After attending the MIT Launch summer program, I returned to my high school and founded Launch Club, a school club extension of the program.
Having felt that there was little exposure to entrepreneurship at my school, I wanted to teach fellow students about the lean startup methodology and guide students in creating their own startups.
20 dedicated students joined the club, of which 8 (2 teams) were invited to pitch at MIT as members of the top 10 finalist teams in the country.
In addition to the materials received from MIT Launch, I would create my own slides with the goal of really engaging the students at our weekly 1.5 hour meetings.
Reflecting on what helped me understand certain concepts, I would find videos, include visualizations like the one above, and create Google forms/polls to get students thinking (and to see if they truly understood what was taught).
At meetings, I’d teach for the first half, then have students engage in activities and discussion for the second half, e.g. post-its-on-wall brainstorming, team challenges, getting feedback from the club on pilot tests and pitches, etc.
I accompanied the 2 teams that qualified for the final pitch competition at MIT in May 2016. I’ll admit I had a proud “mom” moment as they pitched in front a panel of respected members from the MIT entrepreneurial community.
One team received the 1st Place Prizes of $800, while the other received the 2nd Place Prizes of $600.
I reflected briefly on this experience in this article.
Gaining recognition as “the entrepreneurship girl” at school, I was invited to give a speech at our year-end “Lance Talks,” modeled after Ted Talks.
In the speech, I talked about my foray into entrepreneurship, shed light on what entrepreneurship truly means (with several examples), and encouraged my peers and members of the school community to be entrepreneurial. (Find the slide deck here.)
Spreading entrepreneurship at my high school was rewarding. I was proud of what Launch Club and I accomplished in just our first year! From what I’ve heard, more and more students are discovering the club and launching startup ideas in the years since I’ve graduated. All I can say is: “Yes!!!”