Draper teams up with ASU to provide "Semester in Silicon Valley"

Draper University, the enterprise founded by premier venture capitalist Tim Draper (Draper Associates, DFJ, Draper Venture Network) to train entrepreneurs, today announced that it is creating a four-month program for entrepreneurs in partnership with Arizona State University.

“We are thrilled to be working with the talented faculty at ASU,” said Tim Draper. “This is a program where you are going to learn, fail, and grow. You’ll leave transformed and better for it.”

In the program, students will ideate, challenge, design, plan and present a startup company. Learning will be both individual and team-based. Students will gain an understanding of new methods in finance (Bitcoin), design (graphic), coding (webflow), marketing (viral, growth hacking), manufacturing (IoT, 3-D Printing) and direct sales.

The program combines Draper University’s signature hero training – a seven-week program developed by Draper to inspire and accelerate their idea-creation by igniting their entrepreneurial spirit – with the top entrepreneurship course of study from ASU.

“We’re excited to continue to evolve ASU’s creative entrepreneurship teaching and learning environments, and our relationship with Draper allows us to take them to the next level,” said Michael M. Crow, president of Arizona State University.

Students will get tours of major Silicon Valley companies (previous tours have included Facebook, Tesla, Google), a five day survival training course with Navy Seals, Special Forces and Army Rangers, and visits to tech conferences in the Bay Area.

Students will hear from a variety of expert speakers. Past speakers include Elon Musk, Tony Hsieh, Bill Hambrecht, Scott Cook, Tom Proulx, and many others; will be trained through projects that may range from an egg drop to county fair booth making to a sell-a-thon; will participate in a team hack-a-thon where they will have 36 hours to put together an minimum viable product, and they will be challenged to get a job offer in 24 hours.

The last half of the course involves actually planning and starting a business with some coaching and mentoring from some top professionals from Silicon Valley and faculty from ASU.

As they build their businesses, students will accelerate their businesses and will become aware of new ways of streamlining startups through platforms like AngelList, Crowdfunder, Docusign, LawTrades, eShares and the like.

By the end of the four months, students should be emotionally, physically, intellectually and spiritually prepared to embark on a startup, and we expect a few of the students to actually get funding and have an operating business.

Draper has taught more than 700 students from 62 different countries. Graduates have started more than 300 companies that have received over $50 million in funding.

Arizona State University, which for two years has been designated by U.S. News and World Report as the most innovative university in the country, has a world class Entrepreneurship and Innovation program embedded in the university.

The university has developed a new model for the American Research University, creating an institution that is committed to access, excellence and impact. ASU measures itself by those it includes, not by those it excludes. As the prototype for a New American University, ASU pursues research that contributes to the public good, and assumes major responsibility for the economic, social and cultural vitality of the communities that surround it.