aerial view of Western's campus at night, with golden lights surrounded by dark trees

Summer entrepreneurship methods course is open to the public

Western Washington University’s College of Business and Economics will offer an entrepreneurship methods evening course this summer.

Lean Startup & Entrepreneurship Methods is a cutting-edge course which allows participants to gain real, hands-on experience in creating a startup business. Participants will work in groups with other students. Projects in the course are treated as real startups, not simulations.

This is a practical class – essentially a lab, not a theory or “book” class. The course goal, within the constraints of a classroom and a limited amount of time, is to create an entrepreneurial experience with all of the pressures and demands of the real world in an early stage start up.

Students will get their hands dirty talking to customers, partners and competitors, as they encounter the chaos and uncertainty of how a startup actually works. Participants will learn how to use a business model, to brainstorm each part of a company and customer development, and to get out of the classroom to see if the startup product is viable. Finally, based on the customer and market feedback gathered, students will use agile development to rapidly iterate the product to build something customers would actually use and buy.

This five-week course is taught by Robin Halliday, partner at the Bellingham Innovation Group and co-chair of Technology Alliance Group Northwest; and Dan Purdy, faculty member in Western’s Marketing Department and director of Western’s Front Door to Discovery.

Classes occur on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and begin Tuesday, June 24.

To find out more, attend an info session on Wednesday, May 28 at 6 p.m. in Western Washington University Academic West Building, Room 303 or 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 11 in the Big Idea Lab on the fifth floor of the Crown Plaza Building at 114 W Magnolia St.

For more information, visit www.wwu.edu/ExtendedEd, email ExtendedEd@wwu.edu or call (360) 650-3308.

WWU is an equal opportunity institution. For disability accommodation, please contact Extended Education, (360) 650-3308 or ExtendedEd@wwu.edu.