The objective of this course is for students to develop and validate an idea for an innovative social venture they intend to pursue.
Individuals or teams apply with a social venture idea or a problem domain they believe could give rise to one. Over the course of the quarter, students work through a structured sequence: conducting customer-user-beneficiary (CUB) discovery interviews to validate the problem and user need; building and pressure-testing a venture model covering product offering, value proposition, competitive alternatives, revenue model, cost structure, and unit economics; developing a financial model for the venture; and articulating a theory of change with a concrete impact measurement strategy.
Five parallel research streams run throughout the course — CUB discovery, competitive landscape, academic and practitioner literature, financial modeling, and theory of change — converging in a final venture model that students can carry forward into the SNVC competition and beyond.
A central challenge of the course is business model design for social ventures. Social entrepreneurs must navigate questions that commercial ventures rarely face: whether and how much to charge beneficiaries, how to structure value networks spanning private, public, and nonprofit actors, and how to build financially sustainable models in markets where traditional revenue signals are weak or absent. Much of class time is devoted to frameworks and case studies that help students work through these questions for their own ventures.
This course is the recommended first step in the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation's Edwardson Social Entrepreneurship Program — a year-long track designed to take ventures from idea to launch:
- Autumn — SEI (34117): Develop and validate your social venture idea
- Winter — SNVC (34115): Accepted teams prepare to compete in the John Edwardson '72 Social New Venture Challenge
- Spring — Social Venture Accelerator (34735): Selected ventures receive intensive support toward launch
Grading is based on class participation and peer collaboration, a final presentation, and a closing meeting with the instructor to review the venture project. There are no exams.
Interested students should apply via the online application. The priority deadline for returning students is 5:00pm CT on August 11th; applicants who submit by that date will receive decisions on August 12th, before bidding begins. Applications from all students — Booth and non-Booth — are accepted through September 21st on a rolling basis, with decisions within three business days of submission.
Non-Booth students are encouraged to apply. We expect at least one enrolled team member per venture; other team members may enroll or audit. For non-Booth teams where degree requirements make enrollment difficult, all team members may audit with the expectation they complete all coursework as if enrolled.
