Entrepreneurship Inside Government

Catalog description

Entrepreneurship Inside Government is about how new organizations get built inside government. The course examines how entrepreneurs create new public value within large institutions shaped by rules, politics, urgency, and limited resources. The setting is different from a startup, but the work is familiar: finding unmet needs, building support, securing resources, testing assumptions, adapting, and scaling what works. Students study government "startups," from AI offices and digital service teams to rapid capabilities offices and breakthrough science organizations. These exploratory organizations are often created to move faster than the institutions around them. Some deliver major results. Others stall. The course asks why. This experiential learning course is built around cases and intensive team research. Students learn how to build legitimacy, overcome inertia, navigate dependencies, design governance, and decide when to pivot. Each team analyzes a government innovation effort and produces a public-facing report with recommendations for improving its performance. The course is intended for graduate and undergraduate students interested in entrepreneurship, national security, public policy, emerging technology, and institutional innovation. No prior government experience is required. Admission is by application.