Introducing Entrepreneurship into an Undergraduate Software Development Course

During the past decade, undergraduate computer science students have become progressively more interested in pursuing less traditional paths of employment after graduation. While most still choose to work for established businesses, others are choosing to start businesses of their own. For students in computer science, developing novel software products is one viable approach to this end. To address our students' growing interest in entrepreneurship, during the last three years, we have modified the content of our Software Development course to introduce the Lean Startup philosophy and simulate the process students starting their own businesses would take to do so. The class begins with students “pitching” their ideas to other students in the class, then choosing the project(s) they will work on, interviewing clients and potential customers to determine the requirements for the product, and finally, developing the product. Four software products have been developed in this period, including one that received second place in an innovation competition and attracted the attention of a venture capitalist. In this paper, we will further describe details of the course, the products developed, and student attitudes both during and after the class is over