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No, I don't think so. However, what I think doesn't matter. Almost all of the undergrad and masters students I have had at Texas Tech and Marquette - those who DID want to study entrepreneurship - meant venture startup. I suspect this is pretty normal. Doctoral teaching is another matter.

Over time I have shifted more and more to a focus on market driven ventures. That sounds obvious, but I used to spend a lot of time on self-awareness and understanding of entrepreneurial careers. My ("pracademic") colleague and I became increasingly frustrated with the lousy ideas, models, plans, you name it. Actually learning to listen to potential customers in market segments - and even having a real sense of what that means - does NOT come naturally.

We now start for half a semester on individually formed business models based on elementary market research. We then choose (they are NOT ready to do this) which ones can pitch to form teams. This has worked well for those who join teams. Because we use project planning methods (very basic) with grading based on the division of labor, those that proceed have a lot more traction and the team members get more out of it. The second of two required courses is almost entirely a validation and pivoting course.

As my first note mentioned, this sort of process does help to produce some real and interesting ventures. The recent alumni thus become vital for the current students' awareness of possibilities and the realities of entrepreneurial careers. We do include recent grads in the corporate sector as well. They report that what they learned in the (startup oriented) entrepreneurship program was very helpful in corporations. After all, we take a very broad approach (environment, the entire venture, its business model, etc.).

Lastly, I think it's worth remembering the context of the initial question: how to survive as an untenured professor in an open-enrollment university with many uninterested students. I do think I was right that s/he needs to satisfy both the hockey pucks (as we used to call them back in Canada) and the minority who care. This isn't all that easy, given the stark contradictions between what it takes to learn to practice entrepreneurship and what it takes to slide through a course with the minimum of effort.

Alex

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************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu. Ventures HO!