Course Details - Columbia University
Classroom Location Update: The classroom for H4E will be in Room 425 at Riverside Church (490 Riverside Dr, New York, NY 10027). The easiest entrance to use is on 120th street between Claremont Ave and Riverside Dr. It is an arched wooden door right after the entrance to the parking garage if you are walking on 120th from Claremont towards Riverside (see this image for the correct door).
Course OverviewHacking for Energy is an new interdisciplinary class for graduate students to develop and test solutions to critical problems facing the energy industry using the Lean Startup methodology. Based on Steve Blank’s Hacking for Defense class (recently taught at Stanford), Hacking For Energy features problem statements for energy issues that need immediate solutions, supplied by industry hosts who also serve as mentors to the teams. Prior to class registration, Students will form interdisciplinary teams and propose a solution for one of the submitted problems. If accepted into the class, the team will investigate the viability of their solution using the Lean LaunchPad methodology. Hacking for Energy is currently being offered at Columbia University (open to Columbia and CUNY students), and New York University. |
Course StructureThe course is designed to help students learn how to launch a startup while simultaneously learning about the energy industry as a whole. Class will be into divided into three activities:
Teams will be assigned a mentor to assist them in getting customer interviews, interpreting the results, and preparing the weekly presentations. They will also have access to a liaison from their industry host. All team members must participate in all class activities, including the out-of-the-building customer discovery. Each week will be a new adventure as you design experiments and test hypotheses about each part of your business model. You will see how agile development can help you rapidly iterate your idea to build something potential stakeholders customers will use (and buy). |
Who can take this class?
How do I take this class?
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Application Schedule10/19/17: Columbia Info Session 10/26/17: Columbia Team Matching Meetup 11/13/17: Applications Due by 11:59PM EST 11/14/17 - 11/28/17: Interviews 12/2017: Course acceptance notification Course ScheduleThursdays, 1:10-3:40PM Morningside Heights Campus (Room TBA) January 18th - April 30th |
Resources and Links
Industry Host Problem Statements
Info Session Registration
Info Session Slides
Course Flyer
Matching Meetup Registration
Student Matching Doc
Course Application
Info Session Registration
Info Session Slides
Course Flyer
Matching Meetup Registration
Student Matching Doc
Course Application
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The startup culture is dramatically different from the university culture. Startups communicate much differently than inside a university and lab. This class’s culture may feel brusque and impersonal, but it is intentionally oriented to simulate the time and cash-constrained environments in which startups operate. With limited time, we will push, challenge, and question you in the hope you will quickly learn. We will be direct, open, and tough – just like the real world. We hope you will recognize that our comments are not personal but part of the process. We also expect you to question us, challenge our point of view if you disagree, and engage in a real dialogue with the teaching team. This approach may seem harsh or abrupt, but it is all part of our wanting you to learn to challenge yourselves quickly and objectively, and to appreciate that as entrepreneurs, you need to learn and evolve faster than you ever imagined possible. |