Observations From the Just Completed MIT Exec Ed Entrepreneurship Development Program

It is Sunday, February 5, 2023. Two weeks ago at this time, our annual January EDP kicked off IN PERSON for the first time in 3 years. We had experimented with EDP+ last June in conjunction with our MIT delta v cohort and that went well (see EDP+ Innovating On How We Teach Entrepreneurship and Grow the Community) but last week was back to the “classic” version … and it was awesome! It just never gets old.

“What is EDP?” or as it is officially called “The MIT Executive Education Entrepreneurship Development Program. This is when we take as much of what we do throughout the full year with our students to make them innovation-driven entrepreneurs, jam it into one week, and make it available to the outside world on the MIT campus. It is not a series of lectures or talks as much as it is a fully immersive experience of building a company from scratch in five days with people you have never met before. I know it sounds insane because it is … but it also works. Nothing can teach you to be a better entrepreneur in less time as well as this program does. Don’t take it from me, just read the reviews.

Every EDP class is unique and the 2023 cohort was anchored by a very strong foundation of hand-selected participants from Northern Ireland, Scotland, Queensland University of Technology, Danfoss, Poppe + Potthoff, and Southern University and A&M College all integrated with a dynamic group of selected, committed, and talented entrepreneurs from over a dozen additional countries. They might be entrepreneurs in startups, government, academia, or in non-profit, but they all share a determination to up-level their skills in entrepreneurship.

It started on Sunday afternoon when we pulled everyone together for the first time and they were told that “yes they can” be better entrepreneurs and we were starting right away. Under the expert tutelage of Trust Center Entrepreneurs in Residence Paul Cheek (also the Executive Director) and George Whitfield, the participants pitched their best idea and then, through an organic Darwinian selection process, these got narrowed down to 14 teams of 6 to 8 members. By Monday night the number was down to 13 teams as one group decided it would be best if they split up and joined other teams. And we were off.

Each day has a theme and begins with a lecture on the relevant Disciplined Entrepreneurship steps and associated materials with an emphasis on hands-on guidance followed by working sessions and then rapid-fire simulations with empathetic experts (and yes, there’s time between sessions to adjust the teams’ works based on the feedback). The students regroup at night and continue to iterate on their plans. The daily focus areas are as follows:

• Monday: (A) Define Target Customer, (B) Value Proposition
• Tuesday: (A) Product, (B) Competitive Advantage
• Wednesday: (A) Business Model, Pricing & LTV, (B) Go-To-Market and Cost of Customer Acquisition
• Thursday: (A) Financial Model, (B) Fundraising, (C) Final Presentation Prep
• Friday: Final Presentation to a Jury of Judges

You’d think such a timeline would be destined to produce shallow plans, but that is not true. Even though all teams start with just an idea, by Friday they have compelling plans that are not only logical in their flow, but also validated by Primary Market Research completed by the teams during the week. They also know what they don’t know, but have a plan to get started. It is absolutely compelling to see the presentations on Friday, which never cease to amaze; they get better every year.

But EDP is not all sunshine, butterflies, rainbows, and unicorns. During the week, there is tension on many fronts. People are pushed well beyond their comfort zones and team dynamics can be on the border of explosive. That being said, nothing great is easy or accomplished without great work. The teams find their ways through the struggle and come out stronger at the end. They not only understand the process, they now have the confidence to execute it again assisted by the network of warriors who they can count on from a special shared experience.

I am not sure if it was the pandemic or what, but this year’s class was the strongest we have ever had top to bottom. No offense meant to any previous cohort, but the bar just keeps going up every year. We seem to get more and more experienced (but very open to learning to get better) entrepreneurs. I saw a team knocked out in the first round of presentations that would easily have won in other years. That is no disrespect to others, just an objective benchmark on how far entrepreneurship is advancing. You can’t stand still.

The course is a micro-test of antifragility. You can’t just survive the course, by the end the participants must (and do) thrive in the ambiguity, the fast-moving pace, the entrepreneurial community, and the humbling environment created. That’s the point. The mindset, skillset, and way of operating to see change as an opportunity to be embraced as opposed to a threat and seek to avoid it. All in one wild week.

It never gets old. Many of the students went to the Celtics-Lakers game on Saturday night (after they slept in to recover) and it was a great metaphor. The Celtics went on a roller coaster ride during the game seemingly winning and losing it a number of times, but they never lost their focus or confidence. In the end, the Celtics won in a most rewarding way … but it sure as hell wasn’t easy. A perfect metaphor.

A few other observations:

1. The World is Flat: You can be an entrepreneur anywhere in the world now. You can also build teams across countries as well.
2. AI is the New Game Changer and It is Pervasive: Data Analytics and Machine Learning (ML) specifically can be applied to almost any problem, and if they have not already, there is a good opportunity for significant improvement. It’s like digitization was in previous times, but that is just table stakes now. You need to get the data and apply ML in order to get to the next level. And yes there were a number of teams leveraging ChatGPT technology.
3. Entrepreneurship (that we teach) is an Ethical Activity: I was so proud that all of the teams were doing things that were so much more than just profiteering off a soulless arbitrage opportunity. They were helping blind, dyslexic children, building a better platform to advance careers for women in tech, and even the vaping team (which I will admit to being worried about early in the week) came up with a way to help addicted vapers find a way out.
4. One Week Can Changes People’s Lives: This has always amazed me but it is true. Just see the reviews, which motivate us every year to bring our A game and keep improving EDP.
5. The Process Works: Trust the process! John Knapton of the Catalyst Organization in Northern Ireland commissioned a study showing quantitatively the profound impact on the teams over time and the results are summarized in the article “What Gives Me Confidence That We Are Successfully Teaching Entrepreneurship”.

Huge thanks to my fabulous co-conspirator Paul Cheek who is taking Disciplined Entrepreneurship to the next level in the classroom. Also to Ann Marie Maxwell who has been working on EDP for 5 years now and gets it done with a smile and at a level that is truly wonderful to be a part of. Much thanks to her team: Mary, Michelle, Magda, and Jan. So much love to all the mentors and judges who give their time to help out they are too numerous to name here, but you know who you are. Also, guest lecturers Adam Blake, Matt Rhodes-Kropf, and Jeff Fagnan. It is a small but mighty team. Lastly, a very special thanks to all the participants who just get it done. Reminds me of a line I love from a famous bullfighter poem:

The bullfight critics ranked in rows
fill the enormous plaza full.
But only one is there who really knows,
and he’s the one who fights the bull.

Go get ‘em EDPers of 2023 and we look forward to hearing how you change the world for the better! Welcome to the community.