EDP 2025 Insights: Even More Amazing Than Usual Because of One Key Item That Bodes Well for the Future … If Handled Correctly

It is hard to describe MIT EDP (Entrepreneurship Development Program) to people who have not participated in it. It’s a six-day fully immersive program at MIT held in January, often in brutally cold weather, like this year.  Entrepreneurs come together from dozens of regions worldwide to form a cohort of about 70-80 participants. Over six days, they have to build a company plan; each day some milestones need to be hit. The lectures in the morning provide examples of how to apply the first principles of Disciplined Entrepreneurship but there is also more.

On Sunday night, Day One, they form teams around brand-new ideas with people they have never met before. That is the starting point for their journey. From there it will take on many turns, twists, and potential full restarts.

Each evening, the teams present their plans to accomplished entrepreneurs who give them “tough love” feedback during multiple simulation sessions focused on that day’s milestone. The milestones are cumulative, as they are in the Disciplined Entrepreneurship process.  They must quickly iterate before another simulation session less than 15 minutes later.

It seems unbelievable to think this is possible. Every year, not only do the participants—many of whom are entrepreneurs in the real world so this is not something new—get very nervous that this is possible, but so do WE! Yet every year, it works. It is amazing and life-transforming for so many. As one participant said when asked the #1 thing they learned: “With the right environment, the right structure, and the right people you can do anything.”  You can read the books, you can watch the videos, you can work on a startup in your region with the people around you but this is something truly unique – the REAL thing.  You come to MIT and get fully immersed in entrepreneurship alongside peers from around the world in a high-pressure environment. You find that not only can you do it, but you also have a whole new level you did not know existed. It is self-discovery at the highest level. That is why explaining is impossible unless you have been through it.

So, we just completed EDP 2025 and it amazes and inspires us—a great way to start the new year—but I want to share an observation about this year that I believe bodes well for the future.

I joke a lot about who is the best because I think it doesn’t matter nearly as much as, “Did you learn the process?” “Did you find purpose in this and are you inspired to keep going?” “Did you find an entrepreneurial soulmate or two?” and “Do you now know what it means to be anti-fragile and are you on board with that program going forward?” That is much more important than where you are at any one point in time. To put this in MIT terms, the first and second derivatives (velocity and acceleration) matter much more than absolute position.

That said, the results of this year’s cohort were noticeably higher than the last years, which had set the new high-water mark for quality. As I thought about this, the gap in quality was much bigger. Why?

It could be various reasons including:

1. Better talent this year.
2. More refinement of the materials than usual.
3. Better coaching and coaching processes.
4. The first time we actively and effectively used the DE JetPack tools in the process.

While #1 was not the case (I still love you all and you are each special little snowflakes but come on, that was not it), and as much as I would like to say it is #2 with the new DE books like the new Expanded and Update version of Disciplined Entrepreneurship, which significantly improved the content, and the new material from Paul Cheek’s DE StartUp Tactics, but while it contributed, I don’t think that by itself accounts for the huge leap forward.  The coaches have always been great and this year they were even tighter, more aligned, and overall better as was the EDP logistics team’s administration. However, this again does not account for the abnormal jump in quality. I don’t mean to belittle any of these hard-fought advancements, which are so crucial to keep focusing on, but the overriding game-changing factor was #4 and you could see it unfold in real-time throughout the week.

The DE JetPack allowed the students to quickly form hypotheses on market segments and then beachhead markets and test them with high-quality Primary Market Research (PMR).  They were able to iterate their ideas and hypotheses to then conduct focused and highly motivated customer research that made all the difference. Not only did it make the ideas so much better, but it also seemed to unify the teams in a way we had not seen before. It was a game changer, and everyone who had participated before noted the big leap in quality this year’s cohort had made. I am pretty confident that several actual very viable IDE (Innovation-Driven Enterprise) high-growth new ventures could come out of this.

The learning point I took away, which was already on my radar but validated this past week, is the importance of AI in the entrepreneurial process and entrepreneurial education writ large.

I wish I had a redo of my final comments to the cohort, having now had the time to reflect more on the week because I not only would have reinforced the key points they had learned of becoming an anti-fragile entrepreneur (the mindset, skill set and way of operating embodied in the 4Hs, heart, head, hand, and home) but I also would have said:

“You will not lose your entrepreneurial battles to AI; you will lose your entrepreneurial battles to people who know how to use AI better than you.”

That is one big takeaway from this year’s session for me.

Huge kudos to Paul Cheek, Ann Marie Maxwell, all the logistics team and coaches, judges, guest lecturers (Lily Lyman, Adam Blake, and Matt Rhodes-Kropf) and so many others who made the week possible and most of all the participants.  You put up with a lot and gave us energy every day.  You are the customers and we hope you got back 5X what you put in.