Class 3: August 25, 2026 · ENTR 5500
Notes from August 25, 2026. These notes record the discussion and instructions given that day. For current requirements and due dates, use the assignment guidelines and semester schedule.
Class slides · ENTR Announcements slides
Startup risk and learning before building
A startup faces financial, competitive, staffing, legal, reputational and execution risks. The discussion’s central warning was building something nobody wants: successful construction is not the same as product–market fit, where the offering meets demand that customers actually choose to support.
A new business location is not automatically a startup in the sense used here. A startup searches for a workable business model; an established business mainly executes one it already understands. A new branch can still be difficult and risky without making the whole model unknown. See Steve Blank’s startup lifecycle explanation.
Bias to action means making progress that produces learning. Speed can help, but an undifferentiated product, inadequate resources, or a weak team can still undermine execution. Protecting genuine intellectual property matters; secrecy alone does not establish customer demand.
Toothbrush design challenge
Teams designed and pitched a children’s toothbrush. Proposals surfaced different stakeholders: children use the product, parents usually choose and pay for it, and the business needs workable costs and revenue. A subscription idea introduced recurring revenue—repeat payments rather than a fresh sale every time.
The key question is larger than “what features should we add?” Ask how we would discover what customers and users need. The Tom Kelley / IDEO field-observation example shows why watching children brush can challenge a plausible assumption: smaller hands do not necessarily need a thinner handle. Observing grip and dexterity reveals a different design opportunity. Quantitative data can describe a market while missing the behavior that explains the problem.
Name practice continued briefly as an application of agency: use the tools and practice opportunities available instead of assuming memory ability is fixed.
Before Tuesday, September 1
No Intro class on Thursday, August 27.
- Watch Slack for the reusable Google Doc template and detailed writing prompt; make your own copy.
- Write individually about how you would investigate and solve the toothbrush challenge, including steps to learn about needs and risks. This is thinking practice: do the writing without AI assistance.
- Follow the posted prompt for any vocabulary component; the assignment replaces the planned vocabulary quiz.
- Complete the work by the start of the next class, September 1, and finish your Slack profile photo.
The syllabus quiz is not being carried forward as a new task. The name challenge was still scheduled for September 3 as of this class.