Disruptive Entrepreneurship

MDST 2011

Disruption has become a hallowed achievement in contemporary business culture. What, exactly, do entrepreneurs, investors, and Internet evangelists mean by the word? What have been the great disruptions of our time, and who wound up disrupted?

This course is a hands-on exploration of disruption as a practice and a theory, which goes to the heart of contemporary society. We will encounter disruptions in the world around us and devise some of our own. Students should expect to enlarge their entrepreneurial repertoires, but also to experience fresh trepidation about disruption's possible consequences.

Instructor

Nathan Schneider (“Nathan” or “Professor Schneider”)
nathan.schneider@colorado.edu
Armory Building, 1B24
Office hours: Wednesday at 3-5 p.m., or by appointment (via email)
Website: nathanschneider.info

Objectives

  • Gain familiarity with discourses surrounding media entrepreneurship and disruptive innovation
  • Encounter the social impacts of economic disruptions
  • Cultivate habits of ethical entrepreneurship in media economies

The business model

The course consists of six evaluated components; three are consecutive “phases” and three are ongoing.

Phase one: Report

20 percent

Early in the course, each student produces a brief, researched report on a past disruption. Write an internal memo by an employee of an incumbent organization as it comes to terms with a potentially threatening disruption taking place. Examples of incumbent organizations include large corporations, governance agencies, and cultural institutions. Explain the disruption clearly to colleagues and suggest possible responses that their organization might take. The report should be between 1,200 and 1,500 words, formatted and written appropriately (and creatively) in the guise of an official document from the organization. Evaluation criteria are as follows:

  • Completion of the assignment with clarity, stylistic correctness, and creativity
  • Comprehension of the disruption and explanation of what qualifies it as disruptive
  • Evidence of self-directed research beyond assigned materials, including at least two peer-reviewed scholarly sources and relevant market data, using appropriate citation
  • Meaningful engagement with at least two assigned sources from the course

Phase two: Presentation

20 percent

The second project for the course is a presentation to the class about the human impacts of a disruptive innovation. Each student should interview at least one person (outside the CU community) whose way of life or livelihood has been threatened by the disruption. In the presentation, students will share interviewees' insights, alongside an explanation of the nature of the disruption and its broader context. This assignment is conducted in groups of 3-4, who will present 10-minute presentations with slides.

Each presentation should cover a unique topic. Evaluation criteria are as follows:

  • Completion of the assignment with clarity, stylistic correctness, and creativity
  • Comprehension of the disruption, including its history, market dynamics, and what qualifies it as disruptive
  • Insightful interviews in disrupted communities by each student (duly credited), along with contextual data on social impacts
  • Meaningful engagement with at least two assigned sources from the course

Phase three: Whitepaper

25 percent

At the conclusion of the course, students produce a whitepaper outlining an original proposal for a disruption involving networked digital media. It can advance business, social, or policy goals. In between 1,500 and 1,800 words, describe the nature of the disruption, its economic and technological context, and the means of its financing and growth. Be sure to also consider its potential social effects.

Students will twice present their ideas to the class—first as a one-minute practice run for feedback and, second, as a one-minute pitch with one parsimonious slide.

Evaluation criteria are as follows:

  • Completion of the assignment with clarity, stylistic correctness, and creativity
  • Comprehension of the disruption and explanation of what qualifies it as disruptive
  • Evidence of self-directed research beyond assigned materials, including at least two peer-reviewed scholarly sources and relevant market data, using APA citation
  • Meaningful engagement with at least two assigned sources from the courses
  • Clear, compelling in-class pitch with an elegant slide

Quizzes

15 percent

Quizzes based on readings and lectures will occur at random intervals during class using Canvas. Quizzes are meant to be taken individually, in class, without referencing external materials. Deviating from these norms will be regarded as a violation of the campus Honor Code.

Class participation

10 percent

All students should contribute to class discussions as active listeners, question-askers, commentators, and critics. Respectful disagreement with the instructor and fellow students is welcome and encouraged. Attendance will not be taken formally, but meaningful participation is not compatible with absence. Be prepared to discuss each week's assigned materials by the start of that week's first meeting.

Evaluation takes place at the midterm and the end of the course, with each evaluation period weighted equally. Evaluation is based on:

  • Contributing comments and questions that advance the conversation
  • Evidence of listening to others
  • Engagement with assigned materials

Entrepreneurial events

10 percent

Part of the course is participation in two synchronous events in the Boulder entrepreneurial community—at least one on campus. Within 24 hours after each event, submit a discussion post in Canvas about your experience there. With this, include proof of participation (such as a photo of yourself there or of you and your screen). Evaluation criteria are as follows:

  • Compelling proof of attendance at the event
  • Insightful, 300-500 word reflection on an aspect of each event
  • Engagement with at least one of the assigned materials in each analysis

Entrepreneurship-related events can be found at the campus Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative website, Silicon Flatirons, and Meetup.

Grading

Grading will follow the expectations stated in this syllabus.

If you need an extension on any assignment, consult your instructor ahead of time. Late projects will be penalized 5 percentage points per day.

Plagiarism and similar lapses in academic honesty can result in no credit for the assignment and referral to campus authorities.

Based on the stated percentage structure, grades will be awarded as follows: A (94-100), A- (90-93), B+ (87-89), B (83-86), B- (80-82), C+ (77-79), C (73-76), C- (70-72), D+ (67-69), D (63-66), D- (60-62), F (0-59). The minimum passing grade is 60 for undergraduates and 70 for graduate students.

Terms and conditions

Together, we agree to:

  • Work together to foster a respectful, mature, convivial community based on mutual learning, diverse perspectives, and accommodation
  • Adhere to all university policies regarding academic integrity, accessibility, behavior, discrimination, misconduct, inclusivity, and religious observances; we take responsibility for understanding them and the relevant procedures
  • Respect student privacy, keeping any materials or statements shared in class confidential unless permission is granted to do otherwise
  • Be present in our interactions together, keeping programs, tabs, and notifications unrelated to class off during meetings

If you find yourself in a position where lack of access to food, housing, health care, or other basic necessities interferes with your studies, consider seeking support from the Dean of Students and, if you feel comfortable doing so, your instructor. We will work to assist you however we can.

Topics

The course topics, like the assignments, proceed in three phases. First, we acquaint ourselves with some processes and ideologies associated with Silicon Valley-style entrepreneurial culture and discourses of disruption. Second, we consider the human impacts of disruptive change. Third, we explore a variety of strategies and shortcomings of disruptive and entrepreneurial thinking.

Except for the book we read in Phase Two, all readings should be available online. Some readings require using the university network (either on campus or via VPN).

Phase one: Disruption

What does this overused word even mean?

1. Startup communities

  • Brad Feld, chapters 1-3 in Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City (Wiley, 2012)
  • Xiaowei R. Wang, “Letter from Shenzhen,” Logic(s) (April 1, 2018)

2. Theory and cliché

3. Organizational vessels

4. Raising rounds

5. Endgames

6. Capitalism, all along

Phase two: Disrupted

Phase two centers around how one company, Amazon, has disrupted US society, through the lens of one book, available in the bookstore:

  • Alec MacGillis, Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021)

7. The basement to security

  • MacGillis, Fulfillment, “Introduction” to ch. 3

8. Dignity to power

  • MacGillis, Fulfillment, ch. 4 to ch. 6

9. Shelter to overtime

  • MacGillis, Fulfillment, ch. 7 to “Overtime”

Phase three: Disruptionism

What, then, can we do?

10. Disrupting work

11. Disrupting capital

12. Disruptive citizenship

13. Disrupting time

14. Disruption Fantasies

Further resources


[ Notes ]