EVM 1100 Introduction to Entrepreneurship (4 Credits)

Entrepreneurs play a critical role in driving innovation, promoting social change, creating jobs, and changing the way we live, work, and communicate. Entrepreneurs come from different backgrounds, professions and possess a wide range of skills and experiences. What entrepreneurs have in common, the desire to solve problems, make change and create value through innovation. This introductory entrepreneurship course is for students that are interested in learning about entrepreneurship or first-time entrepreneurs with an idea. Students will explore entrepreneurship and apply tools, mindsets, and frameworks for starting a for-profit business, a non-profit business, or a business within a business.

EVM 2100 Social Entrepreneurship "do well by doing good (4 Credits)

Interested in making a positive impact through business while also making money? Social entrepreneurship will teach you how you can ‘do well by doing good.” This course examines how all types of organizations can be used to positively impact our global society. Students will explore their own passions and see how purpose and profit can combine to create rewarding and inspiring careers and companies. Human-centered design, alternative funding, business models, and impact measurement will all be integrated to prepare students to lead impactful careers. Through class discussions, case studies, guest speakers, and hands-on application, this course will prepare students to join the growing group of innovators using business to address society's greatest challenges.

EVM 2200 Global Entrepreneurship "Innovating and Creating Value Across Borders (4 Credits)

Entrepreneurship is about solving problems, identifying unmet needs and opportunities. Where some see roadblocks, entrepreneurs see opportunity. As people, cultures and business become interconnected it is important for entrepreneurs to have a global mindset and approach to business. The Global Entrepreneurship course provides you with the skills and knowledge to start a business in another country, develop a market in another country, and identify opportunities across borders. Students will develop an intercultural understanding as they learn about history, religion, culture, economy, and government in other countries. Students will identify commonalities, shared interests, and differences between cultures and apply business frameworks to develop products and services for international markets.

EVM 2250 Entrepreneurship Interterm (2 Credits)

This course provides you with the opportunity to explore and discover what makes for an effective entrepreneurial ecosystem. You will travel to a foreign country and meet with key actors throughout the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Additionally, you will learn about and engage with the local culture, learning how religion, customs, and culture all influence global entrepreneurship.

EVM 3350 From Idea to First Dollar Sale (4 Credits)

Designed to serve as the capstone course for the Entrepreneurship Minor, From Idea to First Dollar Sale takes students through the process of starting a company, launching a product, creating a market, and learning how to embrace “failure” and manage uncertainty. Student will use and apply the knowledge, skills, and tools they have developed in previous Entrepreneurship Minor courses to spin up a business in ten weeks. Most types of businesses are welcome: retail, services, technology, hospitality, etc. Students may build on an existing idea, iterate, and take it to the next level or develop an entirely new idea. Through class discussions, activities, presentations, and guest speakers, students will explore the principles of planning, testing, measuring, analyzing, and rapidly iterating a product or service. Startups require significant effort, commitment, creativity, and passion. This class is no different and whether you have started a business in the past, you will know what it takes to be an entrepreneur by the time this class is finished!.

EVM 3370 Metrics & Financial Tools for an Emerging Business: Accounting and Finance for the Emerging Business (4 Credits)

Students are taught to link physical activity occurring in the business venture to the movement of numbers on financial statements. They draft 3 years of flexible profit and loss, cash flow, and balance sheet statements; Year 1 is monthly, Year 2 is quarterly, and Year 3 is one annual period. Students learn how to visualize the activity, metrics, and assumptions needed to support the customer experience they intend to build and how these numbers flow through their financial statements including: Generating revenue leads; Convert leads to sales; Producing the product/service; Delivering the product/service; Converting customers into repeat business; Set-up and maintain Quick Books. Cash impact of corporate governance costs (indirect) are included, such as risk management (insurance), employee benefits and compensation, facilities, technology, legal and capital expenditures, etc., understanding the tax implication of setting up different governance devices and understanding recapitalization and its implications. Students learn to identify activity metrics to drive cash basis break-even for daily, monthly, and annual periods. They will also learn how to create a Use of Funds Statement linked to their proforma'd financial statements. Students will learn different types of financing and under which circumstances these types are used-credit cards, factor loans on inventory, bank loans- including small business administration loans, angel funding, and venture capital funding. Exit strategies like M&A and IPO will also be covered. Prerequisites: BUS 1000.

EVM 3400 The Innovation Amphitheater (1 Credit)

Want to start your own business and invent your own future but haven’t landed on a great product/service idea? Already have a business and want to expand into new spaces and offerings? This course is for people who answered yes to either of those questions. The Innovation Amphitheater takes you through 16 proven strategies and techniques to help you innovate into new spaces and find opportunities. You’ll explore such strategies as cross-overs, combos, slivercasting, inside-out, old school and retro, and many more.

EVM 3401 Project Management (1 Credit)

Learn the basic fundamentals of project management, focused specifically on high-performing teams while starting and running an early-stage business. Explore how to implement proven project management concepts and techniques using popular tools like Trello and Asana. 1 credit hour. Prerequisite: EVM 3350.

EVM 3402 Creating Your Digital Presence (1 Credit)

Creating awareness of your new business venture is one of the most important tasks in the early stages of building your business. Creating awareness by driving traffic through and to your digital presence is essential. To help you as you embark on an entrepreneurial effort, this courses focuses on building an integrated digital presence with a website, Facebook Business Page, Twitter account, Pinterest account, and an Instagram account.

EVM 3403 Ethics in Entrepreneurship (1 Credit)

Creating a business for the sake of generating profit is not enough. Businesses must contribute to the betterment of society through social, environmental, and financial gains. This course will help you build the right vision for your business by 1) engaging you in ongoing reflection and dialogue about your ethical responsibilities in product and service innovation, and 2) helping you understand cognitive, behavioral, and principled approaches to ethical issues in product and service innovation.

EVM 3404 Primary Research (1 Credit)

To be successful in your business venture, you need to make data-driven decisions. Much of that data can come from internal operations or perhaps secondary sources. But, to truly be successful, you need to gather, analyze, and make decisions based on primary research data from your external market. In this course, you’ll learn the basic tenets of performing primary research activities including defining your market segment, building a primary research instrument, gathering data using a primary research instrument, analyzing the data, and making recommendations.

EVM 3407 The Perfect Pitch (1 Credit)

Essential to most new business ventures is the ability to raise capital, most notably from angel investors and venture capitalists (VCs). Raising capital starts with the “pitch,” a presentation that is exciting, informative, realistic, and addresses what funds are needed, how they will be used, and how the investor will financially benefit from providing the funds. This course will help you learn how to create the perfect pitch for your new business venture. We will review both successful and unsuccessful pitch presentations. This Sprint has asynchronous work that is available 2-weeks prior to the in-person class. The asynchronous work, up to 40% of the total work for the class, is required to be completed prior to the in-person class. There is a post class project that is due two weeks after the in-person class.

EVM 3408 Accounting For Entrepreneurs (1 Credit)

Accounting is an activity in any business that measures, processes, and communicates financial information and transactions. This vitally important activity will help you track your expenses, recognize your revenue, and in general keep an accurate and detailed view of the financial strength of your business. In this class, you’ll learn how to process operating expense transactions (e.g., advertising and payroll expenses) and revenue transactions (both actual sales and sales on credit). You’ll also learn how to appropriately handle the depreciation of long-term assets like vehicles and buildings. Finally, you’ll learn how all of these transactions enable you to build a balance sheet for your new business venture.

EVM 3409 Financial Statements For Entrepreneurs (1 Credit)

Of the four major financial statements, the most important to a new business venture are the balance sheet, the income statement, and the statement of cash flows. Knowing how to build and interpret these are critical to your success during not only the early stages of spinning up your business but throughout the lifetime of your business. In this class, based on a wide variety of financial transactions, you will learn how to build and interpret an income statement and a statement of cash flows. (It is assumed that you already know how to build and interpret a balance sheet.) You’ll also learn how to build a proforma income statement and statement of cash flows, based on the financial projections of your new business venture.

EVM 3413 Design Thinking (1 Credit)

Design Thinking is a creative problem solving process that builds your ability to first see and then solve human-centered opportunities. It starts with empathically looking at frustrations inside and around your organization, then moves through a variety of brainstorming sessions to build customer centric solutions. Design Thinking is a wonderful tool to help you monetize the human capital in your organization. Once we know the process, we will ask students to bring real challenges into the classroom where we will use Design Thinking to build potential new products, services and solutions.

EVM 3414 Market Discovery and Product-Market Fit (1 Credit)

Market discovery is about identifying demand for ideas and innovations. Students will discover that some markets have already been established and others have yet to be created. Product market fit takes time. At first new ideas and innovations may not fit an existing market, requiring a new market to be developed. We’ll study example companies in a wide variety of industries that over time found the correct product market fit. Students in this Sprint will learn methodologies to find and assess product market fit for new ideas and innovations. This Sprint has asynchronous work that is available 2-weeks prior to the in-person class. The asynchronous work, up to 40% of the total work for the class, is required to be completed prior to the in-person class. There is a post class project that is due two weeks after the in-person class.

EVM 3417 Branding and Messaging (1 Credit)

Branding is an essential element for any startup. Your brand is created by you and grows as your business grows. It’s more than a logo, colors, and fonts contained in a style guide. It’s the experience that you create for your customers. It’s something your business should aspire to. Something memorable. And as you work though this course, you will get an understanding of what it takes to build the brand for your business.

EVM 3420 Cloud Technologies (1 Credit)

Welcome to the Cloud! What is the cloud, is it a thing, a concept, a nifty term? If you are starting a new business, thinking about starting a new business or improving the efficiencies in an existing business, you need to understand the available technologies and tools in the Cloud.  Where do I host my website, how do I handle accounting, where is the email server, how do I track customers, how do I share information, what tools are available for customer support? These are just a few questions the Cloud will solve efficiently and cost effectively.  The Cloud has dramatically changed the competitive landscape for startups by reducing the cost of starting a new business. The Cloud removes costly equipment, software and support expenditures; with the Cloud, you pay for what you use. This course will focus on identifying, analyzing, and implementing Cloud technologies to help run your business.  Here are some of the topics we will explore and discuss: flexible costs, how and when to implement these tools, is your data safe, comparing similar services, improving collaboration.

EVM 3421 Intellectual Property Issues for Startup Businesses (1 Credit)

All businesses have assets, both tangible and intangible, and these assets must be managed, nurtured, accounted for, and protected. Among the most important of those assets today fall in the realm of intellectual property (IP) and are protected through mechanisms such as copyrights, trademarks, and patents. As a business owner, you must be aggressive and vigilant in ensuring that your most important IP assets are protected, as they are an important part of your brand portfolio. This class will introduce you to the role of copyrights, trademarks, and patents as tools for protecting your intellectual property. In doing so, you will learn about your rights as an IP owner and – equally as important – your responsibilities for not infringing on the IP assets of other organizations.

EVM 3422 Startup Legal Issues (1 Credit)

Starting a business involves a host of activities, from product/service development, to marketing, to sales and service. At the foundation of all of these activities are legal considerations. Legal considerations for startup businesses range from establishing a form of business operation, to registering with the government and obtaining the appropriate licenses, to filing sales taxes, to the management of employees (hiring, contracts, etc.), and a host of other essential activities. To get your business off “on the right foot,” this course introduces you to the legal considerations that are vitally important to your success.

EVM 3424 Visualizing & Presenting Data (1 Credit)

Being able to tell a compelling story, in particular with data, is a skill that is rarely taught. Today, most people either adopt reports that have existed in an organization for as long as time, or they create flashy reports using the latest tools. In most cases, neither of these reports give the end users what they want. This course will focus on giving you the tools to create purposeful reports by helping you answer the age old question around any design... Form, Fit and Function.

EVM 3425 Rapid Prototyping - 3D Printing and Laser Engraving (1 Credit)

The purpose of this course is to empower students to more effectively develop their creative and entrepreneurial capacities utilizing the tools of rapid prototyping. Students will identify appropriate rapid prototyping technologies to apply to unique situations. Curriculum over the course of the day progressively builds by presenting more challenging problems. At the conclusion of the course, students will be able to turn ideas into solutions that add value to a product, process, or service.

EVM 3428 Developing a WordPress Website (1 Credit)

What is WordPress? What is a CMS? What is Open Source? Is it a concept or a nifty term? If you are starting a new business or thinking about starting a new business you need to understand the available technologies and tools to build and manage a website. Where do I host the website? How do I create and update the website? What tools are available? These are just a few questions we will answer in the WordPress Grind. The WordPress Grind has been designed from a beginner’s perspective. The goal is to provide a step-by-step tutorial for creating and publishing a WordPress website. The class will cover the conceptual framework of Open Source and Content Management Systems (CMS) and lead into the fundamentals and tools required to build and manage a WordPress website. At the conclusion of this grind, you will be able to develop, publish, and manage you own WordPress website.

EVM 3430 Retail, Distribution, and SCM (1 Credit)

If you have ever walked into a retail store or shopped online and wondered what it would take to create this for yourself, including setting up the store, purchasing inventory, setting prices and deciding the layout, or just wondered how this all came together to create a viable business then this Sprint is for you. If you are in the process of manufacturing a product or would like to know what goes into the supply chain to create and price your product then this Sprint is for you. If you want to learn what to consider when choosing a distribution method(s) and to get your product(s) to market then this Sprint is for you. The RSDM Sprint has been designed from a new entrepreneur’s perspective. The goal of this sprint is to understand the steps and process for marketing, pricing, and selling. It is for students that want to create a product or students developing a retail store that sells products manufactured by a third party or developed in-house. This Sprint has asynchronous work that is available 2-weeks prior to the in-person class. The asynchronous work, up to 40% of the total work for the class, is required to be completed prior to the in-person class. There is a post class project that is due two weeks after the in-person class.

EVM 3431 Emotionally Effective Leader (1 Credit)

Did you know emotional and social skills are four times more important than IQ when considering success and prestige in professional settings? Emotional Intelligence (EI) can be confusing. What does it mean? Is it fluffy stuff or something really tangible? Now more than ever, employers and clients are seeking leaders who display emotionally intelligent thinking, decision making and actions. How do you know if you meet those requirements? Up until recently, EI was a “gut assessment” of someone’s ability to control their emotions or care about someone or something. Now, we have a valid and reliable way of understanding our emotional intelligence and that of others. We can even measure the EI of teams! It turns out EI is quite complex. Research has distinguished 12 components of EI including: self regard, self actualization, self awareness, emotional expression, assertiveness, independence, interpersonal relationships, empathy, social responsibility, problem solving, reality testing, impulse control, flexibility, stress tolerance and optimism. Want to know how you score in these areas? EI is a “talent” that, unlike IQ, can be learned and improved throughout one’s life. In the Emotionally Effective Leader Grind, you will have the opportunity to assess your own EI through a valid and reliable EI talent assessment. Revealing your strengths and weaknesses, you will learn how to build your own EI and maximize the magnitude of your impact within the organizations or teams you lead.

EVM 3432 Getting to Know Your Customer (1 Credit)

Developing lasting relationships with customers requires time and energy up front. You need to get to know who your customers are and what they value before they will develop lasting relationships with your brand. This course on Getting to Know Your Customer will introduce students to tools and data sources that can help with segmenting and targeting, developing personas that represent different customer groups.

EVM 3433 The Sales Process for Entrepreneurs (1 Credit)

Sales is all about getting a person to make a purchase. Each business needs a unique step-by-step sales process that aligns with the buyer’s journey. We will discuss the key aspects of the top, middle and bottom of a sales process: We will learn the key metrics and activities, both human and digital for sales teams in today’s modern world. We will learn about lead generation, prospecting, lead nurturing, deal qualification, designing a sales process, sales pipeline, and forecasting, managing customer relationships, negotiating, converting leads to clients. As a self-employed entrepreneur or as an employee who works for someone else, an innovative outlook and entrepreneurial mindset is key to solving the problems our companies and society face now, and in the future. Innovators are everywhere and can add value from any role or department within their company, for example: c-suite leaders, facilities staff, IT administrators, and human resource trainers. Innovators share common traits: they see emerging opportunities where others see hopeless problems, they solve problems with creative ideas, and they evaluate ideas for their merits and shortcomings. This course is designed to teach the tools, strategies, and mindset of an innovator to help students ideate, evaluate, and innovate quickly. Students will collaborate using proven strategies and techniques to solve problems in new and unique ways. This Sprint has asynchronous work that is available 2-weeks prior to the in-person class. The asynchronous work, up to 40% of the total work for the class, is required to be completed prior to the in-person class meeting. There is a project that is due two weeks after the in-person class meeting.

EVM 3435 How To Realistically Fund Your Business (1 Credit)

Essential to most new ventures is the ability to raise capital (“funding”), initially from angel investors and then from venture capitalists (VCs). The capital raising process usually starts with the “pitch”, a presentation that is compelling, exciting, informative, and addresses what funds are required by the venture, how they will be used, and how the investor will financially benefit from their investment. But not all new companies are the same and the ways to fund starting a new business, business idea or a good old-fashioned startup are many. In this class we will discuss the different funding sources from a check from a friend or family member to loans, credit cards, equity investment, crowd funding and more. This course will help you learn how to identify and determine the best source capital for your business. You will also learn how to present and speak about basic and intermediate funding sources. We will define & review the basic elements of business funding while also listening to the perspectives of several entrepreneurs (small & big) and even a Venture Capitalist. You will ultimately work in groups around a hypothetical business idea. Please feel free to use an existing idea (particularly if you were in my pitch class) or feel free to choose one from the list I have posted in Canvas. Throughout class you and your group members will have several working session moments to create and draft your capital plan for your business.

EVM 3436 High Performing Teams (1 Credit)

Success in any business venture is often predicated on the strength of collaboration in and between high performing teams. But teams also come with their own unique set of challenges that can often hinder group productivity and cause friction, such as interpersonal issues, ambiguous goals and objectives, and competing agendas. There are techniques that team and group leaders can use to alleviate those challenges in the current era of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. The High Performing Teams class is for students who are eager to build their capacity to connect as leaders more effectively and learn to leverage psychological safety to create cultures of connection where risk-taking leads to team success. Together we’ll explore how you can implement the latest trends in remote and hybrid team management in a post-COVID era as well as how to incorporate the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) to improve team performance and cohesion. This Sprint has asynchronous work that is available 2-weeks prior to the in-person class. The asynchronous work, up to 40% of the total work for the class, is required to be completed prior to the in-person class. There is a post class project that is due two weeks after the in-person class.

EVM 3437 The Art of Branding: Design Tactics for Entrepreneurs (1 Credit)

Join us on a journey of crafting compelling brands through a practical approach to design and strategy. This course immerses students in the brand design process, analyzing both successful and unsuccessful brand campaigns to extract valuable insights. By refining their aesthetic sensibilities, students will become adept at creating captivating designs. Leveraging cutting-edge digital technologies, students will master the creation of a brand style guide. In the final project, students will showcase their skills by developing a captivating style guide for a new or existing business, strategically positioning it in the market. This Sprint has asynchronous work that is available 2-weeks prior to the in-person class. The asynchronous work, up to 40% of the total work for the class, is required to be completed prior to the in-person class. There is a post class project that is due two weeks after the in-person class.

EVM 3438 How to Identify, Evaluate & Beat Your Competition (1 Credit)

Every business has competitors, from large corporations, “main street” businesses, start-ups… they all compete for customers and market-share. Even The University of Denver competes for students. Leave The Competition Behind is for people who like to win and don’t like to lose. In this class, you will study strategic frameworks and tools that you can use to identify, understand, and dissect your competitors, the levers that you can pull to beat them (like price, quality, service). We will identify and discuss front-line tactics you can use to outwork your competition. We will explore and discuss real life cases and personal stories from various industries to illustrate the key concepts used by professionals in competitive analysis and strategy. You will apply these concepts during the breakout sessions where we will take on the Media & Entertainment industry.

EVM 3439 Social Entrepreneurship (1 Credit)

Social entrepreneurship is simply applying entrepreneurship principles to societal challenges. This can be for-profit, non-profit, social business, or even not an official organization at all. The consistency across all these is the desire to make society better. Finding a problem that gives you purpose is a challenge in itself, as you cannot simply think about it. You need to create a life that allows you the freedom to find this purpose, and then successfully devote yourself to this purpose. In addition, if your goal is to make society better, you want to avoid the trap of working on one problem while actively contributing to others. So the ideal social entrepreneur creates an organization and life that offers a net improvement to society. This involves learning to “socially” manage others, environmental impact, finances, etc. The Social Entrepreneurship course is for people that are eager to improve the world. We will incorporate concepts from finance, management, psychology, and even neurobiology. You will learn how to find the problem you wish to work on, and how to be more successful in addressing that problem.

EVM 3440 How to Effectively Negotiate in Business (1 Credit)

Every day, and sometimes multiple times a day, we persuade and negotiate with people such as funders, classmates, friends, family members, potential employers, merchants, and coworkers. However, most of us know little about what it takes to be effective negotiators. This class teaches you proven methods to support your desire to reach principled agreements by broadening your basic negotiation skills. We will learn theory-driven negotiation skills, engage in simulated negotiations, and make concrete plans to conduct a future negotiation. This Sprint has asynchronous work that is available 2-weeks prior to the in-person class. The asynchronous work, up to 40% of the total work for the class, is required to be completed prior to the in-person class meeting. There is a project that is due two weeks after the in-person class meeting.

EVM 3441 How To Create A Business Startup Budget & Forecast (1 Credit)

For many people creating and evaluating business budgets and forecasts is intimidating. This applied course is designed to demystify the subject as students study, create, and evaluate budgets and forecasts. This course will provide students tools as they create an entrepreneurial budget and forecast. In addition, you will learn about metrics that entrepreneurs, investors, and banks use to evaluate these financial materials. Along the way we will consider budgets for different types of businesses, including B2B, B2C, products, subscriptions, and services. We will cover budget topics such as unit economics, breakeven, margin analysis, customer acquisition cost, and marketing efficiency plus forecast topics like burn rates, scaling, margin creep, and north star metrics. Plus, we will touch on the basics of valuation and how budget materials relate to valuation.

EVM 3442 Selling Online: Using Amazon as a Framework (1 Credit)

Amazon has become the de facto tool for selling Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) online. If you're not selling your product on Amazon, chances are that someone else is already doing it for you. Unlike real estate, Amazon squatters may have (and, retain) first-mover advantages in selling products and securing organic listing authority. Anyone planning to sell products for themselves or for an employer needs to understand the Amazon landscape. Amazon has become a ubiquitous metaverse for commerce. Everything known tangibly in bricks-and-mortar retail has a virtual analogue expected to move faster and cheaper, all while subject to the scrutiny of customer reviews. The Amazon eco-system includes an army of gig workers and service providers such as lawyers and marketing professionals, subject to the same constraints. Whether you wish to become a third-party seller on Amazon or plan to work for a CPG company, understanding the power of Amazon (and, related tools) has universal application. We plan to cover the risks of entering Amazon, the criteria to evaluate successful products, protecting your brand, organic and pay-per click strategies, third-party tools, and the broad market for trading in Amazon businesses. This Sprint has asynchronous work that is available 2-weeks prior to the in-person class. The asynchronous work, up to 40% of the total work for the class, is required to be completed prior to the in-person class. There is a post class project that is due two weeks after the in-person class.

EVM 3443 The Marketing Mix "Converting Prospects Across the B2B and B2C Buyer's Journey (1 Credit)

How do people who have never heard of a product or company become loyal customers? Marketing leaders use a variety of tactics---from social media, digital advertising, content, customer service, reviews, emails, events, and more---to convert prospective customers to loyal ones. Converting prospects across the buyer's journey from awareness to consideration to purchase in a cost-effective manner is core to every B2B and B2C marketing campaign. During this Sprint we will learn the key elements of the marketing mix and the stages of the buyer's journey they apply to. We’ll showcase common tactics and metrics used at each stage, and focus on the importance of using attribution data to improve the effectiveness of each conversion. We will also evaluate how marketing and sales leaders effectively partner across the buyer's journey, learn how the marketing mix can vary across B2B and B2C organizations, and showcase organizations that have developed highly effective marketing mixes. This Sprint has asynchronous work that is available 2-weeks prior to the in-person class. The asynchronous work, up to 40% of the total work for the class, is required to be completed prior to the in-person class. There is a post class project that is due two weeks after the in-person class.

EVM 3444 Using Sustainability to Drive Innovation (1 Credit)

Want to learn how to make a difference in the world using Sustainability? This course is designed to give you the entrepreneurial skills to incorporate sustainability into a company’s products, services, and day to day operations. If you want to learn how to innovate and develop sustainability initiatives that make massive societal and environmental impacts while tackling current challenges like climate change, water scarcity, equity & inclusion, this course is for you. This course provides an essential overview of the challenges that our planet and society are facing and provides you the tools you’ll need to ignite your sustainable business vision and bring it to reality. If you have a passion for making a positive impact in the world and an entrepreneurial idea for a new business or a product or business solution within an existing company, come join us! Students will walk away with a working knowledge of sustainability issues and the tools to build sustainable programs into new and existing business ventures that address both a societal and market need. At the end of this sprint course, students should feel empowered with the ability to incorporate sustainable thinking into whatever their future careers hold – whether that be an entrepreneurial venture, the development of a new product, or helping businesses drive business value through sustainability. This Sprint has asynchronous work that is available 2-weeks prior to the in-person class. The asynchronous work, up to 40% of the total work for the class, is required to be completed prior to the in-person class. There is a post class project that is due two weeks after the in-person class. Cross Listed with EVM 4444.

EVM 3445 Life Design for Entrepreneurs (1 Credit)

Building a meaningful life doesn’t just happen - it happens on purpose. In this Life Design for Entrepreneurs sprint you will approach the challenge of designing your life as an entrepreneur the way a designer would - through empathy, experimentation, wayfinding, prototyping, and action planning. You will participate in highly interactive workshops tailored specifically for entrepreneurs, explore the social and personal narratives that shape your perspectives, and practice ways to reframe problems. A key outcome of this sprint is your design of three possible future paths as an entrepreneur -- Odyssey Plans -- for your life and career ahead. You will develop tangible ways to move forward and leave with an action plan with accountability. Through hands-on exercises, small group discussions, collaborative ideation, and personal reflection, this course will support the application of design thinking concepts, tools, and practices – all geared to empower self-discovery and design of your career and life as an entrepreneur. The asynchronous work, up to 40% of the total work for the class, is required to be completed prior to the in-person class. There is a post class project that is due two weeks after the in-person class.

EVM 3446 Entrepreneurship in the Arts (1 Credit)

Whether you are a visual artist, musician, dancer, or other member of the arts community, entrepreneurial capabilities will be crucial for monetizing your artistic mission and interests. In this class, we will explore how to find gigs, successfully manage your arts-focused endeavors as a profitable business, negotiate compensation, and channel a range of experiences into career development. In addition to ensuring this foundational knowledge, we will go beyond entrepreneurial basics to help you develop the tools to support your artistic and entrepreneurial endeavors. We will bridge the gap between artistic and business training to provide an expanded perspective on arts entrepreneurship. This Sprint has asynchronous work that is available 2-weeks prior to the in-person class. The asynchronous work, up to 40% of the total work for the class, is required to be completed prior to the in-person class. There is a post class project that is due two weeks after the in-person class. Cross listed with EVM 4446.

EVM 3447 Produce Professional Videos with Your Phone (1 Credit)

Anyone with a phone and an Internet connection can “shoot” and upload a video to a variety of social media platforms (Instagram, Tik Tok, YouTube, etc). Yet, many of these videos are overlooked due to their poor production, amateurish editing, and lack of a promotion plan. This “Sprint” is designed to introduce you to the world of professional phone videography and editing. Topics covered will include: getting the most out of your phone’s camera (software and techniques), useful accessories for your phone camera, recording professional audio on your phone, editing video on your phone and connecting your phone to a larger editing system. Strategies for producing product videos, pitch videos, branded content, and entertainment focused media will be discussed. When you complete this course, you will be able to produce highly spreadable and professional looking videos with little more than your phone camera. This Sprint has asynchronous work that is available 2-weeks prior to the in-person class. The asynchronous work, up to 40% of the total work for the class, is required to be completed prior to the in-person class. There is a post class project that is due two weeks after the in-person class.

EVM 3448 Navigating the Gig Economy: Turn Your Passion into Profit (1 Credit)

Through the emerging gig economy, individuals have many opportunities not previously available to them. Many are turning hobbies, skills, and passions into income-generating side hustles, supplementing their regular income, achieving a flexible work-life balance, experiencing an easier financial transition into a new career, having extra time to obtain additional education, or growing a side hustle into a new business venture. Gig workers provide temporary, short-term services or products to consumers, and over the next five years, this economy is expected to grow from 35% to 50%. As the entire U.S. economy continues to rely less on employees and more on technology, the decline in traditional employment requires a shift in how individuals make money. Whatever your goals, let's turn what you are already good at into a profitable activity that brings additional flexibility and independence to your life. This sprint provides a thorough understanding of the gig economy, including the benefits, challenges, opportunities, and, ultimately, how one can succeed as a gig worker. At the end of this sprint, students will be ready to participate in the gig economy by learning how to leverage freelancing platforms, develop a gig economy pitch, manage finances as a freelancer, enhance marketability, and ultimately understand gig work. This Sprint has asynchronous work that is available 2-weeks prior to the in-person class. The asynchronous work, up to 40% of the total work for the class, is required to be completed prior to the in-person class. There is a post class project that is due two weeks after the in-person class. Cross listed with EVM 4446.

EVM 3700 Real Business Cases in Entrepreneurship (4 Credits)

The Real Business course is designed to provide students with an opportunity to examine entrepreneurial business challenges through case studies, guest speaker, discussions and field experience. In addition to standard entrepreneurial start-ups, the course will cover international start-ups, gender issues relating to start-ups as well as fostering an entrepreneurial spirit in large organizations. Throughout the course, entrepreneurship will be examined from the perspective of business challenge as well as career choice. Prerequisites: EVM 3351 and degree checkpoint 2.

EVM 3704 Topics in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (1-4 Credits)

This course is custom designed to address topics that are currently in demand, such as social entrepreneurship, financing the startup after the Wall Street greed bust, finding angel investors and venture capitalists in Colorado, preparing for a pitch to investors, moving beyond startup stage, and others.

EVM 3710 Innovation/Creativity-Business (4 Credits)

This course is about identifying and creating customer needs, looking for innovative ways to address these needs, and pursuing those approaches that appear to have real profit potential. There are exercises to address and stimulate creativity, discussion of organizations that are considered to be creative businesses, and critical evaluation of the hurdles they face and the techniques they use. The course also includes innovative approaches to organizational effectiveness. Cross listed with EVM 4710. Prerequisites: LGST 2000 and degree checkpoint 2.

EVM 3980 Entrepreneur Internship (0-4 Credits)

Initial for-credit entrepreneur internship experience for students pursuing a business major and/or entrepreneurship minor, creating the opportunity to acquire meaningful work experience in a supervised, practical setting. Prerequisite: BUS 1440 (minimum grade of C-).

EVM 3991 Independent Study (1-10 Credits)

Student devises and completes a special learning project under faculty supervision. Topic and outline must be approved by supervising instructor and department.