Ain't No Fun (If the Homies Can't Have None): Expanding and launching new ventures based on peer group or cultural capital disruption.

Doggystyle Album Cover

When Snoop recorded "Ain't No Fun" he was paying homage to the culture of authentic activities shared by African American males in the hood.  Then the culture of Hip Hop was used to promote that behavior on an international scale.

In the Big Payback, Dan Charnas was able to capture the varying degrees of the culture and how it was used to escalate opportunity in a variety of industries that had been historically inaccessible to African Americans and other people of color.  Higher Education is no different.  Universities that are PWI (Predominately White Institutions) have been in the driver seat of determining what is considered valuable knowledge and have structured gatekeeping processes to maintain those environments.

Iovine and Dr. Dre

However, technology and the entrepreneurial opportunities that have emerged as a result of new technology advancements have begun to challenge the "traditional" or "good ol' boy networks. Those networks have excluded many individuals from gaining access to the opportunities that well funded research based institutions can offer.

Apple and BEATS are a contemporary example of a shift in the culture.  Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre have suggested that their academy at USC is steeped in disrupting how institutions of higher education are not preparing students to be the driving force of innovation.

Why is this important and what are we disrupting with this course? Your blog assignment is to examine the role of this class as a point of disruption at Illinois and create a strategy to extend the brand on campus, nationally, and internationally.  I would like you to:

1. Write a new description for the course within the context of what you have learned (you may want to examine the description on Technology Entrepreneurship's website).
2. Identify and lay out a new marketing and promotion strategy to introduce the class to untapped student groups. 
3.  Be prepared to present an on the spot action plan in class to email and invite select indivuals to class to promote the course.  Also explain why you have selected these individuals and how they will aid in disruption. 
4. Uncover the cool factor of this course and how do we exploit it?