills learned and things built) and entrepreneurship (questions explored, blockers addressed, actions taken, and lessons learned).
Include endnotes with a comprehensive, detailed list of your work in both categories; one endnote slide for technology and one for entrepreneurship was suggested. These support the shared record and are not part of the timed presentation. Use your speaking time for the highlights.
For this first round, presenting earns full credit; a more developed grading approach will come later. Repeating the pitch each sprint is deliberate practice in communicating an entrepreneurial idea. Progress updates also help the class determine what is feasible in a sprint and what support to build next.
Slides are encouraged, but optional. Their job is to help the audience understand and engage with the message. Putting all of your speaker notes on screen usually creates too much text and too little impact.
Start with the audience: what should they understand, feel ready to do, or see differently afterward? Think of the audience as the hero and yourself as a guide. Remember that peers generally want the presenter to succeed. Build an opening that gives this audience an easy point of connection, then help them feel the problem or opportunity and see the value of your proposed solution. This early pitch can explain a promising response to a real need; it does not need to imitate a mature company’s investment pitch.
The presentation resource mentioned in class was Nancy Duarte’s Resonate, also available as a free multimedia ebook. This was a resource recommendation, not an assigned reading.
Practical slide design
- Protect the audience’s attention. Slides should reinforce what you are saying. An overstuffed slide competes with the speaker; simplicity means deliberate focus, not oversimplifying the idea.
- Use fewer words. If a slide exceeds roughly 20 words, consider splitting it. This is a reflection prompt, not a strict limit; a quotation read together can justify more text.
- Show where possible. Prefer a strong, large image—often filling the slide—to scattered small images. Comparisons, spatial relationships, and deliberately showing abundance are useful exceptions.
- Keep the design consistent. Use one or two clearly distinct typefaces, a limited set of type sizes, a primary/accent/background color scheme, aligned elements, and clear images.
- Outline before styling. One possible workflow is an indented text outline: each top-level point becomes a slide, then you choose the visual treatment that communicates it best. The same principles can guide your feedback on AI-generated slides.
Looking ahead to Sprint 2
The next sprint starts Tuesday, September 22. The proposed three-week cadence is:
- Entrepreneurship: identify meaningful action and work on the venture.
- AI: develop technology that serves that action.
- Synthesis and presentation: bring the work together and share learning.
The working rhythm is Tuesday kickoff/work and Thursday feedback/collaboration. Entrepreneurship comes first so the technology serves a purpose. The plan remains open to improvement based on what the class learns.
Private Slack channels for each project are planned, with tools to capture progress and support collaboration. Think of a project-channel name for Thursday, September 17, and watch for the Slack thread to submit it. Also consider feedback or ideas that could improve the next sprint.
Optional program opportunities
- Quick Pitch: Thursday, September 17. Attend to watch students pitch and learn from the process. The event page lists doors/networking at 5:30 p.m. and pitches at 6 p.m., at Delta Innovation Hub. Program information.
- Health & Wellness Pitch Competition: applications due September 30. Ideas and ventures in this area may qualify; announced prizes are $10,000, $5,000, and $2,500. See the official competition page for eligibility and application details.