Course Detail (Course Description By Faculty)

Course Application

• Info Session:
  • Thursday, Oct 30th, 5:15 - 6:00pm, ZOOM
  • Registration Link: https://forms.gle/1QpcoYuGbsatNV3q7
•  Course Application:
  • Apply here:  https://forms.gle/F4sfHpmanYTkLqgy7

Course Timeline:

• Oct 16th - Applications Open
• Oct 24th - Info Session (ZOOM)
• Oct 28th (Monday) - Applications Close
• Nov 1 (Friday) - Admitted Students Notified
• Nov 6 (Wednesday) - Students confirm admission; we submit list to Booth Registrar
• Nov 11 thr Jan 3  - Virtual Team Formation Process with Faculty & Project Onboarding
• Jan 6, 2025 - WTR Quarter Begins
• Jan 10 (Friday), 2025 - First Class Session

**NEW for this year: Apply with an existing startup or idea to get matched with a government go-to-market sponsor. Submit ideas here and expect an email to debrief: https://forms.gle/zNFUeGRV1p5fhyaa6 

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Course Overview | Hacking for Defense is an application-based, entrepreneurship lab experience with a focus on government innovation.  In this course, the faculty source fascinating technical and operational challenges from across the Department of Defense and Intelligence Agencies (DoD/IC) and match them with interdisciplinary student R&D teams from across campus. During the course, students will not only learn the innovation toolkit (customer discovery, human-centered design, prototyping, how to build an effective pitch deck, and leadership), but will get a chance to apply that toolkit to real-world problems facing one of the world’s most complex and impactful bureaucracies. By the end of the course, students will gain professional experience systematically reducing organizational uncertainties, elevating their professional networks, and creating breakout solutions that can gain adoption within a huge organization and in new markets.

Students’ career trajectories have been meaningfully transformed by this course. In the course’s first six years at Uchicago (with teams of students from across schools), we have had 7 teams successfully advance into the various NVC (“New Venture Challenge”) programs, two finished in the top 4, one won $80k in NVC, and another that was commercially acquired within 12 months of starting the class. Past Projects focused on projects ranging from: logistics, deep-tech, data-fusion, bio-tech, AI/ML, market creation, gender equity, digital manufacturing, distributed knowledge management, space management, and cyber security. (We expect future projects will be equally compelling). In the course evaluations, many students said the course was the most impactful learning experience they’ve had during their degree programs.

Opportunity and Experience | The innovation toolkit (lean startup, human-centered design, prototyping) was developed to create new value under conditions of extreme uncertainty. Our large institutions--both public and private--involve uncertainties at the cutting edge of technology and management with outsized implications. We believe such institutions should be more responsive to changing conditions and that they deserve commitment from the best and brightest when it comes to the application of innovation. All of the teams within the DoD/IC are large, complex, and as impactful on society as any that one can identify. These teams face intense pressure to adapt their missions to changing constituencies, evolving geopolitical demands, technology revolutions, wider social norms, and complex regulations. This course aims to train teams of students in how to apply the innovation toolkit to such organizations and their challenges. 

Students will apply to the class and be assigned to a project sponsored by a top government official. In the application, students will share their current skills, areas of desired development, and project preferences (posted mid-Autumn). The class projects center on the types of problems that few professionals get access to throughout their careers--working directly with high-level policy and operational experts who are asking your team to solve problems they’ve been unable to address.  Each team’s goal during the course is to develop a viable business (“mission”) model for a dual-use new venture--serving customers both in government and the private sector. Students will be supported by both the faculty and between 8-12 expert coaches drawn from the national labs, relevant agencies, technology firms, and DoD affiliates. 

Overall, the course is now organized into 3 Phases (Methods, Mindsets, and Landscape; Confirming Beneficiary Value; Completing the Mission Model Canvas). The final course output will remain a rigorous and defensible pitch to your team’s client agency about how to address your challenge through a dual-use venture.

There are no formal requirements for this class. Diverse combinations of personal and professional experiences are highly desired. Cannot enroll in BUSN 34715 and LAWS 53455, PPHA 33830 or INRE 32002 concurrently (or previously).

No project requires security clearance and therefore all are open to international students.

Required Texts:

• Phase 1 - Method, Mindsets, and Landscape

  • MisMatch, Kat Holmes (short book with a fantastic framing for thinking about innovation across sectors and contexts.)

  • Talking to Humans (PDF - free via internet/Canvas site) 

  • Testing with Humans (PDF - free via internet/Canvas site) 

• Phase 2 & 3 - Field Work and Venture Creation

  • Sprint, Jake Knapp

  • Business Model Generation, Osterwalder, et al (Highly visual reference and explainer for the Business Model Canvas that has been adapted to the Mission Model Canvas for Hacking for Defense.)

• + See Canvas Weekly for additional readings and videos

Recommended Texts: 

? Slideology, Nancy Duarte (an excellent resource for designing presentations and storytelling in this class and across your career)

? (optional) The Startup Owner’s Manual, Steve Blank & Bob Dorf (Desk reference for future innovation work, we’ll sample across it.)

• 15% Individual Innovation Checklist/Study Guide | submitted twice in the quarter. Will summarize key concepts of the innovation toolkit, their relationships, and their implications for your future professional use. (Graded on 10, 8, 0.)
• 45% PR/FAQ Memos + Website/Landing Page (Team) | Submitted throughout the course. Must demonstrate rigorous learning and synthesis from weekly interviews in your memo and provide other teams substantive feedback on theirs during in-class workshops.
• 30% Final Team Presentation (Team) | Team’s final presentation summarizing your value proposition,proof of demand from beneficiaries/customers, and complete Mission Model Canvas learnings including buy-in and revenue model. Equivalent to a “Seed Stage” pitch.
• 10% Individual Participation | Weekly engagement in class discussions, coaching/client meetings, and group workshops.

All assignments must be turned in on time. Late assignment may incur an adjustment. 

Attendance Requirements: Effectively learning in this course requires consistent attendance and feedback with active participation. I understand that absences are sometimes unavoidable (excused absences include work travel, illness, etc), however more than 1 unexcused absence will substantially impact your grade. Let me know prior to class if you must be absent due to an unavoidable circumstance. More than 3 absences for any reason will substantially impact your grade as the work and learning of the course requires all students to be engaged. 

Peer Evaluation (adjustment to final grade): Twice during the quarter, students are required to evaluate the contributions of all team members. If an individual is rated negatively by 2 or more team members, their team grade may be adjusted downward up to 2 full letter grades. If an individual is rated very positively by 2 or more team members, their grade may be adjusted upward.