[First and second year Illinois Tech students in particular are encouraged to enroll in this special IPRO class.]

This introduction to entrepreneurship experience focuses on the key considerations in successfully starting new businesses. There is a defined set of tools, concepts and processes that can be effectively applied – regardless of the type of business opportunity – to maximize the likelihood of a new venture’s ultimate success. IPRO participants will learn these approaches and apply them in several ways during the semester. A number of young entrepreneurs whose businesses are in various stages of development will share their expertise and experiences, engaging with the IPRO class through insightful presentations and lively Q&A sessions.

Through this IPRO team project class, students will be able to:

• reflect on the many practical and emotional challenges of starting a new business and choosing to become an entrepreneur.
• describe how the presented set of lifelong business-building skills, approaches, strategies and techniques will assist them throughout their careers.
• create a realistic business plan and basic financial projections including development and delivery time frames, team and talent needs, technology requirements, and funding sources, proceeds and uses.
• evaluate a new venture opportunity using tools such as gap and change analysis, prospective customer needs, product or service requirements, competitive context, risks and unforeseen problems.

This special IPRO experience will incorporate the traditional IPRO learning objectives to develop skills and experience in interdisciplinary teamwork, communication, logically-correct reasoning, project management and ethical reasoning.

The first half of each weekly session will be in a lecture format followed by a group Q&A session (with occasional guest speakers) in Hermann Hall, with any Illinois Tech student welcome to attend the lectures. During the second half of each weekly session, students enrolled in the IPRO course will meet in the Steelcase Commons at the Kaplan Institute, focusing on the challenge of applying principles of entrepreneurship and methods of new venture development to brainstorm and explore concepts that can create value.

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