COURSE NUMBER: MBA292T.8
*Updated on 11/14/16
This course is dual-listed with EWMBA.
COURSE TITLE: Impact Startup Disco
UNITS OF CREDIT: 1
INSTRUCTORS: Jorge Calderon
E-MAIL ADDRESSES: calderon@haas.berkeley.edu
MEETING DAY/TIME: 3/10-3/12
Please note the unorthodox format of this course (3/10-3/12). You must attend all three
sessions of this course in their entirety in order to earn a passing grade.
PREREQUISITE(S): none
CLASS FORMAT: Activity
based lectures, readings and flipped classroom media content to deliver
instruction
REQUIRED READINGS: TBD
ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:
Class
Summary:
Previous
students have said Startup Impact Disco is one of the most worthwhile and
memorable courses they have taken through Haas.
This
is a high-octane, fun, single weekend course for graduate students who are
interested in meeting other impact innovators and getting hands-on experience
developing a new social venture concept.
The
course pedagogy leverages the Purpose-Driven Design Process and a combination
of other Lean Start-up Method and Berkeley Entrepreneurship Tools. The pace and mindset is inspired by other
“hackathon” and startup weekend formats.
A structured roadmap is used to help guide students through a sprint
formation and ideation process. Impact Startup
Disco uses activity based lectures, readings and flipped classroom media
content to deliver instruction.
Students
will begin the course by developing, advocating for and then prioritizing a
long list of ideas, which are narrowed into venture teams based on student
votes. At the end of the course, each
team will present their validated concepts and their next steps plan to a panel
of experts.
Students
are expected to commit to the instruction and development activities that span
from Friday at 4:30 pm to Sunday at 4 pm.
Impact
Startup Disco is an interdisciplinary course and encourages students from Haas
FTMBA and EWMBA programs, and students from any of the other graduate programs
throughout UC Berkeley to participate.
This
course is a great prequel for those planning on taking an advanced
entrepreneurship course or applying to one of Berkeley’s venture competition or
accelerator programs.
For
Spring 2017, all social and environmental impact related concept themes
are welcome, but ideas should address a large urgent opportunity.
Class Objectives:
·
Learn the basics of getting a social start-up concept to
problem-solution fit
·
Deepen your understanding of the problem you seek to address
·
Learn the importance of team composition and team dynamics in
building a social venture start-up
·
Get to know future co-founders and teammates
BIOGRAPHICAL
SKETCH:
Jorge is a
career entrepreneur, management consultant, venture investment professional
& educator. Mr. Calderon is the
Founder and CEO of Eddily, a skill building and campus recruiting software
platform for college students that is directly powered by employers. He is currently on leave from Impact Strategy
Advisors (ISA), a boutique social venture & investment design consulting
firm where he was the founding Managing Director. Jorge’s practice focused on helping capital
sources & operating companies transform intentional social purpose into
economic & positive impact value. Mr.
Calderon has broad expertise in a variety of social themes, including
education, economic development, diversity/inclusion, job creation, poverty
alleviation, access to food, technology for change and the field of impact
investing. Jorge is the author of the
Purpose-Centered Design methodology and its related activities and frameworks. He is also a lecturer at the Berkeley-Haas
School of Business, where he built the Social Lean LaunchPad and Startup Disco
curricula, is a Fellow within Berkeley’s Institute for Business and Social
Impact, is part of the faculty team for the LAUNCH accelerator, was previously
the Faculty Director for the GSVC, and is actively working on developing a
campus based inclusive innovation program. Mr. Calderon previously founded Springworks, a
program lab that was committed to developing paths for women and minorities in
innovation related careers. Earlier he
was the founding Director for the West Coast office of a tech focused seed
stage venture capital firm and has had roles in top tier management consulting,
banking and technology companies. Mr.
Calderon is a University of Michigan graduate and received his MBA from the
Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.