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2.0 Two Cool Assignment

Marcie Sonneborn

Syracuse University

Email: msonneborn@

|Rationale: To help "Introduction to Entrepreneurship" students to look for opportunity in what they read and hear, and to help them to |

|develop a creative approach to new business development. |

|Required Activity: To bring to class two of the coolest products, ideas, concepts, technologies, information items or whatever grabs your |

|interest/captures your imagination that you can find during the week. |

|Each week you are required to document "two cool" items and their sources (forms provided by instructor). For each class, be prepared to |

|present one of the two items when they are being shared. The class will then select one item from those presented, and will brainstorm |

|(either in teams or with the entire class we may alternate) about different ways to commercialize the concept, and discuss some of the |

|barriers and opportunities inherent in the idea. |

|Possible Sources of Cool Items: World Wide Web, journals (trade, industry, scientific), magazines, newspapers, other media, other |

|entrepreneurs |

|Note: This is an activity that counts toward the student's class participation grade. The exercise will take about 35-45 minutes, usually at|

|the beginning of the class period, unless there is a guest speaker. |

|[pic] |

|"TWO COOL" |

|EEE 370-Spring 2002 Mondays 7:00-9:45 p.m. |

|Name: _________________________________________________________ |

|Date of Class session: _____________________________________________ |

|Cool Item # 1 |

|_____________________________________________________________________________ |

|_____________________________________________________________________________ |

|_____________________________________________________________________________ |

|_____________________________________________________________________________ |

|Source of Information for Cool Item #1 (e.g., journal and issue date, source and date of news broadcast, etc.): |

|_____________________________________________________________________________ |

|_____________________________________________________________________________ |

|_____________________________________________________________________________ |

|_____________________________________________________________________________ |

|Cool Item # 2 |

|_____________________________________________________________________________ |

|_____________________________________________________________________________ |

|_____________________________________________________________________________ |

|_____________________________________________________________________________ |

|Source of Information for Cool Item #2 (e.g., journal and issue date, source and date of news broadcast, etc.): |

|_____________________________________________________________________________ |

|_____________________________________________________________________________ |

|_____________________________________________________________________________ |

|_____________________________________________________________________________ |

|Comments:___________________________________________________________________ |

|[pic] |

|"TWO COOL" Instructions |

|Objectives: |

|1) To create awareness of innovation in our surroundings; to help EEE 370 students to look for opportunity in what they read and hear, and |

|to help them to develop a creative approach to new business development. |

|2) To give students practice scanning their environment for new ideas. |

|3) Used early in the semester to help students to get acquainted with each other as a group and in newly-formed teams. |

|4) To introduce business concepts in short, experiential bursts. |

|5) To be a vehicle for discussion about whether the concepts are just cool ideas or real opportunities. |

|Preparation: |

|One week before the assignment is due, give the students the following instructions with the form on the other side: |

|Group Instructions: |

|"Bring to class two of the coolest products, ideas, concepts, technologies, information items or whatever is truly innovative and grabs your|

|interest/captures your imagination that you can find during the week. This should be a concept that is totally new to you. |

|Each week that I announce we will have "Two Cool" the following week, you are required to document two "cool" items and their sources (forms|

|provided by instructor). For each class, be prepared to present one of the two items when they are being shared. (If someone else has an |

|item similar to yours, you have the second item as a back-up.) |

|Possible Sources of Cool Items: Internet (sites for patents, inventions, new products, MIT Media Lab, etc.), journals (trade, industry, |

|scientific), magazines, newspapers, other media, other entrepreneurs" |

|Class activity/Process: After generating a group list of Two Cool items with the entire class (recorded on an overhead projector or |

|someplace where all can see them), the class will then select one item from those presented, and will brainstorm (either in teams with each |

|team selecting a different concept, or with the entire class on the same concept we may alternate) about different ways to commercialize the|

|concept, and discuss some of the barriers and opportunities inherent in the idea. |

|Student Presentation: Select a spokesperson (or two) to present the team findings. Professor either comments after each team, or debriefs at|

|the end of the discussion, summarizing the important points that were made in the discussion. |

|Supplies: Markers and large pads of paper for teams to record their responses; tape to put up the large sheets around the room so all can |

|see them. |

|Alternative discussion topics: |

|1) Team: elevator speech You are the management team for this company. You are to prepare an elevator speech which captures the interest of |

|a potential investor in two or at the most, three sentences. Then select a spokesperson to present the elevator speech. (One other team |

|member may assist by holding the paper for the class to read the important points which the spokesperson presents. I usually ask someone |

|from another team to role play the investor in the elevator.) |

|Preparation: Prior to this Two Cool discussion session, I spend about 5 minutes explaining what is an elevator speech and asking the class |

|what they think are some examples of important points. |

|2) Team: business model concepts "Think about your team's Two Cool concept and what it would take to start a business around this concept. |

|Provide five statements about what is needed. (Examples: What is the size of the business? What specifically is your product, if not |

|obvious? Who is your market? What special expertise is needed to start this business?)" |

|After the team presents their item, as a group we discuss (in rapid-fire response from the tops of their heads) how much (capital) might be |

|needed to start this business. Some respond with very high amounts and some with low amounts. I ask why it would cost so much or so little |

|and by the end of the discussion, we usually have a couple of alternative models that could be used to develop a business around the |

|concept. (Examples of alternatives: National versus regional market, bootstrapping versus investor capital, borrowed resources and |

|outsourcing versus buying everything and setting up own operations, etc.) |

|Hints: |

|1) I generally take between 15 and 25 items depending on the number of students in the class and the amount of time I have allocated to the |

|discussion. Early in the semester I use this as a way to generate discussion and get students comfortable speaking in the class group. I |

|also get them used to my calling on them randomly when no one volunteers. The risk is low in this exercise and they learn that I expect them|

|to be prepared to participate.) |

|2) This is an effective exercise if done twice in a semester, and early in the semester, using different discussion topics. More than twice,|

|it loses its impact and spontaneity. |

|3) I count this activity toward the student's class participation grade. The exercise takes about 5 minutes to generate the list, 10 minutes|

|for team discussion, 15-20 minutes for presentations with instructor comments, and another 5 for the wrap-up (total 40-45 minutes). |

|Originator of exercise: |

|Marcene Sonneborn |

|President of Innovation Management Consulting, Inc. |

|Adjunct, Syracuse University |

|School of Management |

|EEE Program |

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