Course Overview (1 unit)

 

L&S 5: Introduction to Entrepreneurship is designed for freshmen and sophomore non-business majors who wish to learn about entrepreneurship, its importance to our society, and its role in bringing new ideas to the market. The course is a collaboration between the College of Letters and Science and the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship. Students learn about the entrepreneurial business process and how they might become involved in this processes in their future careers.
 

The course explores the structure and framework of entrepreneurial endeavors — both inside and outside the business world. It addresses questions such as: 

• What is entrepreneurship?
• What is opportunity recognition and selection?
• How can you create and define competitive advantage?
• How can you think about people in the entrepreneurial context?
• How can you garner support (financial and other) for an entrepreneurial venture?
• What do you do when nothing works as planned?
• How do you focus on doing right and doing well? 

L&S 5 is highly interactive and dynamic. Almost every class features a guest speaker who has structured conversations with the instructor and the students. The format is conversational and interactive rather than lecture-oriented. The guest participants are entrepreneurs — founders and leaders of business and non-business enterprises and backers and investors in those enterprises.