The MS/MBA Capstone is an intensive project-based experience that requires teams of students to apply and integrate the skills they have learned across the program curriculum. Specifically, teams will be expected to design, build (and hopefully, launch) a new technology-based product/service venture, and thereby to demonstrate mastery with respect to three fundamental areas of knowledge: Design Knowledge: The use of human-centered (and other) design methods to understand users, identify solutions to their needs, and gather feedback on solutions via rapid, iterative prototyping. Technical Knowledge: The use of rigorous system engineering methods to plan, design, develop, build, and test a complex technology-based product/service, integrating knowledge across diverse engineering disciplines. And Business Knowledge: The use of lean experimentation methods to develop and test a set of hypotheses that capture how the new product/service will create value, including business model design, customer value proposition, go to market (GTM) strategy, operating model and profit formula.

The Capstone comprises two related courses. The first course – Launch Lab 1 – is an immersive course completed over a 2-week period in January of the EC year (Capstone I). In the first week, student teams learn how to structure and execute a “Design Sprint” – a rigorous process for identifying problems, brainstorming solutions and building prototypes that can be tested with users. The Sprint process has been widely adopted by startups and large corporations and is a key technique for aspiring product managers. In the second week, teams develop an “Investor Pitch” for a business model that surrounds the new product/service concept they are working on. At the end of this week, teams then pitch their venture ideas to real investors and receive feedback on their viability and feasibility.

The second course in the capstone sequence – Launch Lab 2 – follows on and builds upon the work completed in January, meeting weekly in the spring term. In this course, the focus is on how to operate and run a venture after it receives funding. Lectures, cases and project work are used to help students develop operating plans for their businesses, draft job descriptions for key hires, and source potential advisors, etc. Throughout the capstone course, students must constantly decide whether to persist, pivot, or perish, with their venture ideas, though a series of defined Go/No Go milestones. Hence some students work on multiple ideas during the capstone sequence, whereas others bring one idea to fruition. Historically, several capstone ventures from each cohort receive funding from VCs.

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