Georgia Tech: Startup Semester(startupsemester.gatech.edu) |
Georgia Tech: Startup Semester(startupsemester.gatech.edu) |
But the shocker was when I saw "weekends". This initially sounded like a full-time thing, which would be amazing. And why not have some more hard deliverables and have it count as a 3-4 hour elective credit?
As for "You do have a chance but you would need to find a technical founder yourself."
Harsh. Georgia Tech has a ton of great minds on campus. Setup a site with the CoC allowing students to create a simple profile and express interest in potentially pairing with others for Startup Semester. Like the "I'm looking for a job" checkbox on github.
(For those reading this, Georgia Tech also has an incubator called Flashpoint http://flashpoint.gatech.edu/ )
You're right. It is a little harsh that non-technical founders will have to look for someone technical themselves. We really wish we can implement a feature like that in the future. For now, a minimum viable program is all we can do with our own full course loads.
At the end of the day, we gauge our success on changing attitudes, not having our startups appear on Forbes. If we can change the culture at Georgia Tech just one cohort of entrepreneurs at a time, more students at Georgia Tech will begin to think much like you.
For perspective my senior design project was a semester long "class" that met once every week or two for milestone updates from the groups, and occasional lectures/instruction from industry folks. My groups project was 4 of us designing and implementing a group management system for social orgs. Basic stuff like shared calendars, sub groups, email<->forum integration, permissions/views for officers and such. Obviously not the most ambitious project, but the kind of thing that a few college kids could feasibly do in a semester on top of a full course load.
To answer your concern more directly, our long-term mission is to create a physical entrepreneurial hub on campus that all majors are welcome to participate in. The purpose is to connect the entrepreneurs of all the schools at Georgia Tech - Industrial Design, Computing, Engineering, Business etc.. - to really build great products and businesses backed by an effective cross-functional team. In our experience, we've never encountered a senior design team with business students, designers, and engineers working together. We may be wrong, but it definitely seems like students are agreeing. At the very least, we're hoping this program could help us, and perhaps a few other misfits like us. :)
The cross major/school stuff would be great, especially getting the CoC kids out of their bubble. The senior/grad level Video Game Design (that still around? it was a ball buster, but a great class) was supposed to include CoC and kids from SCAD and arch/industrial design schools but I'm not sure how many actually had that happen. My team recruited a my comp engineer buddy who was serviable with photoshop.
Agreed on the "getting out" culture, needs to change, but I'm not sure Tech would be Tech without it. My favorite times were always early in semesters and after finals where over, plenty of time to work on some projects with friends without the feeling of "talking shop" that happens during the intense workloads of mid to end of classes.
Just give them some money and the summer term to focus. Being clever just makes this harder.
I don't know what other programs are like across the world, but I think a focus on actually doing stuff rather than simply studying it would be nice. Our thesis equivalent was a business plan, which is a grand set of ideas graded by how good it sounds and well reasoned it is. There was little value in actually going out and creating and testing.
It will offer the students skills in design, development, online and regular marketing, PR, public speaking, team building, as well as internships at VC firms, other startups and more.
I graduated with a degree in the Recording Industry from a school in and around Nashville, which offered internships at labels and other industry focused businesses.
I'm surprised there isn't a web start-up concentration offered at any colleges similar to the Recording Industry concentration I studied. There should be!
[EDIT: Grammar, wording]
Much the same case here. The availability of suitable mentors and coaches is limited, and you don't want spend too much time in very large group gatherings.
"We're dedicating an entire workspace just for teams to work, collaborate, and bounce ideas off each other." = We have a room with chairs and computers.
"Workshops on lean principles, peer teaching, individualized team deliverables" = We'll teach you what a to-do list and a convertible note is. It's not easy.
"Mentorship: Veterans entrepreneurs, business developers, specialists." = Unnamed people who don't know what they're doing tell you they know what they're doing.
Just curious but have you actually seen the mentor list?
http://www.facebook.com/notes/startup-semester/startup-semes...
You're welcome to your opinion of course - just thought you might be curious.