BUS 217 — Accelerate Your Startup Idea
Quarter: Winter
Instructor(s): Bret Waters
Date(s): Jan 20—Mar 10
Class Recording Available: No
Class Meeting Day: Wednesdays
Class Meeting Time: 7:00—8:50 pm (PT)
Tuition: $715
Refund Deadline: Jan 22
Unit(s): 1
Status: Registration opens Nov 30, 8:30 am (PT)
Quarter: Winter
Day: Wednesdays
Duration: 8 weeks
Time: 7:00—8:50 pm (PT)
Date(s): Jan 20—Mar 10
Unit(s): 1
Tuition: $715
Refund Deadline: Jan 22
Instructor(s): Bret Waters
Recording Available: No
Status: Registration opens Nov 30, 8:30 am (PT)
This fast-paced entrepreneurship course offers a highly collaborative experience in which the class works together to refine startup ideas and make them launch-ready. Using proven Silicon Valley methods, the course examines key startup issues such as product-market fit and developing a minimum viable product that can be rapidly iterated upon for success. We’ll delve into the operational details of the startup process, from legal structures to financial models, along with financing options such as venture capital, angel capital, and impact capital. Additionally, we’ll explore how new AI tools can help startup founders develop and launch startups more efficiently and effectively. The course culminates in a “pitch night,” where students can present to Silicon Valley executives and investors for feedback and coaching. Whether your idea is still a sketch on a napkin or already attracting customers, or whether you’re working on a tech startup, family business, or social venture, you’ll leave with an actionable business plan for a sustainable enterprise.
This course is the second in a three-part series. Each course will focus on startups and innovation: "Before You Build: Idea Validation for Startups and Innovation Teams" (Fall 2026); "Accelerate Your Startup Idea" (Winter 2027); and "Startup Escape Velocity: Scaling to Success" (Spring 2027). While the courses build upon one another, each can also be taken independently.
BRET WATERS
Entrepreneur and Silicon Valley Investor
Bret Waters has founded three venture-funded startup companies, built teams, and run the companies through successful exits. He is a former member of Stanford’s Graduate School of Education Advisory Council. He works with social entrepreneurs from around the world at the Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship and is the author of The Launch Path: Getting from a Startup Idea to a Launch-Ready Venture. Waters received an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern. Textbooks for this course:
(Optional) Rob Fitzpatrick, The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you (ISBN 978-1492180746)
(Optional) Eric Ries, The Lean Startup (ISBN 978-1524762407)
(Optional) Bret Waters, The Launch Path: Getting from a startup idea to a launch-ready venture (ISBN 979-8989090402)
(Optional) Eric Ries, The Lean Startup (ISBN 978-1524762407)
(Optional) Bret Waters, The Launch Path: Getting from a startup idea to a launch-ready venture (ISBN 979-8989090402)