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The Entrepreneurial Mindset
(and Design Thinking)
Godfrey Mungal, Dean
Santa Clara University
Professor Emeritus, Stanford
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My Background
Mt. Lambert RC School
CIC, class of 1971
U. of Toronto, 1971-75
UWI, 1975-76
CalTech, 1976-83, 1983-85
Stanford, 1985-2007
Santa Clara University, 2007-present
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Location – Silicon Valley
Stanford
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Oldest School of Engineering in Silicon Valley
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Some Key Ideas
Creativity
Innovation
Entrepreneurial Mindset
KEEN Program
• Three Videos
Design Thinking
• Exercise (maybe)
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Creativity & Innovation
Creativity – conception of something new.
Innovation – implementation of something new.
Toyota: Learning applied to create value.
3M: New ideas – plus action or implementation – which result in an improvement, a gain or a profit.
Innovation Network: People creating value through the implementation of new ideas.
Mir Imran: Identification and definition of a problem that is worthy of solution.
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Entrepreneurial Mindset
Entrepreneurial Mindset = Skillset + Mindset.
Skillset – the set of tools you acquire from your training to solve problems. A good scientist or engineer can solve lots of them.
Mindset - the attitude and disposition towards problems; Carol Dweck has written on the growth mindset vs fixed mindset.
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Entrepreneur
1. One who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise
2. A person who starts a business and is willing to risk loss in order to make money
3. A person who sets up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit.
“starting” – “business” – “risk”
(they are brave)
Entrepreneur Entrepreneurial Mindset
Entrepreneurial Mindset Entrepreneur
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KEEN Program
Kern Entrepreneurial Education Network – 28 institutions
A national partnership of universities with the shared mission to graduate engineers with an entrepreneurial mindset so they can create personal, economic, and societal value through a lifetime of meaningful work.
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Entrepreneurial Mindset
Entrepreneurial Mindset:
A learned process – taught to anyone.
Not becoming an entrepreneur.
It is a mindset – how you approach solving a problem.
Which problem might you solve – Can I? Should I?
Not just about products but creative process
Based on 3C’s: Curiosity, Connections, Creating Value
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Curiosity
Curiosity
Do you wonder about natural phenomena (scientist) or man-made objects (engineer) or products (business) or the human experience (humanities), etc.
Must be intensely curious about things – must know how things work
This must be encouraged - preferably from an early age
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Connections
Connections
Will require a set of connections to make progress.
Information from many sources
• Customer
• Engineer – other fields
• Business help
• Scientist, Farmer, Doctor …
Connect the dots - Cross pollination
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Connections - Advantage
Connections
Information you have leads to insight when connected with other information (a customer, or a business person or a scientist or across disciplines).
You collect information in you – “repository”
Your information + other information = critical insight.
Need network of people.
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Create Value
Create value –
this is an ultimate goal to create something that is useful:
modify the widget (cheaper or uses less material)
useful to society (something people want and need)
customers (they pay for it)
else – weekend hobby
May be creating a business in the end, or passing it over to others who are more business oriented.
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Summary - EM
With the entrepreneurial mindset you approach problems differently and systematically –
• in starting a company (entrepreneur),
• within an existing company (intrapreneur),
• in a non-profit (intrapreneur),
• in a government entity (intrapreneur).
Education System must produce innovators not just technicians.
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Examples – Curiosity and Connections
Frisbie to Frisbee
Bullets to Bones
• WWII - RAF
• Shrapnel – eyes
• Hard contact lens
• Bone joint cement
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Example – Curiosity and Connections
Cockle-burs to Velcro
Apeel Sciences
Materials Science, Polymer Science,
Biomedical Engineering & Chemistry
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Video – Curiosity and Connections
See KEEN Biomimicry Video #1 – example of curiosity and connections
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ENGR 168 – Startup Law for Engineers
ENGR 169 – Social Entrepreneurship
ENGR 170 – Improv for Engineers
ENGR 171A – Product Opportunity Assessment
ENGR 171B – Product Prototype to Test
ENGR 172A & B – Applied Entrepreneurship I & II
ENGR 173 – Intro to Business Fundamentals
ENGR 174 – Financial Reporting & Decision Making
ENGR 175 – Intro to Business Models
ENGR 176 – Marketing Strategy for Technical Products
ENGR 177 – Cultures of Innovation
ENGR 178 – Intellectual Property for Engineers
ENGR 179 – Intrapreneurship
Engineering Special Topic Courses
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Engineering Special Topic Courses
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ENGR 167: Go To Market Strategy (1 unit; five consecutive Tuesday
evenings starting in Week 2, 5:10 – 7 pm,): Do you have a product
prototype and wondering how to turn it into a successful enterprise? This
course reviews essential concepts for new entrepreneurial ventures to
include the customer discovery phase, channels of distribution, strategic
partners, and monetary metrics. This 1-unit course is offered in a
compressed format, running from 5:10 pm – 7 pm during five consecutive
Tuesday evenings. The course will be taught by Dr. Ron Lesniak, an
instructor in the SCU Engineering Management Department as well as in
the University of California Berkeley’s Center for Entrepreneurship and
Technology. Dr. Lesniak has more than 40 years of business experience,
with more than 25 of those years in the role of corporate President or
CEO (Teledex).
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The Business Model Canvas
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The Business Model Canvas
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The Business Model Canvas
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Design Thinking
New approach to Design. Different from traditional design.
E.g. design a bridge.
Old Approach: start technical design
Size, Span
Material Selection
Weight
Features
Cost
Drawings etc. etc.
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Why?
New approach:
Start with Why
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Design Thinking
New approach: e.g. design a wheel chair
Starts with the human need in the foreground – human centric approach.
Requires empathy and human understanding.
Field work: talk to and observe those who use it - “see by looking”
• You may need to ride in one for a day to really understand the issues.
Don’t need huge sample sizes to penetrate the key issues.
DT is process: not proving and justifying but understanding and learning.
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What We Need
To reach solutions will need lots of
Brainstorming, Ideation
Visualization
Prototyping
Iteration (how many?)
Feedback from users !!! (I like …I wish..)
• Devil’s Advocate – deadly
Humility – need to accept that
you don’t have all the right answers.
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Iterations …
5132, 5 years 40
~10,000 8 years – Lonnie Johnson
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What We Need
Need for Maker spaces
Places to play and experiment
Access to equipment
Could be heading to a product, or a service, or a businessplan, or a user experience.
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1500 sq. ft. facility
Supports courses, capstone teams,
and personal projects
Equipment:
– Laser Cutter
– Rapid Prototyping Machines
– 3-D Scanning System
– CNC Milling Machines
– Traditional hand and
power tools
1000+ students certified
Maker Club & Maker Challenges
Mobile Maker Educational Outreach
Maker Lab
Easy-access, hands-on prototyping for everyone
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Maker Lab: Examples of student creativity
Inverted Pendulum
Balancing Platform Montgomery Glider
Robotic HandiPhone Covers
Bronco Phone Stand
3D Cube Gear 3D Ball Bearing
3D Printed Quadcopter Model
Autonomous Vehicle Parts
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$1M+ funding: KEEN
Courses, speakers, field trips, contests, events
Collaborative projects with other universities
New EdVenture Lab: Assists students and faculty launch real world enterprises based on academic projects
Lunch with an Entrepreneur Quarterly Innovation
Design Challenge Winners
Innovation & Entrepreneurial Mindset
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Videos - Ideation
See KEEN Video #2 Bisociation
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Mind Map – Divergent and Creative Thinking
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Mind Map
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Painstorming
Rent room in SFO – AirBnB (2008)
Get around SFO (Paris) – Uber (2009)
See KEEN Video #3 - Painstorming
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Infinity Bike Seat
Dr. Vince Marcel – Chiropractor - Triathlete (60-100 mile rides) -
Saddle sores – Tried padded shorts, creamers, fit experts, various
bike seats, the pain was still there. My friends that rode
professionally said, “it’s just part of the game. You have to ride
more. Get blisters, build callouses, and desensitize the tissue.”
2012: On one of the 100 mile training rides, I was run off the road, and herniated 3
discs in my neck…wife…“I guess you have time to design that bike seat!” … excuses
…
I started with plaster molds, and soon moved to carving seats out of wood, which was
really slow. Then I moved to clay. This medium was awesome because I was able to
sculpt with my hands exactly what was in my head.
Throughout the year, I learned about licensing, CADD, patents, R&D, materials
engineering, prototyping, production, and manufacturing.
Several functioning prototypes…Beta testing…Kickstarter 2014
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Infinity Bike Seat
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Infinity Bike Seat
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Defining the Problem … leads to the Solution
We have find problems, frame the problem, then ideate (lots of brainstorming) and iterate solutions (i.e. make and test) – not a paper exercise – real building exercises.
Mir Imran (32 companies; 500 patents) on my EAB notes the importance of framing and defining the problem, for in this process lies the solution.
• We do this naturally in our personal lives, but for some reason we jump to solutions in our professional lives. E.g. taking your car to the mechanic.
• Must question everything to frame the problem and find the solution.
• Freeze idea too quickly – you fall in love with it; refine it too quickly, you become attached, fail to explore, to keep looking for better (GehryPartners).
• Aside: role of his mother
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Question Everything … What if?
Phone
Food blender Vacuum
Office Chair
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T-MODEL Of Engineering Education
Communication – Ethics – Integrity – Global Perspective
Empathy - Creativity - Lifelong Learning
Engineering
Teamwork
Problem-
Solving
Technical
Skills
Analysis
Iterative
Design
Math
Science
Soft skills – right brain –
liberal arts education…
Deep Technical Core -
Hard skills – left brain
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Stanford d.school
They believe everyone has the capacity to be creative.
Create learning experiences that help people unlock their creative potential andapply it to the world.
Design can be applied to all kinds of problems. But, just like humans, problems are often messy and complex—and need to be tackled with some serious creative thinking. That’s where our approach comes in. Adding the d.school'stools and methods to a person's skill set often results in a striking transformation. Newfound creative confidence changes how people think about themselves and their ability to have impact in the world.
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IDEO – 9 cities
IDEO is a global design company. We create positive impact through design.
• The Future of Food?
• Case Study – China – Hunter-Gatherer
• A new way to vote for Los Angeles
• Creative Competitiveness for Europe’s Biggest Fashion Platform - Zalando
IDEO U – courses to unlock creative potential
Hello Design Thinking online course to get you started.
Insights for Innovation will encourage you to see the world differently, so you can uncover deep insights that help you solve problems in new ways.
From Ideas to Action will teach you the methodology IDEO experts rely on to unlock new visions of the future.
Storytelling for Influence will help you create impact inside your organization.
Leading for Creativity teaches approaches that empower individuals and teams to search for innovative solutions.
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Entrepreneurs – Jack Jia
Three elements for success: Team (40-60%), Market (30-40%), Technology (20%).
Need A-Team: have passion, talent, experience.
• Passion - especially needed in the early days. Mentally and psychologically challenging. Have feeling of loss and despair (not always about money).
• Talent – seeing the problems is ½. Must see the solutions. Must see the patterns in what is being done, not the noise.
• Experience – this is the least important; need some, but if you have 20 years in an area you may not have stretched yourself.
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Entrepreneurs…continued
Need A-players. 1 A-player = 3 B-players. A-players attract more A-players. B-players attract more B- and C-players.
Humans are pack animals by nature. We are not startup oriented which is to “leave the pack.” In the startup, need to be stubborn but flexible. Need execution, but risky. Might need to pivot.
Develop the art of hearing No’s. Speak to consumers, business –most will say no, but in doing so will give advice on why this does not work. You then are collecting information on parts of the elephant, so you have the best insights.
Everyone can develop the entrepreneurial mindset, but not everyone is an entrepreneur.
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Books & Videos
TED TalksSimon Sinek - How great leaders inspire actionSir Ken Robinson – Do Schools Kill CreativitySir Ken Robinson – Bring on the Learning RevolutionAdam Grant – The Surprising Habits of Original ThinkersAmy Cuddy - Your body language may shape who you are
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Books
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Creativity & Innovation - Recap
Creativity – conception of something new.
Innovation – implementation of something new.
Toyota: Learning applied to create value.
3M: New ideas – plus action or implementation – which result in an improvement, a gain or a profit.
Innovation Network: People creating value through the implementation of new ideas.
Mir Imran: Identification and definition of a problem that is worthy of solution. Question everything.
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Conclusions
Creativity and Innovation (we all have this capability)
• Win or Lose the Game
Entrepreneurial Mindset (learned skill)
• 3C’s – Curiosity, Connections, Create Value
• Not the same as becoming an entrepreneur
Design Thinking (applicable to many fields)
• Why?
• Starts with empathy, customer needs
• Define the problem
• Question everything
T-Shaped Individuals
Thank you !!50