BUS 81 — Launching from Idea to Reality: A Practical Course for First-Time Startup Founders
Quarter: Fall
Instructor(s): Angela Chen
Date(s): Sep 24—Dec 3
Class Recording Available: Yes
Class Meeting Day: Thursdays
Grade Restriction: No letter grade
Class Meeting Time: 5:30—7:00 pm (PT)
Please Note: No class on November 26
Tuition: $685
Refund Deadline: Sep 26
Unit(s): 1
Enrollment Limit: 35
Status: Closed
Quarter: Fall
Day: Thursdays
Duration: 10 weeks
Time: 5:30—7:00 pm (PT)
Date(s): Sep 24—Dec 3
Unit(s): 1
Tuition: $685
Refund Deadline: Sep 26
Instructor(s): Angela Chen
Grade Restriction: No letter grade
Enrollment Limit: 35
Recording Available: Yes
Status: Closed
Please Note: No class on November 26
The barrier to building has never been lower. AI can draft your pitch, prototype your idea, and generate your landing page in minutes. So why do 9 out of 10 startups still fail? Because the hard part was never the build—it was always finding a real problem worth solving.
This hands-on course takes first-time founders through every critical stage of early venture development in a deliberate sequence that mirrors how real companies are built. You'll develop the frameworks and founder judgment to:
This hands-on course takes first-time founders through every critical stage of early venture development in a deliberate sequence that mirrors how real companies are built. You'll develop the frameworks and founder judgment to:
- Conduct real customer discovery
- Validate whether you have a problem worth solving
- Design an MVP as a learning tool, not just a launch artifact
- Build a business model grounded in unit economics
- Develop go-to-market strategy for a beachhead market you can actually win
- Use AI to accelerate growth without losing the founder judgment
- Sharpen your pitch for investors and accelerators
ANGELA CHEN
Founder, Stanford Education Entrepreneurship Hub
Angela Chen is a founder, angel investor, and instructor preparing people for a future with AI. She built an edtech product used in 80+ countries, leads AI organizational change for schools and institutions, and sits on the National AI Literacy Board. She has coached hundreds of founders and solopreneurs on early-stage strategy and AI as a competitive advantage, blending startup methodology with real builds over theory. She received an MA from Stanford and a BA and BS from the University of Pennsylvania. Textbooks for this course:
There are no required textbooks; however, some fee-based online readings may be assigned.