Class 11: September 22, 2026 · ENTR 5000
Notes from September 22, 2026. These notes record the discussion and instructions given that day. For current requirements and due dates, use the assignment guidelines and semester schedule.
From Sprint 1 presentations to Sprint 2 decisions
We finished the first sprint presentations and began choosing what to learn next. The central question for Sprint 2 is: what decision would move your venture forward, and what evidence would help you make it?
What the presentations helped us see
Activity and progress are different. Building features, organizing tasks, or assembling a prospect list can keep you busy without resolving the uncertainty that matters. A useful update explains what changed: a customer responded, a test exposed a limitation, or evidence led you to choose a different direction.
A functioning tool is one part of the offer. Customers may also need confidence in the output, an easy way to adopt it, and help fitting it into their current work. For a consequential service, producing an answer and becoming a trusted provider are different challenges.
Reachable customers matter. Define who experiences the problem, what they do now, and how you can actually speak with them. A very large potential audience is less useful for the next test than a small group you can reach. A long research list is not yet a sales pipeline.
Narrowing an idea can be progress. Focusing on an existing workflow or one type of customer can make the first test more practical. A two-sided marketplace has to attract both sides; a focused service may be able to work with relationships and providers that already exist.
Show what works and what is still proposed. A polished interface, an implemented backend, and a live customer pilot establish different things. Make those boundaries clear. Early pilots are opportunities to learn whether a real customer gets the promised benefit.
Pricing and positioning are part of the experiment. An introductory offer should have a reason and a path forward. Explain the value you are testing, how you will reach the first customers, and what would count as evidence to continue.
The next round will use a firmer three-minute presentation limit so everyone can present in one class. Focus on the problem, what you tried, what you learned, and the next decision. A small-group rehearsal was discussed as a possibility; it was not assigned for a specific date.
Sprint 2: put the big rocks first
The “big rocks” analogy is about choosing the important things before filling the available time with smaller tasks. In this sprint, start with your business goals or blockers, then decide how technical work and AI can help. FranklinCovey’s related big-rocks framework is a useful reference; it is not an additional assigned reading.
Identify up to three major goals or blockers and rank them. One or two meaningful priorities are better than inventing a third. These can include a technical learning goal, but they should explain why the work matters rather than simply list features to build.
For example, “build the pricing page” is a task. “Decide which introductory offer a reachable customer will try” names a decision that the page might help test.
For Thursday, September 24
Bring answers to the six questions below by class Thursday, and post them in your project’s Slack channel on Thursday. Use your ranked priorities to focus the answers.
- What decision or challenge are you working on this sprint? Be specific enough that you can tell whether you made progress.
- What uncertainty is preventing you from deciding or acting? Name what you need to learn.
- Who can you actually reach, and what do they do now? Include their context and current alternative.
- What is the smallest test that could teach you something useful? Keep shrinking it. Identify something observable rather than relying only on what people say they might do.
- What result would lead you to persist, pivot, or stop? Set the threshold before the test so you do not move the goalposts afterward.
- Where can AI help, and what will you personally verify? AI does not need to do every part. Be clear about which judgments and checks remain yours.
This is a working framework. We will refine it as we use it.
Project channels and planning
Reply to the project-name thread in #26f-5000-jw so your project channel can be set up. Two people working on the same project should share a channel. Use a simple lowercase name with hyphens where needed.
The plan is for project channels to be private from the wider program while including everyone in this class. They are shared learning spaces, not confidential conversations with the instructor. Keep the main class channel easy to find; collapse or organize project channels if the sidebar gets noisy.
When a project feels too large, work backward from the desired outcome and the time available. Break it into smaller steps and leave room for other responsibilities, delays, and revision. Use the sprint review to adjust what comes next.
AI workflow example
The book-reselling example showed how AI can help connect a series of small tasks: identifying items, researching sold listings, preparing descriptions and photos, and organizing shipping through a service such as Pirate Ship.
The interesting question is how reducing that overhead changes the economics of a small venture. Accurate descriptions, sound judgment, physical handling, and checking the work still matter.
Opportunities this week
- Startup Social: Thursday, September 24, 4–7 p.m., West End Zone of Sanford Stadium. Pitch Karaoke begins at 5 p.m. You do not need a business idea or pitch to attend.
- Create Club: Monday, September 28, 4:30 p.m., Studio 225. A university photographer was announced for this meeting. RSVP.