{"id":957,"date":"2019-12-01T08:32:49","date_gmt":"2019-12-01T16:32:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fnsreporting.com\/blog\/?p=957"},"modified":"2025-12-05T00:09:42","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T08:09:42","slug":"entrepreneurship-and-beyond-skills-learned-in-incubator-classes-guide-startup-development-and-pay-off-in-life-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fnsreporting.com\/blog\/2019\/12\/01\/entrepreneurship-and-beyond-skills-learned-in-incubator-classes-guide-startup-development-and-pay-off-in-life-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Feature: Entrepreneurship and Beyond: Skills learned in incubator classes guide startup development and pay off in life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\nhttps:\/\/news.harker.org\/entrepreneurship-and-beyond-skills-learned-in-incubator-classes-guide-startup-development-and-pay-off-in-life\/\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This article originally appeared in the winter 2019 issue of Harker Magazine<\/a> and was reprinted in Harker News Online.<\/a><\/em>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harker\u2019s\nincubator program, after one full year, has turned out some solid successes,\nawarding cash grants to students who developed business plans and successfully\npitched to a panel. Now, starting year two, the benefits to students \u2013 far\nbeyond money \u2013 are becoming apparent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nprogram launched with a single class in summer 2017. That first class, a\nno-credit offering, brought students three of the critical ingredients for\nentrepreneurial success: strategic advice and mentorship, a dedicated support\nteam and seed funding. A couple of pretty interesting ventures arose from that\nclass, which was so well-received that the department developed the curriculum\nfor a regular school-year program of two for credit classes to start a year\nlater, in fall 2018. (See links in box on page 49 for more.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nfor-credit classes, Honors 2, ran all year. By May 2019, about $20,000 in\nventure funds were handed out to eight companies developed by 11 students. In\nIncubator 1, students created and commercialized their own product or\nservice.\u201cTeams are led through the lean startup processes of developing\nhypotheses about a business concept, testing those hypotheses, adapting and\ncontinually iterating,\u201d said Michael Acheatel, business & entrepreneurship\nteacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incubator\n2 is geared toward students who have already launched a company and are focused\non growing their business. \u201cStudents are led through three-week long \u2018sprints\u2019\nwhere students identify their individual goals and tasks at the beginning of\nthe sprint and present a demo of their accomplishments at the end of the\nsprint,\u201d said Acheatel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students\nin each of the courses receive coaching and mentorship from entrepreneurs,\ninvestors and business experts, and a key element in the 2018-19 classes was\nprovided by Next47, a venture capital firm, which donated $10,000 in venture\nfunds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now,\nyear two of the for-credit incubator classes has started and the Incubator 1\nstudents are in the midst of the vetting processes, while the new Incubator 2\nstudents are using their funding to develop their ventures to bring them to the\nnext level \u2013 a functional organization with a product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ngoal, however, is not to create million dollar companies in high school, though\nin Silicon Valley\u2019s entrepreneurial atmosphere, that is not beyond reach. The\nreal goal is to teach students to think critically when developing ideas, to\nuse resources, like mentors, to advance their knowledge and network, and to\nhelp the students gain confidence that careful, hard work will bring concrete\nresults at some level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe\ngoal of the course is to provide students with experiences that teach values\nand practices that are not traditionally taught in the classroom but are hugely\nimportant in life\/ work,\u201d said Acheatel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\nwant to inculcate soft skills such as resiliency, problem-solving, creative\nthinking, public speaking and networking. These skills are built into the lean\nmethodology of controlled failure, of seeking failure early as a means of\nimproving. Furthermore, they learn these skills by working with mentors and\npitching investors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAdditionally,\nthey learn technical skills that they\u2019ll use in the workplace like financial modeling,\nconducting competitive and market research, executing marketing campaigns,\ncreating and delivering pitches, developing investor reports, etc. These are\nskills that they will use in almost any job they take, yet they are not taught\nin traditional school environments,\u201d Acheatel noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nerine\nUyanik and Arun Sundaresan, both grade 12, are in the Incubator 1 class,\nexploring the skills needed for serious entrepreneurship for the first time.\nTheir company is designing electronic flashcards that address shortcomings in\nexisting digital flashcards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost\ndigital flashcards have a two-sided format that inherently limits the content\nthat can be asked,\u201d said Uyanik. \u201cTo study certain concepts, such as\nvocabulary, would require either making many flashcards with closely related\nbut still separate information or making a single flashcard that contains all\nthe related information. One is inefficient, and the other is ineffective,\npotentially coming at the cost of the student\u2019s own learning,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\npair is working on a multisided flashcard that suits a student\u2019s needs better.\nFor example, when studying a molecule, to learn its name, formula, molecular\ngeometry and structure would require a program in which students can input all\nthe information and determine how they review that info.\u201dNothing of the sort\nexists,\u201d said Uyanik, \u201cso I decided to take this incubator class to develop\nsuch an application.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Partner\nSundaresan came in with more background and is really looking for an\nopportunity to grow as an entrepreneur. \u201cI\u2019ve had a lot of exposure to business\nand entrepreneurship before, both academically and in extracurricular\npursuits,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like taking the incubator class was a natural\nprogression in my explorations of business, as I will launch a for-profit\ncompany.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nfirst lesson the pair learned was that although each came to class with\nindependent ideas, there was enough crossover that they could grow their ideas\ntogether. \u201cAt first, we hesitated to work together since we envisioned pursuing\ncompletely different paths,\u201d said Uyanik, \u201cbut Mr. Acheatel pointed out that we\nboth were trying to address problems with existing study tools, just with\ndifferent solutions in mind \u2026 so he encouraged us to work together at least\nduring the early stages, where having more ideas on the table wouldn\u2019t hurt. We\nthen delved into the market research and analyzed our ideas realistically.\u201d\nThat\u2019s when the real growth began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cArun\nrealized that my proposition seemed more feasible to achieve through this\nclass, so he decided to let go of pursuing his vision to focus on mine,\u201d said\nUyanik. \u201cI realize how difficult it was for him to make such a decision, for we\nboth had strong ideas and intentions when deciding to take this class. As he\nhas come to understand my idea, though, I am grateful that he is now also\nconvinced of its potential and confident in his work. Arun\u2019s expertise in\ncoding and technology makes up for my lack of experience in that area when\naddressing the specifics of product development, and my deeper understanding of\nthe product helps drive the vision of the company. Through this class, I have\ncome to value working with someone with a complementary set of skills and\nperspectives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince\nthe first day,\u201d noted Sundaresan, \u201cwhen we were figuring out problems that our\nbusinesses would solve, we had to think creatively and in terms of how to solve\nexisting problems. Presentation skills are also vital for this, because we\ncreate our own elevator pitches that are regularly revised and presented. Nerine\nand I have definitely used this class to expand our networks,\u201d he said.  \u201cIt\u2019s a class, but it\u2019s all real,\u201d said\nUyanik. \u201cEverything we learn and do ties into making practical progress. The\npitches we now refine in class will eventually be delivered to investors. Our\nhomework \u2013 completing market analyses and conducting customer interviews, for\nexample \u2013 reflects the work that businesses must do to grow. We learn to do,\nand we do to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anay\nKarwal, grade 12, an Incubator 1 student, is developing Persona, an app that\nautomatically recommends outfits to high school and college students, and to\nbusiness professionals, based on their existing wardrobe and their fashion\npreferences. He is already seeing the kind of life-growth that Acheatel noted.\n\u201cI joined the incubator class because I really wanted to attain an experiential\nperspective with a business,\u201d said Karwal. \u201cI\u2019ve participated in DECA since my\nfreshman year, and I wanted to utilize all the skills that I learned in order\nto create something tangible. By the end of the year, I want to have a working\nprototype to take into college.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karwal\nis seeing the building blocks to his goal emerge from the course. \u201cFrom working\nat this startup alone, I\u2019ve now realized that collaboration is extremely crucial\nin life, because it provides you a new perspective and is much more effective,\u201d\nhe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nis clear that Incubator 1 students are acquiring skills essential to developing\na product, and that personal growth is part of that learning, including how to\nbe flexible, how to work with others on complex tasks and, in Sundaresan\u2019s\ncase, how to switch gears when necessary to build out a successful product. But\nbeyond the incubator program, the students are finding their advancing skills\neminently useful in other classes and in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith\nmy experiences in DECA and this class, I refined my public speaking abilities\nand I constantly apply that to all my classes. The problem-solving skills I\nlearned from this class help in my math and economics classes,\u201d Karwal said,\nadding that he now appreciates learning from others. \u201cThe best thing I\u2019ve\ngotten out of the class is my mentor, as he consistently provides me with help\nand guidance,\u201d Karwal concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nanoseed\nis a Harker student-developed nonprofit that organizes student and business\nloans and grants to underserved regions in China. Graduating seniors pass down\nleadership of the company each year, and this year Andrew Sun, grade 11, heads\nup the venture and is \u201cfranchising\u201d the fundraising program at other schools. \u201cWe\u2019re\ninterested in helping those who have been abandoned by traditional lending\norganizations in China,\u201d Sun said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\nSun, the rewards transcend grades and personal accomplishments. \u201cI am\npassionate about effecting change beyond myself,\u201d Sun said. \u201cI\u2019ve realized\nthrough heading Nanoseed that it\u2019s incredibly gratifying to do something that\nwill directly impact someone else\u2019s life. It\u2019s helped me realize that there is\nmuch more to life than grades and homework assignments, which is a balance I\nhave definitely struggled with in the past. For example, Nanoseed\u2019s benefit\nconcert last year [to reduce poverty in rural China] really opened my\nperspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe\nsummer reading for the class also introduced us to a systematic approach to\nfinding solutions to problems by testing one feature\/aspect at a time, similar\nto isolating one variable in an experiment,\u201d Sun noted. \u201cThis approach helped\nme also with improving my speeches in congressional debate, another activity\nI\u2019m involved in. I\u2019ve found applications of that systematic approach by\nchanging one thing about a speech every iteration and seeing if that achieved\nthe improvement I wanted it to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\nSun, like Karwal, the biggest advantage to the class is networking and being\nable to interact with the other people in the class. \u201cThey\u2019ve given me so many\nideas for fundraisers, operations, etc., and have also been wonderful about\noffering help when I need it,\u201d said Sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe\ncollaborative aspect of the class is really rewarding and I\u2019m most grateful I\ntook the class for this reason.\u201d Claire Luo, grade 11, now in Incubator 2,\nformed a company last year called GetTime, whose mission is to decrease stress\nand increase productivity among teenage students through an engaging and\nefficient time management app. The current version of the app consists of three\ncore features \u2013 a dashboard for tracking progress and tasks, a prioritized\nto-do list and a timing function to keep students on track throughout their\nstudy period. \u201cWhat differentiates my app is that it combines task and time\nmanagement on one platform and specifically targets high school students, which\nhelps make the experience more streamlined and effective,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luo,\ntoo, has gained wider perspective through her work in the incubator program.\n\u201cOne overarching truth I have learned is that flexibility and adaptability are\nkey, for me as a person and for my company,\u201d she said. \u201cWhether this means\ncontinually soliciting feedback and revising features or altering my goals to\nfit new circumstances, I have learned to be more open to change. In particular,\ngoing out and talking to potential customers and mentors has encouraged me to\nembrace pivoting some aspects of my app.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\npayoff is there in the learning, even if the product never gets to market. \u201cI\nhave definitely been able to apply these skills, both in creating my company\nand in my own life,\u201d said Luo. \u201cFor instance, designing the app and then asking\nfor potential customer feedback was a new experience for me and required me to\nbreak down the tasks and keep going at it resiliently. The ability to have a\nclear project end goal and then executing each task one at a time has applied\nto any other large group project in other classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn\naddition, presenting and pitching to investors has improved my presenting\nskills. In my other classes (and activities like DECA), I am more comfortable\nwith speaking in front of larger groups and with using business terms. Also, I\nlearned how to create more effective visuals that are clear and concise, which\nhas been incredibly helpful in other classes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No\nsurprise, Luo has also embraced the collaborative value of networking.\n\u201cNetworking is also an invaluable skill, since I am now more aware of the\nimportance of going out and connecting with others in order to expand my network.\nThe type of creative and entrepreneurial thinking cultivated in this class has\nimproved my analysis skills, for example, by allowing me to better evaluate the\nbenefits and drawbacks of certain things.\u201d Luo feels the class has given her\nthe tools to set and reach ambitious milestones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs\nstarting a company is a very individualized process, setting goals is often up\nto what I want to accomplish, not what someone else tells me,\u201d she said. \u201cThis\nclass has inspired me to be proactive in adapting to changes and staying on top\nof my work, and has provided me the resources I need to achieve my goals.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article originally appeared in the winter 2019 issue of Harker Magazine and was reprinted in Harker News Online. Harker\u2019s incubator program, after one full year, has turned out some solid successes, awarding cash grants to students who developed business plans and successfully pitched to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1021,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[193],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education-and-schools"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fnsreporting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fnsreporting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fnsreporting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fnsreporting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fnsreporting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=957"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.fnsreporting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1003,"href":"https:\/\/www.fnsreporting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957\/revisions\/1003"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fnsreporting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fnsreporting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fnsreporting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fnsreporting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}