Welcome to Challenge Studio

Introduction

📺 Watch the following video from your instructor to learn what you will study in lesson 1.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Understand why Challenge Studio is an important course for your studies and life
  • Define entrepreneurship, specifically what it means to build a venture
  • Learn the mindsets required to be an entrepreneur and to start a venture
  • Form a team and understand how to work effectively together
  • Revisit your problem statement from the previous course (Engineering for Development) and refine it

Non-Engagement Risks

If you don’t engage in this lesson fully, here is what could happen to your venture:

  • Poor team dynamics, lack of clear direction, misaligned goals, inefficiency in time management leading to project delays and suboptimal team performance.

Venture Building Case Study

Throughout this course, you will be building your venture alongside a fictional group of African university students. Each week, you will learn a little bit more about their progress as they build their venture using the concepts and principles that you are learning. Let's meet your fellow entrepreneurs!

Week 1: Forming EduBridge

On a sunny Saturday in April, four university students (Kwasi, Tolu, Brian, Amina) meet to discuss a shared concern: improving access to quality education in remote African regions. They brainstorm the concept of EduBridge, a digital platform to connect learners with educational resources. Each member, bringing a unique set of skills from their respective fields—technology, education, design, and business—lays out their vision for what EduBridge could become.

This initial meeting is filled with vibrant discussions about potential challenges and opportunities, setting the stage for a venture that blends educational content with technological innovation. They agree on key roles, leveraging their individual strengths to cover the project's diverse needs, from content creation to user interface design and business strategy.

The session concludes with a clear action plan, outlining the steps they need to take to bring their vision to life, emphasizing the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in solving complex problems.