Slides from the NYU I-Corps Infosession on 15 February 2017.

1. NYU 2017 Summer I-Corps
Convergence in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE)
Chris Leslie (chris.leslie@nyu.edu)
15 February 2017

2. About CIE
CIE’s Mission is to increase diversity in STEM
Entrepreneurship and provide guidance as well as
resources to STEM innovators to start-up.
CIE’s projects:
Capstone Competition
The VentureWell Grant
National Science Foundation I-Corps
Visit us at engineering.nyu.edu/cie
Contact us at cie@nyu.edu

3. Annual capstone competition
2016 winners. counterclockwise from top: 1st place,
Urbanamino; 2nd place, M.E.G; 3rd place, 3DeltaWorks.
 Hone entrepreneurial skills of engineering students
 Provide incentive to work hard on senior projects
 Showcase business acumen and presentation skills
2017 edition:
Friday, April 21st, 1:00 to 4:00 PM
Visit us at engineering.nyu.edu/cie
Contact us at cie@nyu.edu

4. Precapstone funded by VentureWell
3-credit elective in fall 2017
Multidisciplinary team of faculty
Lean LaunchPad / customer discovery / prototyping
Inspire entrepreneurial, interdisciplinary senior capstones
Look for application in early March
Visit us at engineering.nyu.edu/cie
Contact us at cie@nyu.edu

5. I-Corps site (pending final NSF approval)
NSF program to promote customer discovery in research
Support 30 teams per year
Network with faculty and entrepreneurial mentors
NYU program features:
funds for prototyping
summer workshop
diversity in STEM entrepreneurship Visit us at engineering.nyu.edu/cie
Contact us at cie@nyu.edu

6. Diversity in STEM
Entrepreneurship

7. CIE survey
 What factors impact diversity in STEM entrepreneurship?
 Market our ideas, but also understand diversity generally
 Responses:
221 responses, 127 finished (57%)
Seven schools of NYU, but 92% from Tandon
Mostly STEM majors (96%)
Mostly male (58%) undergraduates (61%)

8. These students
are the future. And
what they create
today can impact
the world they will
live in tomorrow.
Some are bound to succeed and help in
changing the world, possibly making
business a better place for
minorities/discriminated-against groups
Women’s words: be part of the future

9. These students
are the future. And
what they create
today can impact
the world they will
live in tomorrow.
Some are bound to succeed and help in
changing the world, possibly making
business a better place for
minorities/discriminated-against groups
They are generally at an
early stage of their
careers when there is
more time to recover
from a failure and less to
lose when taking risks.
There's not
much to
lose at this
point
Women’s words: there is little to lose

10. They are generally at an
early stage of their
careers when there is
more time to recover
from a failure and less to
lose when taking risks.
There's not
much to
lose at this
point
These students
are the future. And
what they create
today can impact
the world they will
live in tomorrow.
Some are bound to succeed and help in
changing the world, possibly making
business a better place for
minorities/discriminated-against groups
Women’s words: skills and education
It's a great way to gain
confidence/self-esteem,
try/learn new things …
and get excited about
something they
create/build from scratch
Simply
beginning to …
develop
entrepreneurial
traits improves
one's thinking.
it is insufficient to simply be skilled in one
field, entrepreneurship skills can be
applied to every subject … students
suffer in their achievements due to their
lack of familiarity with entrepreneurship.
Something
that
enhances a
personal
level

11. Why do people become entrepreneurs?
26%
21%
32%
20%
Work by own rules
Make money
Work by own rules
Make positive impact
Women
Men

12. What are student entrepreneur problems?
21%
20%
25%
15%
Lack financing
Inexperience
Lack financing
Need to work
Women
Men

13. Women in STEM and entrepreneurship
Field: STEM Entrepreneurship
According to women 32% 31%
According to men 35% 32%
Statistically 20%–30% 25%

14. Concerns about diversity
Does gender diversity in STEM entrepreneurship concern
you? Women Men
No. If more women want to get involved, they will do so. 8% 31%
Yes. The lower percentage of women in this area means that we
are excluding talented people.
38% 24%
Yes. Entrepreneurship and STEM are good fields and women
should have more access to them.
27% 21%
Yes. If we do not have women involved, we may not have all of the
best ideas.
19% 18%
Combined yes: 84% 63%

15. NYU I-Corps

16. Lean LaunchPad
 Stanford class by Steve Blank in 2010
 Hypothesis-driven testing to ensure
product-market fit
 “Get out of the building” to gain
data from potential users
 Instead of business plans, iterate business-model canvas
 Hone idea into a “minimally viable product” for future work
 Became the preferred method for national ecosystem 2016

17. NSF I-Corps
 Started by the National Science
Foundation in 2011
 Build on fundamental research for
products or technologies to benefit
society
 Education that is immersive and hands-
on (uses Lean LaunchPad)

18. NSF I-Corps Site
 Sponsor 30 I-Corps teams per year
 Students
 Faculty
 Entrepreneur
 Customer discovery through Lean LaunchPad
 Specifically for STEM entrepreneurship
 NYU site pending funding by the NSF
Student team
Entrepreneur
Faculty mentor

19. NYU I-Corps Site
 Four-week summer program:
 July 17 to August 11
 Monday, Wednesday, Thursdays
 Evenings from 6 pm to 9 pm
 Committed to diversity:
 Goal of 50% teams including women
 Portion of program dedicated to diversity
in STEM and entrepreneurship
 Pending funding
from the National Science Foundation
Student team
Entrepreneur
Faculty mentor

20. Who are the student team members?
 Leader: full-time, continuing NYU
graduate or undergraduate student
 Partners can be fellow students,
alumni, friends
 All contribute to customer discovery
with interviews and prototypes
 Team should attend all summer workshop meetings
 Possible for one team member (not leader) to be working full time, but this
is not ideal

21. Who are the other team members?
 Faculty advisor
NYU faculty member
Meets once a week in summer
Provides feedback on evolving canvas
and prototypes
 Entrepreneurial mentor
Anyone with relevant industry experience
Helps students identify customers
Provide insight into decoding interviews (once a week minimum)

22. Components of summer program
 Flipped instruction: LLP videos at home, discussions with group
 Get out of the classroom … talk to “customers”
 Create and iterate Business Model Canvas
 Practice interview techniques and decode what they mean
 Prepare prototype for better interviews
 Information about diversity, commercialization, further funding

23. Joining the Program

24. Who should participate?
1. Desire to learn more about STEM through team-based, entrepreneurial
projects
2. Achieve social goal, like providing clean water or empowering women in
STEM
3. Develop specific entrepreneurial project

25. Timeline
 Now: Enter your interest to apply: goo.gl/CC0VHp
 Before March 3: Complete your application
 Week of March 12: interviews for some teams
 End of March: notifications
 Two or three dates to help settle teams and projects
 July 17 to August 11: summer program (M/W/Th evenings)

26. Benefits of this program
 Modest funds for prototyping
 Chance to apply for up to $3,000 more over the fall semester
 Connection with mentors (faculty and entrepreneurial)
Internships
$50K I-Corps grants with faculty PI
 Preparation for competitions (InnoVention, Prototyping Fund, Summer
Launchpad, etc.)

27. Your next steps
 Enter your interest to apply: goo.gl/CC0VHp
 Contact faculty mentor (from our list if needed)
 Think about your project (either goal or innovation)
 Prepare answers for questions:
Interest/background in STEM
Entrepreneurship experience or reason it is important
Diversity in STEM entrepreneurship
What do you hope to get out of the program?

28. NYU 2017 Summer I-Corps
Convergence in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE)
Chris Leslie (chris.leslie@nyu.edu)
15 February 2017