Resources
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STEAM Challenge Lunch and Learn Proposal Resources
Teams have been encouraged to participate in a series of four Lunch & Learn workshops lead by local experts around venture feasibility planning and development with relevant and just-in-time information to help them plan their social impact project. Below you will find PowerPoints, handouts, and resources, which were discussed at the Lunch & Learns. These are fantastic resources to use when preparing your STEAM proposal.
- Developing a Business Model Canvas with Christine Sims from the Build Institute
- Assessing Community Needs and Developing a Theory of Change with Joanne Sobeck from WSU Center for Social Work Research
- Conducting a Competitive Landscape and Market Analysis presented by Jenifer Daniels, MA, APR, Director of the WSU Innovation Studio
- Resources will be available after the presentation
- Formulating and Delivering an Effective Pitch with Gary Shields from the WSU Mike Illitch School of Business
- Resources will be available after the presentation
Additional proposal resources:
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WSU Social Enterprise and Social Innovation Courses
A new model of entrepreneurship has emerged over the past 30 years, social entrepreneurship, that integrates business with providing a social good. Social entrepreneurs work at the intersection of market failure, using business and entrepreneurship concepts and principles to start and grow social ventures, but different than many traditional commercial entrepreneurs, they seek to maximize social impact while maintaining fiscal sustainability, or what is referred to as a double- or triple-bottom line approach. Social entrepreneurs recognize opportunities to co-create value with communities affected by social problems, and show a greater degree of innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking than their counterparts in human services. Social entrepreneurs desire to understand root causes of protracted social problems, to leverage small efforts to produce maximum change through social enterprise and social innovation, to engage communities in solving their own problems, to attract impact investments, and to build replicable and sustainable social venture models.
Wayne State University offers several courses that can help you explore the field of social entrepreneurship that cover concepts related to both social enterprise and social innovation. Below is a list of current course offerings across the University:
- SW 7095 Social Entrepreneurship: Social entrepreneurs are change agents who challenge the status quo by using social enterprise and social innovation to address protracted social problems. This course is designed for students who want to explore social enterprise start-ups, as well as those students who are just curious about the field and want to learn more about entrepreneurship and explore career opportunities. Students will learn the requisite knowledge and skills to develop their own business feasibility plan that explores starting a new social venture, nonprofit or commercial enterprise. SW 7095 Syllabus
- AID 3200 - Ethnographic Research Methods for Designers: This course will introduce design students to ethnographic methods and approaches stemming from the field of anthropology. Students will learn to utilize these approaches to enrich and inform their design processes from concept, to ideation and design development, to user testing. This class introduces students to human-centered approaches to design, utilizing first-hand knowledge of the human experience to make culturally and ethically informed decisions in their design processes and design creations. Students will receive from this class a set of skills and experiences that they can apply to future academic and/or professional endeavors. AID 3200 Syllabus
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Exploring "Wicked Problems"
A wicked problem is a social or cultural problem that is difficult or impossible to solve for as many as four reasons: incomplete or contradictory knowledge, the number of people and opinions involved, the large economic burden, and the interconnected nature of these problems with other problems. As you consider your idea, you may want to think about the root of the issue and where the problem that you're trying to solve may actually start.
Wicked Problems
Got a wicked problem? First tell me how you make toast
How to work with Wicked Problems?
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Startup Resources
Provided by the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship in the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington, this resource provides a compilation of startup resources curated over a 20 year period, and the following sections will probably be of greatest use to STEAM participants. The links are below!
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Michigan Community Resources
Their mission is to support and empower nonprofit community organizations in Michigan that serve low-income individuals and communities, with an emphasis on community economic development. Explore - Link here
The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design - A step-by-step guide that will get you solving problems like a designer. By IDEO.org You can download the guide once you create a login, and the guide will provide a range of suggestions regarding the three step process - Inspiration - Ideation - Implementation. - Link here
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Social Good Guides
Authored by industry experts, the Social Good Guides are a collection of subject specific guides created for startup change makers.
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Collective Impact
Website focused on community based change
- Home page
- Getting started - See "Launching Collective Impact Toolkits & Guides"
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Jump Start
Fostering entrepreneurs, building ecosystems and impacting economies, JumpStart unlocks the full potential of diverse and ambitious entrepreneurs to economically transform entire communities.
- Entrepreneur Toolkit
- Customer Discovery Tool - Watch a series of videos with accompanying supplemental resources by serial entrepreneur, Steven Blank, which explore the process of customer discovery.
- Customer Discovery Workbook - Use this workbook to discover who your customers are and what they need by formulating and testing hypotheses about your product or service and business model.
- Financial Projections Tool - This guide will walk you through the process of creating a financial forecast by using examples, offering insight and providing links to helpful third party resources.
- Go to Market Strategy - For first-time and experienced entrepreneurs, this tool was created as a guide that reviews the process of planning and executing a startup's go-to-market strategy.
- Go-to-Market Worksheet - Use this worksheet to clarify your marketing strategy and to develop a plan for reaching and engaging with your customers throughout the sales cycle.
- Investor Pitch Tool - This comprehensive guide provides a real-world best practices approach to pitching investors - from the finer details of pitch structure to rock star pitch delivery.
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EPI Centre University of Windsor/ Canada
- Focuses on social impact innovation
- EPICentre 5 step Idea Validation Process
- WEtech Alliance Social Innovation Toolkit
- On this page, check out "SOCIAL BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS" and "STARTING & GROWING A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE"
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Cayenne Consulting
The Entrepreneur's Library
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The Kauffman Foundation
One of the most comprehensive sources of information, tools and resources available to help aspiring entrepreneurs start businesses, create wealth and employ people. The site features in-depth content, guides and videos designed to help entrepreneurs, business mentors, policymakers, academics and investors through each phase of the entrepreneurial journey.
Three areas in particular worth exploring:
- Talking With Humans
- UC Berkley
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NYU Entrepreneurship
- Startup Toolkit
- Founder's Field Guide | Readings & Miscellany: A compilation of entrepreneurship-related resources from Jennifer McFadden's course at Yale SOM, Founder's Practicum. These resources range from early stage financing to building a team to design to branding.
- Customer Discovery: How-To Videos: Video series on Customer Discovery from the Lean Launchpad curriculum.
- Developing a Compelling Pitch: This presentation from Shai Goldman, Managing Director at SVB Capital, can be helpful when preparing a presentation for investors.
- Resources - Presentations and Pitch Decks
- The Secret Structure of Great Talks: Practical lessons from Nancy Duarte (via Ted Talk) on how to structure your speech to make a powerful call-to-action.
- Pitching Hacks: Venture Hacks from Babak Nivi, Founder of AngelList and Venture Hacks.
- Pre-Launch Pitch Deck: This is Mint.com's pre-launch pitch deck. 5-months before launch.
- Building a Strong Team
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OptimizeWayne
This WSU organization provides mentors, networking, resources, and a platform for student to develop their own projects, innovations, and organizations for social change.
- Check out their Facebook page here to learn more
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The Warrior Fund
The Warrior Fund is a pitch competition that awards cash grant prizes to the winners. Do you need money to take your idea or business to the next level? The Warrior Fund can provide up to $5,000 in startup capital to non-profit and for-profit ventures. The Warrior Fund has given over $60,000 in cash to over 20 startups over the last five years. Many have gotten their start with the Warrior Fund. As you are pitching for the inaugural STEAM Challenge this Fall, you may want to take your idea to market and compete in the Warrior Fund at the end of the Fall Semester. Find out more by emailing InnovationWarriors@wayne.edu.