This course is nationally recognized and designed to unite the business and education worlds. Students in the INCubatoredu course learn to identify a problem, develop a product, and present an elevator pitch to sell that product - ultimately gaining the educational experiences to become entrepreneurs.
Frenship Director of Entrepreneurship & Innovation Keith Patrick discovered the program back in 2016 and couldn't wait to get it into Frenship classrooms.
"The program began in Chicago and has since grown to include schools from practically everywhere in the United States," Patrick said. "We always loved the potential of it, and I’m so glad that the timing and support worked out to bring it to Frenship last year."
The course is mainly structured in two parts. During the fall semester students learn about the importance of the Business Model Canvas (BMC). The BMC walks entrepreneurs through the entire business process—from the customer problem to the solution to the solution’s revenue streams. The BMC is the foundation of the INCubatoredu curriculum.
Once students understand the importance of the BMC, they began looking for a problem to solve. With a problem identified, they begin exploring creative solutions.
For the remainder of the school year, students focus on building their product along with developing costs, marketing plans, and revenue streams. Student groups are matched with community partners who are experts in the students’ fields of interest. These community partners mentor and provide guidance to the student groups.
Last week, students in the program presented their first round of product pitches to a panel of three Lubbock area professionals: Donya Butler, owner of local business Design Envy, Ryan Reber, Executive Director of the Lubbock Angel Network, and Taysha Williams, Senior Director of the Texas Tech Innovation Hub.
Butler and Reber have both already been featured speakers in the classroom this year, but all three panelists will also be judges for the final pitch event later this spring.
Some products that were pitched to panelists included a box that would secure delivered packages at your front door, an app that would help you skip long lines at the grocery store, and an app that would help you organize and plan tasks and events.
Patrick said he believes INCubatoredu does a good job of guiding students through a high-level process, all while they are still in high school!
"The work required to be successful in this class is significant, but at the end of the day they’ll have been exposed to a process and skills that will serve them the rest of their lives," Patrick said. "The teamwork, personal responsibility, problem-solving, and communication skills they’re developing are huge. Having gone through this process, they’ll be much more likely to try their hand at entrepreneurship later in life, and they will have a much higher chance of success when they do."
