I-Corps Faculty Toolkit

Resources

I-Corps Nodes Presentation by Don Millard at I-Corps 5

Syllabus Template and Real Time Feedback Tools

Use this template to tailor the syllabus to your teaching team, dates, and location. Download

These feedback tools provide I-Corps teams with both faculty and peer review. Download the Excel version of each tool and upload them to Google Documents to share in real time with the I-Corps teams members taking your class, co-instructors, and teaching assistants. Instructions for each tool are included on the first sheet of each excel workbook.

Key Learnings: Teaching team comments during presentations Download
Peer Review Tool Download
Instructor Grading Tool Download

Class Lectures

Steve Blank’s class lecture PowerPoints are available here. Click the links below to download:

Lecture 0: Introduction to the Class Download
Lecture 1: Business Models and Customer Development Download
Lecture 2: Value Proposition Download
Lecture 3: Customers/Users/Payers Download
Lecture 4: Distribution Channels Download
Lecture 5: Customer Relationships Download
Lecture 6: Revenue Streams Download
Lecture 7: Partners Download
Lecture 8: Resources Download
Workshop: Mentor Tutorial Download

Business Canvas Development Tools

I-Corps teams are asked to come to the I-Corps course having already completed a business canvas. The business canvas model and a video introducing the model are available here. The video features Alexander Osterwalder, co-author of Business Model Generation, who created it.

Download the business canvas model PowerPoint.

View the video below – or click the 'YouTube' button to view full-size.

Textbooks and Supplemental Readings

There are two texts for the I-Corps course: The Startup Owners Manual and Business Model Generation.

There are a number of readings in addition to the two course textbooks, including articles by Steve Blank, Giff Constable and Marc Pincus that are available online.

Steve Blank, What’s a Startup? First Principles
Steve Blank, Make No Little Plans – Defining the Scalable Startup
Steve Blank, A Startup is Not a Smaller Version of a Large Company
Giff Constable, 12 Tips for Early Customer Development Interviews
Watch: Mark Pincus, Quick and Frequent Product Testing and Assessment

Master Schedules, Administrative Tools and Additional Resources

View these excellent sources of entrepreneurship videos, materials and ideas for teaching.

Steve Blank’s Tools and Blogs for Entrepreneurs.
Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship Corner offers 2000 free videos and podcasts, featuring entrepreneurship and innovation thought leaders.
The Lester Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of California, Berkeley makes videos of many events and presentations available to the public; offers a list of business plan competitions; and links you to successful entrepreneurs at the University.

Master schedules:

I-Corps Standard Schedule
Teaching Team At-A-Glance Schedule

Administrative tools:

NCIIA invoice form
Program Change Proposal Form

I-Corps Faculty Development Program Workbook, Node Handbook and Teaching Handbook

This workbook is for new faculty in the I-Corps Faculty Development Program. It will orient you to the pedagogical process and your role within that process, while at the same time providing you with tools to capture the I-Corps course process. The goal of this workbook is to prepare you to teach the I-Corps course, building on what you learn and experience in the I-Corps Faculty Development Program.

Download the Faculty Development Program Workbook.

Download the I-Corps Node Handbook.

Download the I-Corps Teaching Handbook.

Welcome to the I-Corps curriculum toolkit for I-Corps Faculty Members. The toolkit provides you with tools, templates and materials for you to adapt and use as you teach the course.

Steve Blank, founder of the Lean LaunchPad approach, developed the original materials when he taught the first NSF I-Corps course in Fall 2011. We have since revised and developed additional materials to support the teaching teams now leading I-Corps nodes across the country.

This toolkit will continue to expand as the I-Corps Faculty Development Program grows and scales to include greater numbers of teams. We look forward to your contributions to the toolkit as you teach and innovate the course. We welcome your comments and questions.

I look forward to working with you on this exciting opportunity in entrepreneurship education.

– Jerry Engel
I-Corps Faculty Director

I-Corps is a National Science Foundation initiative to assess the readiness of emerging technology concepts for transitioning into valuable new products through a public-private partnership. In collaboration with the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA), NSF offers select participants from US academic laboratories the opportunity to participate in a special, accelerated version of the Lean LaunchPad course. The course engages participants in moving products out of the lab and into the market, through talking to customers, partners and competitors and encountering the chaos and uncertainty of creating successful innovations.