A course on starting up things (blogs, businesses, initiatives, societies, etc.)

I am thinking of conducting a course which will help students ‘start-up’ things (not just businesses). This might be conducted online or in a college (a couple of them have shown interest). Below is a very rough out-line. Feedback and suggestions are welcome.

X

If you have a project in mind that you want to start, this 12-week course will help you.

The project can be a blog or a book, a business or a social enterprise, a society/club that you want to start, or a conference that you want to organise. Or it could be something else!

Starting-up is not rocket science but while many want to ‘start’, a few do. This course will help you navigate through the entire process of starting-up and at the end of the course, you’ll have something to show to the world.

The course doesn’t claim to be ‘the way’ of starting up things, but intends to provide students with useful mindsets (ways of thinking) and skill-sets (ways of thinking) as they start-up things.

The course will borrow from the works of Seth Godin, Barbara Sher, Eric Ries, Chris Guillebeau, Werner Erhard, Joff Kaufmann, Steven Pressfield, among others. I’ll also discuss a few things I’ve learnt from my experience of starting-up Lawctopus.

While there will be some ‘readings’ for the course, the course will revolve largely around close discussions, video screenings, active planning in class (through various exercises), and personal mentoring.

The course will have the following modules:

A. Introduction (Week 1)

In the first class the students and the faculty with get introduced to each other. We’ll also come up with a basic outline of what our ‘project’ is going to be. Initial questions, apprehensions etc. are settled in this class.

1. Fear (Week 2)

The number one reason which prevents anyone from starting up is ‘fear’. We’ll understand fear (biologically, psychologically, and socially), see what it does to us, and then see what we can do to it. ‘Fear’ will never go, but our ability to deal with it can undergo a transformation. We’ll jointly come up with strategies on how one can do that (especially for our project).

2. What to do? (Week 3)

With the internet throwing a wide range of possibilities at us, most of us our confused at what to do. How to decide what to do? Do you need to arrive at that ‘one’ thing? This module will discuss ways in which we can settle (or unsettle) this question to leave us free to act powerfully and move forward.

3. Planning, testing, and MVP (Week 4)

We all know about the To Do lists and SMART goals (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, time-bound) but that doesn’t seem to make us go far enough. In this module we’ll see how ‘structures’ can help us with planning. We’ll also see why the ‘context’ inside of which the planning happens needs to empowering to make the plan work. A second component of this module will be around testing, and designing a MVP (minimum viable product) to see how the idea is received by people it’s intended to serve.

[Mentoring week- Week 5]

4. Enlisting support (Week 6)

Many of us want to go all alone. This can be because we find dealing with others frustrating, or that we want to be recognized for our idea, our thing. While none of this is wrong, big projects require the help of others. In this module we’ll revisit basic skills of listening, of managing others, and ensuring that the ‘team’ takes up the projects.

5. Consistent Action (Week 7)

Many projects trail off after initial enthusiasm. Sometimes we and our priorities change and sometimes things just go wrong, as they sometimes will. In this module we’ll curate a set of ‘consistent actions’ that one could take to ensure that the project is implemented. This will also involve a revisiting of all the 4 modules preceding this.

6. Marketing and Sales (Week 8)

These are (for many) the dirty words of any project because maybe these involve ‘money’. But money isn’t a dirty thing, it’s an essential tool for anything. In this module we’ll rethink our ideas about marketing and sales, discuss the nitty gritty of doing this, and formulate some key ideas for our project.

[Mentoring week- Week 9]

7. Small giants (Week 10)

Scaling things, inorganic growth, etc. have captured our imaginations. Even the ads ask us to think ‘Have you made it large?’. However, scaling things up can sometimes spell the death of the project. Also, does large always mean more? What’s larger? A school teacher intimately teaching 50 kids or a website that reaches to 5 lakh students with mere information? In this module, we’ll revisit our notions of growth and development and dismantle any fixed ways of thinking.

8. Feedback (Week 11)

The final module will be on ‘feedback’. Taking feedback and working on that is crucial for any start-up. How to create an effective feedback loop? Which feedback to take and what to ignore? A part of this module will also involve students giving feedback about the course.

[Mentoring week- Week 12]