Coe College in Cedar Rapids held a May Term course teaching students how to move an early-stage idea through ideation and validation. The course was taught by David Tominsky, Coe’s entrepreneur-in-residence, and a co-founding partner of Novy, and Samantha Brown, assistant professor of psychology and faculty co-director of C3: Creativity, Careers, Community, a career services program at Coe. Nearly 30 students used the Business Model Canvas to identify target markets, unique value propositions, potential revenue streams and the resources required to create a scalable and sustainable enterprise, a news release said. By the end of the course, students completed in-depth customer discovery and market research, created their own Product Market Fit narratives and engaged with mentors and founders through visits to area startups. The course previously took the form of a 24-hour event called Kohawk Startup. “Shifting this into a class gives Coe students the opportunity to dive deeper into entrepreneurship and take their ideas to the next level,” Brown said in a prepared statement. Brown said the course expands on the work the college’s C3 staff are undertaking to connect students with opportunities to put their education into practice.
