The Term Project forms the backbone of the second section of the term. Here is how it will work in general:
Term Projects
We will work in teams of 3-4 students which will be assigned by the teachers. Each team, by the end of the term, will have defined a new product or service, at least up to a point of being ready to seek funding. The content of the classroom work should be directly applicable to the project work.
The team has to come up with a validated business model for a product or service with the following characteristics:
- it should solve a problem we believe people really have
- we have evidence that people would pay money to solve it
- our solution involves technology of some sort
- we should have reason to believe that the product can be built
Objectives for each team
- Work as a team where everyone contributes. Figure out how you will be effective and make decisions.
- Describe and flesh out an actual product or service that you want to build.
- Follow a lean startup methodology to refine and test and describe the product in detail.
- Articulate and build your MVPs, pivot as needed
- Get out of the building and talk to real users and customers
- Prepare for a solid presentation of the product by the end of the semester
- Capture learnings along all the dimensions of the business model.
- Describe the details of the product as far as you can in a series of stories in Trello
As you know, ther first segment of the course we will be learning the Lean Startup model and applying it to the Pilot Project (P2PTours). During this same time we will be talking and making lists of possible products or services for the Incubator. Ideas are developed as follows:
- We develop a master list of very brief product or service ideas. I have a list of ideas too that we can use to prime the pump. We discuss, we brainstorm, we prioritize and we clarify.
- In classes, we will discuss, debate, sort and prioritize, to discover the best ideas. As a result of this process we clarify and add detail.
- Each student belongs to a team of 3 or 4 students who will then debate amongst themselves to decide on the project. After this we enter into a three frame process, which will consume the balance of the term. See Term Project Framework