CSCI 4348/7000:
Startup Essentials/Entrepeneurial Projects
Fall 2015
Department of Computer Science,
University of Colorado at Boulder
Course Summary
The goal of this course is to give
Computer Science students the tools to be successful technical
co-founders of their own startups. We take the students
through the initial stages of founding a startup, including team
formation, validating their ideas, and pitching. We employ
the Lean Startup methodology, which teaches among other concepts
to "get out of the building" and develop customers.
Students will iterate on their startup concept, seeking customer
validation, and pivoting as needed. Students will develop
a minimum viable product, and will pitch their final startup
concept, and be evaluated on product/market fit. The
emphasis on early customer development will help teams develop
sustainable business models. We will seek to bring in
entrepreneurs and venture capitalists from the Boulder
ecosystem, including both current and former CU students, who
have had success founding or working at IT startups, to give the
class useful perspectives on what it's like to be out there in
the startup world.
General Information
See the Moodle class Web page at
http://moodle.cs.colorado.edu
Schedule
& Location: Tues, Thurs 2-3:15 pm, ECCR 105
(location may change later in the semester - stay tuned to
moodle). Also Friday recitation 12-1250pm KOBL 102.
Course
number: CSCI 4348/7000. See also the registrar's Web site.
Note CSCI 4348 is part of a two-course Entrepeneurial Projects
Senior Capstone for B.S. Computer Science majors.
Prerequisites: Basic Computer Science programming and/or consent of
the instructor.
Instructors: Professor
Rick Han, http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~rhan,
and Zach Nies, TechStars.
Office (Prof. Han): ECCR 1B05F in
CS Systems Lab
Office Hours (Prof. Han): Tuesdays 11 am and Wednesdays
1 pm my office
(knock on door or call my office phone to be let in).
Additional appointments as needed.
Email: rhan@cs.colorado.edu,
zach@techstars.com
Phone: 303-492-0914 (Prof. Han)
Textbook:
Highly recommended:
The Kindle electronic version of The Startup Owner's Manual, Steve Blank and Bob Dorf, K&S Ranch, Inc. Publishers, 2012.
class Web
site:
See the Moodle class Web page at
http://moodle.cs.colorado.edu. Assignments, lecture slides, and
announcements can be found there. The
moodle has a variety of useful features, including a forum for
posting questions. Each student should
establish an account on the moodle and then subscribe to our
class on the moodle using the special enrollment key given
out in class.
Approximate Timeline
Grading
60% Demos in class
25% Final presentation on team venture's status and progress
10% Class participation
5% Investment exercise
Discrimination and
Sexual Harassment Policy