BUS-W 503 Creativity/Innovation: Creating New Venture Ideas

• 7 weeks
• 1.5 credits
• Prerequisite(s): None

Description = Ideas are everywhere. The challenge of turning ideas into business opportunities lies in looking into the future to assess customer reactions to products, concepts or solutions associated with new ideas before making expensive (and potentially unnecessary) investments. As such, generating and evaluating new ideas involves answering critical questions such as: How do we start? Where should we focus our effort? What will the idea look like when implemented? How do you know when you have the right solution? W503 is structured around the practical idea development approach called “Design Sprints,” a strategic process developed by Google Ventures to help answer these pressing questions. W503 is part of a portfolio of courses (e.g., M522 and K547) offered to Kelley MBAs who are interested in entrepreneurship, corporate innovation, and product management. Few skills are in higher demand in the marketplace than the ability to identify user needs and translate those into innovative solutions. The process we follow has been used to help new ventures such as Slack, Nest, and Blue Bottle Coffee as well as larger organizations including Google (Gmail, Google X), Uber, Airbnb, Dropbox, Facebook, McKinsey, LEGO, the United Nations, the NY Times and many more. In this class, you will learn how to lead “Design Sprints” whether for your own venture or as a team member for your future employer, turning potential opportunities into reality–a must for any aspiring business development or product manager. This is an essential course for those interested in entrepreneurship, innovation or product management.