University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown

Entrepreneurs Idea Lab

Course Description

This course within the Somerset Trust Company Entrepreneurship Program is designed as a pragmatic approach to converting a new idea into a viable venture, and is open to Pitt-Johnstown students of any major as well as community members.

Students explore a 24-step process that helps them develop their ideas in the context of a beachhead market so that it will be commercially viable. Students present new ideas, select the best, and work on the strongest innovations for presentation at the end of the course to potential investors and business leaders. Local business experts and business owners who know the ropes will be part of students’ development as mentors and presenters during the course. Students are guided using the Massachusetts Institute of Technology approach to innovation that predicts whether they can achieve success with their ideas.

Designed for two scales of innovation:

  • Local/Regional Markets - Incremental Growth
  • Global/Regional Markets - Exponential Growth

Text: Bill Aulet (2013), Disciplined Entrepreneurship. John Wiley & Sons.

Prerequisites:

  • Pitt-Johnstown Students - Sophomore or Higher, MS Office competency
  • Non-Pitt-Johnstown Students - MS Office competency, business experience preferred

6 key questions we answer in Entrepreneurship Seminar

1. Who is your customer?
2. What can you do for your customer?
3. How does your customer acquire your product?
4. How do you make money from your product?
5. How do you design and build your product?
6. How do you scale your business?

Instructor

Skip Glenn, Assistant Professor
Voice: 814-269-2967
Email: sglenn@pitt.edu

Having worked with dozens of small and medium companies in many industries including aviation, textiles, machining, human services, banking, legal services, conservation, and education, Professor Glenn has had the opportunity to see the guts of enterprise and new business development. Currently, as brand consultant, he serves many businesses in the region and incorporates students in his work to help organizations build more robust marketing capacity and culture for better results.