Disruption, Entrepreneurship & Social Impact

Catalog description

Disruptive technologies have massive impacts on society and create enormous business opportunities, especially for entrepreneurs. This course examines this phenomenon through the lens of technologies causing global disruption including AI/machine learning, cybersecurity, climate change/sustainability technologies (e.g. carbon capture and water scarcity/management), and genome editing. In each domain, we will examine how the specific technology is changing the world, what business opportunities are created, and what societal issues will have to be addressed. We will focus on developing skills in investigating emerging tech, assessing technology diffusion, developing a point-of-view on the market opportunity created, and approaching commercialization. A key aspect of evaluating disruptive technology will be learning how to identify and manage several areas of uncertainty (technology risk, market acceptance, regulation, etc.) so that the plans developed will be flexible for the emergence of different scenarios. We will also touch briefly on recent innovations in tech GTM strategy that can accelerate customer adoption. Lectures and pre-readings will enable us to survey the field quickly and ensure a common understanding for a robust class discussion. We will hear from guest speakers including entrepreneurs, research scientists, and other industry experts. In-class exercises will provide practice on how to perform technology assessment and consider alternate scenarios on how a disruptive technology market will unfold. Students will complete a final project assessing a disruptive technology and the market opportunity instead of a final exam.