“40 years ago when I joined IBM one of the parts of the program they put us through in the training program was “sales”. I will never forget it and it was incredibly helpful through my career. It was training us how to sell multi-million dollar mainframe computers.”
-Bill Aulet
 
In 1998 Howard Anderson started one of the first Sales courses at a business school at MIT Sloan from the same center of gravity. The course has continued built off this foundation and been one of the most successful courses at MIT. However, as we look at the course and the challenges that business leaders are facing, we’ve seen just how much the revenue landscape has transformed. With that, we’ve taken an opportunity to evolve the class beyond how to be a better sales person or manager to instead focus on how to be a Chief Revenue Officer.
 
The course will still cover integral sales skills, but will revolve around four fundamental Go-To-Market business models and will explore how a CRO can identify, build and execute on the right model for their business. This includes not only building out a sales organization, but also the underlying tech stack and revenue operations required to measure results and sustain competitive advantage. Each class will cover the relevant core first principles per topic and include an industry expert speaker to provide context and share valuable lessons learned throughout their careers. This course is highly relevant to anyone interested in building a business or better understanding how to drive revenue at scale.

C. Madsen

A. Blake

Senior Lecturer

Entrepreneurial Sales

Venture Engineering - 2.912J / 3.085J/ 15.373J

This course provides an integrated approach to the development and growth of new innovative ventures. 

The course is intended for MIT undergraduates who seek to leverage their engineering and science background through innovation - driven entrepreneurship. It serves as a foundational class for the MIT School of Engineering Entrepreneurship Certificate.  It is also as one of the two required courses for the MIT Innovation and Entrepreneurship Minor.

The course is designed to be a fun but also rigorous and comprehensive view of not just new venture creation but also what it takes to be successful in the different forms of entrepreneurship, which is more than just founding startups. It is a mindset, skill-set and way of operating that will benefit you no matter what you do going forward.

The course is intended for undergraduates with a strong technical background but does not assume prior business or management experience. The course can be taken as a stand alone course and the student will receive benefit. It is also highly complementary to and serves as a strong foundation for a range of innovation and entrepreneurship courses around MIT. 

The course is particularly appropriate for a student who like to found or join a start-up company at some point in their career but it also gives you the confidence and capacity to be an entrepreneur inside existing organizations which is what will increase your career velocity, even if you chose to stay in academia.

The course combines interactive lectures, in class exercises and competitions, and team projects. The course leverages both academic research and the most current practical implementation to create an experiential but also rigorous educational experience for students to better understand and  become innovation-driven entrepreneurs in the best place in the world to do this – MIT. The class is highly interactive. 

B. Aulet

Professor of the Practice

Venture Engineering

Covers modern tools and methods for product design and development. Includes a cornerstone project in which teams conceive, design and prototype a physical product and/or service. Covers design thinking, agile development, product planning, identifying customer needs, concept generation, product architecture, industrial design, concept design, green design methods, and product management. Sloan students register via Sloan course bidding. In person not required. Engineering students accepted via lottery based on WebSIS pre-registration.



N. Jean

S. Eppinger

General Motors LGO Professor of Management

Product Design and Development

Project-based course offering the opportunity to experience startup life in a low stakes environment while contributing strategic value to early-stage ventures. Students secure a startup project of their choice or work with a startup pre-selected by the action learning team. Startups represent a range of industries and, while concentrated in the Boston area, may also come from other parts of the US. Students cannot drop course once project commences.

What is DE Lab? 
Disciplined Entrepreneurship Lab (DE Lab) offers students the opportunity to enhance and apply their understanding of the fundamentals of entrepreneurship by engaging in a full-time project with a startup over a period of 3-4 weeks during IAP in January. The course builds on the academic framework of Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup and its application in a real-world environment.

Potential projects include, but are not limited to:
- Identifying new markets
- Entering new markets
- Launching a product
- Developing a sales strategy

Students may also provide general support to the startup over the course of the Lab.

FORMS

Student interest form:
https://airtable.com/appou1sElBRmegqO9/shrIUMXtwngglnKLN

Student sign-up form:
https://airtable.com/appou1sElBRmegqO9/shr5OZhJvOI72A0JI

Company sign-up form:
https://airtable.com/appou1sElBRmegqO9/shrNmY8HT5kFoSJcp

SCHEDULE
- Kickoff: First week of IAP via Zoom (details to follow)
- Final Presentations: End of IAP (details to follow)
- Credits: 6

INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS 
The class provides students with a real-life application of the Disciplined Entrepreneurship framework by working with a startup of their choice for 3-4 weeks throughout January. Key dates for students include a kick-off call on the first week of IAP via Zoom (details to follow) and final presentations at the conclusion of DE Lab (details to follow).

How many credits is the class? 
The class is 6 credits.

Does the internship have to be in-person or can it be virtual? 
The set-up of the internship will depend on your final agreement with the host company.

Can I source my own company to work for? 
Yes! Students are encouraged to source their own host companies to maximize their learning from the class.   

Companies can sign up here, including student companies:
https://airtable.com/appou1sElBRmegqO9/shrNmY8HT5kFoSJcp

When will the list of host companies be published? 
We are planning to share the list of host companies by mid-November.

Is DE Lab open to non-MBA / non-Sloan students? 
Yes, DE Lab is open to students outside of the MBA / Sloan.

Do I have to be present in-person for the kick-off call? 
The kick-off call will be hosted on Zoom.

What is the expected workload? 
In general, DE Lab requires you to work with a startup for 40 hours per week over a period of three weeks.

What are the deliverables for the class? 
Students are required to attend the kick-off session, submit a midterm reflection memo (2-3 pages), and do a final presentation (5 minutes, 5 slides).

What is the structure of the final presentation? 
The final presentation will be a 5-minute, 5-slide presentation. Further instructions will be made available at a later stage.

What is the format of the final presentation? 
The final presentations are to be delivered in-person. However, in case of class schedule conflicts, students may submit pre-recorded videos.

Can I work for my own startup? 
Unfortunately no, DE Lab does not allow students to work on their own startup as part of the class.

What is the matching process? 
Students will be required to reach out to their startup of choice and agree on the structure of their DE Lab internship individually. This also applies to companies that are included on the host company list.

At what stages and from what industries are the companies? 
There is no limitation with regard to the industry and past startups have covered a wide array of different industries. In terms of stage, DE Lab is primarily focused on startups in pre-seed, seed, and series A stages.

Can I get paid for my internship? 
No, DE Lab requires the internship to be strictly academic and does not allow for any kind of compensation. You will receive 6 academic credits upon completion of the Lab.

Who can I contact with further questions? 
Please reach out to Kwang Jun Lee (klee21@mit.edu).

INFORMATION FOR HOST COMPANIES

DE Lab is hosted by Bill Aulet and Paul Cheek from The Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship and offers you the opportunity to work with a student intern from MIT on a real-life project and to build connections with entrepreneurial-minded MIT students.

The project will take place during January and students typically work 40 hours per week for 3-4 weeks with their startup of choice. Students will receive a list of host companies and reach out to their preferred companies. Please note that, as students will select their startups independently, signing up to be a host company does not guarantee a match with a student. 

Companies can sign up for the Lab using this link:
https://airtable.com/appou1sElBRmegqO9/shrNmY8HT5kFoSJcp

When does the internship take place? 
The internship will be conducted during the Sloan IAP period which typically runs from January until early-February. The exact length and timing of the internship can be decided individually between host companies and students.

What is the format of the internship? 
Students typically work with their host companies 40 hours per week for a period of 3-4 weeks. The details are to be agreed upon between the host company and the student on an individual basis. The internship can take place either virtually or in-person, which is also up to the discretion of the parties involved.

How does the matching process work? 
Students will be provided with a list of interested companies by mid-November. Afterwards, they will reach out to their preferred companies to begin the interview process for the internship. Please note that signing up for the Lab does not guarantee that your company will have a match.

Do I have to pay my intern? 
No, DE Lab requires the internship to be purely academic and does not allow for any kind of compensation of the student.

Do I have to have a specific project to participate in DE Lab? 
No, companies do not have to have a specific project in mind to participate in DE Lab. However, to facilitate the matching process with students, our sign-up form includes a short paragraph about the work the student intern will be doing over the course of the Lab.

What kind of companies is DE Lab looking for? 
DE Lab is open to companies from all kinds of industries. Given our focus on entrepreneurship, we generally focus on companies in pre-seed, seed, or series A stages. However, you are still encouraged to sign up for the Lab even if your company is slightly more mature.

Do I have to be MIT-affiliated to participate in DE Lab? 
No, we encourage all startups to sign up for DE Lab, regardless of MIT affiliation.

What happens if I no longer have capacity for a student intern? 
Please contact Kwang Jun Lee (klee21@mit.edu) to take your company off the host company list.

Who can I contact if I have further questions? 
Please reach out to Megan Hung - mhung25@mit.edu

How to Make (Almost) Anything

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