Our mission is to teach students how to build, test, and repeat ideas by reframing failure as part of a structured learning process rather than defeat.

This student-facilitated DeCal explores how failure can be a powerful tool for entrepreneurial growth, resilience, and strategic adaptation. Through application frameworks – pivot framework, the rejection, and cash burning analysis -students will engage with the “dark side” of entrepreneurship and express their perspectives on the mechanics of a faceplant. The course will feature guest speakers from different entrepreneurial and business fields, including local founders from Boichik Bagels, Fieldwork Brewing, and Yogurt Park, who will share their own insights on using failure to inspire action and communicate the reality of the startup ecosystem.

Learning to Fail: Early Entrepreneurs mission is to move beyond the classroom by closing the gap between academic theory and startup reality by inviting local business owners who have had success expanding their business operations. These guests will offer a crude but realistic glimpse into the world of early entrepreneurship, including their failures, rewards, and moments of striking luck. Furthermore, they will share how they overcame limitations when capital was restricted and how they managed a lack of expertise.

The course will be structured around a semester-long builder project, with regular check-ins, and initial hypothesis and outlines, a market research validation phase, a rough prototype, peer feedback, and a final presentation. Students unable to attend their final presentation, will have to propose their own interview or observation experience. By the end of the course, participants will have created a testable hypothesis that reflects their interpretation of their builder mindset, fostering both personal grit and collective discussion on the intersection of academics and startup reality.