Entrepreneurship 2.0: Empowering Students to Tackle Global Challenges
At LAS, we emphasize experiential learning and entrepreneurship, offering our students impactful opportunities to see the practical applications of their studies in the real world. By augmenting traditional classes with events and programs that fuel students' passions and address current global issues, we help them develop critical skills in thinking, entrepreneurship, and teamwork.
Over the past six weeks, students in the Entrepreneurship 2.0 class have been immersed in a dynamic stock market simulator and startup business competition designed to foster innovation, teamwork, and critical thinking. Each team was tasked with developing a sustainable business proposal aligned with global environmental and social needs, from reforestation and water desalination to sustainable aviation fuel and bioprinting alternatives to animal testing.
Complementing this effort was the stock market simulator, where each student took on executive roles within their companies to manage investments, influence stock prices, and strategize growth based on their performance and market conditions. Throughout the semester, students navigated challenges such as fluctuating interest rates, the impact of global news, and evolving market dynamics while balancing their roles as CEOs, CFOs, CMOs, and CTOs.
The simulator allowed students to engage with real-world concepts such as supply and demand, share dilution, and market cap growth, linking their in-class work to the broader economic and financial systems. Weekly performance assessments, both individual and team-based, directly influenced each company’s stock prices, creating a high-stakes but collaborative environment. Students learned to apply their micro-credentials in leadership, communication, critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration, all while leveraging data to make key decisions. By integrating these skill sets into their startup development, teams explored the viability of their ideas and the complexities of scaling, funding, and managing long-term impact, using their weekly presentations and company data to refine their strategies.
This week's Final Pitch Presentations mark the culmination of this exciting journey. Each team presented their business proposals to guest judges, who evaluated them based on categories such as "Strongest Overall Proposal," "Most Likely to Succeed," "Best Use of Data," and "Most Engaging Team." Students have also voted for their peers in categories such as "Best Executive" and "Most Influential Investor," celebrating outstanding individual contributions.
With innovative ideas and six weeks of intensive preparation, this week's pitches showcased not only the students’ growing entrepreneurial understanding but also their ability to collaborate, adapt, and lead a pursuit of a future where we embrace and attain sufficiency. These pitches highlighted the importance of real-world examples and hands-on experiences in the classroom, and they gave students the confidence and knowledge to take these skills into their future endeavors at university and beyond!