The Media Lab Entrepreneurship Program is a cross-cutting theme within the Media Arts and Sciences academic program that helps students translate promising ideas at the Media Lab from compelling prototypes towards real-world products or services—i.e., translating ideas into impact. Such translation has historically occurred when sponsors absorb promising concepts and hire graduating students and also when new businesses or even NGO organizations are formed, sometimes with Media Lab sponsors as co-investors, co-developers, or lead customers.

The goal of the Media Lab Entrepreneurship Program is to aid this process, while at the same time ensuring that the Lab’s intellectual freedom and research agenda are not sacrificed. The goal is to generate thoughtful projects that will engage sponsors at a much more useful level, thus increasing both effectiveness of the Media Lab educational program and the real-world impact of its research.

The Program consists of several "Ventures" oriented classes, including Development Ventures, Imaging Ventures, and Neurotech Ventures, together with the flagship Media Lab Enterprise course. These classes introduce Media Lab students to cross-registered students from MIT Sloan School of Management, the Harvard Business School and Kennedy School of Government, and other academic programs, forming teams whose diverse skills can produce well-formed technology translation plans. The classes also show students how to leverage the resources of other programs around MIT and Harvard, particularly the Sloan Entrepreneurship Center, the MIT $100K Business Plan Competition, and the MIT Venture Mentoring Service.

For more information, contact Professor Alex (Sandy) Pentland.

Selected Venture Classes, 2009-2010

1) Media Lab Entrepreneurship
Alex Pentland, Frank Moss, Joost Bonsen

Media Lab Entrepreneurship is the flagship course within the Media Lab Entrepreneurship Program. It is a Spring seminar surveying cases of inter- and entrepreneurship-based on Media Lab technologies, with the goal of gaining increased understanding of how digital innovations grow into societal change. We survey case examples of both successful and failed businesses and generally grapple with the difficulties of deploying and diffusing products. Finally, we explore a range of business models and opportunities enabled by emerging Media Lab innovations. Deliverables: Students craft a business analysis for one of the featured technology innovations. In the past these analyses have been the basis for future research, publications, and new ventures. This year we will be focusing especially on personal health care, mobile transactions, new media.

2) Development Ventures
Joost Bonsen, Prof. Alex Pentland

Development Ventures is a 6-unit Fall Semester seminar on founding, financing, and building entrepreneurial ventures in developing nations. We challenge students to craft enduring and economically viable solutions to problems faced by at least one billion people worldwide. We survey case examples of both successful and failed businesses and generally grapple with deploying and diffusing products and services through entrepreneurial action. Finally, we explore a range of established and emerging business models as well as new business opportunities enabled by technologies in the works in MIT labs and beyond. Deliverables: Students craft a business plan executive summary, worthy of submission in the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition $1K Warm-Up. Funding is available to the most promising teams for researching and prototyping the new venture.

3) Imaging Ventures: Cameras, Displays, and Visual Computing
Joost Bonsen, Ramesh Raskar

Imaging Ventures: Cameras, Displays, and Visual Computing is a seminar and project-oriented course on the opportunities and challenges for businesses based on emergent imaging innovations. We study the landscape of imaging developments, plan business strategies and brainstorm towards a startup, business unit, non-profit or citizen sector organization. To bring imaging research to the real world, the students will be encouraged to build teams and craft a business plan. The class will include live case studies of established and emerging businesses, through talks by invited business speakers, as well as surveys of commercialization and the innovation landscape in every arena of imaging. Topics include mobile camera phones, cameras in developing counties, image-search, medical imaging, online photo sharing, computational photography and more.

4) Neurotechnology Ventures
Joost Bonsen, Ed Boyden

Neurotechnology Ventures is a seminar and project-oriented course on the challenges of envisioning, planning, and building startups to bring neuroengineering innovations to the world. Explorations will cover a broad array of issues ranging from the deeply technical, to the analysis of market realities. Students will work in teams to analyze an opportunity and create a business plan executive summary to solve a major problem through neurotechnology. The project will develop throughout the term, with multiple reviews, and culminating in a final presentation. We expect that some projects may go on to become successful ventures.