NVD II (ENT 3603): what's in your folder, what it means, and what to do next

People, places, books

Instructor

Sean M. Dwyer, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship. Office PH 3050G · seandwyer@ou.edu (replies within 24 hours, Mon–Fri) · office hours Wed 3–5 PM in person, Zoom by appointment.

Sections

001: MWF 1:00–1:50 PM, Michael F. Price Hall 3030 · 002: MWF 2:00–2:50 PM, Adams Hall 3210. In person and mandatory.

Prerequisites

ENT 3113 (NVD I); ENT 3513 (Venture Capitalization) completed or concurrent.

Books

Business Model Generation (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010), called "BMC" in Canvas · The Mom Test (Fitzpatrick, 2013) · Canvas readings and videos.

Teams

3–5 people. Constraints used in class: no more than 2 D's or 2 I's (DISC), and at least 1 Integrator (Rocket Fuel).

Where the course is heading

NVD II is the second course in the three-course entrepreneurship sequence. You run feasibility analyses and make Go / No-Go decisions (persist, pivot or pause) until a well-planned venture concept emerges. It ends with a team declaration of the working group and concept that moves into NVD III.

By the end, your team will have: vetted concept(s) · 2 expert interviews · 50 customer interviews · a basic set of financial statements · a feasibility report.

Skills assessed: customer discovery, product/market fit, face-to-face and expert interviewing, market and competitive analysis, intellectual property, financials and pricing, pitching, teamwork and culture.

Attendance and engagement

• 44 scheduled sessions. You must attend at least 75% (33 of 44) to earn credit; miss more and the grade is an F.
• Three absences carry no point penalty. Each further absence costs 10 points from the 75-point engagement grade, so the whole engagement score is gone by about the eighth penalized absence.
• Arriving late or leaving early for more than 30% of class (15 minutes) counts as an absence.
• A medical note within two days avoids the point penalty (the absence still counts toward the 75%). Tell the professor about official university activities at least a week ahead.
• No phones and no off-task laptop use during class.

AI and integrity (syllabus)

• Follow the assignment's instructions. AI rules differ by assignment (see the ledger).
• Be transparent. If you use AI, add a "Use of Artificial Intelligence" comment in Canvas: which tool(s), and how you used the results in your own work.
• Be accountable. You own everything you submit, including fabricated, inaccurate or biased AI output. Check facts outside the AI.
• Plagiarism includes copying then lightly rewording, and using someone else's idea as your own. Penalties run from a zero on the assignment up to expulsion. When in doubt, cite.

Presentation content

• 1. The problem and initial hypotheses (as you understood it before interviewing)
• State and describe the hypothesized problem(s)
• Outline your initial assumptions about the problem(s)
• Define the market segment(s) you believed had the problem
• 2. Proposed solution (best current thinking; better, faster, cheaper or more effective than alternatives)
• At least one proposed market-based solution
• The value proposition to the customer
• Potential revenue streams, briefly
• 3. Insights from customer interviews
• 2–3 example interviewees: who, how (in person, phone, Zoom), key insight from each
• At least 3 primary takeaways across your 15 interviews (themes, not summaries), and how they changed your thinking
• 4. Industry context
• Brief, high-level overview of the field (what kind of industry, who operates in it, how such problems are usually addressed); not company-specific
• 5. Moving forward
• Confidence in the idea, 1–10, and the evidence that most influenced it
• Hypotheses confirmed, partially confirmed, or rejected
• Three things you wish you knew, and how you'll find answers

Scope, logistics and uploads

• Narrowed to 2–3 concepts; focus mostly on the top one and briefly explain why the others are weaker
• At least 15 customer interviews completed (live, one-on-one)
• Every teammate has a speaking role
• Rehearsed to 8–10 minutes on a timer; slides are prompts, not scripts
• PowerPoint uploaded to Canvas
• Interview log (Excel) uploaded to Canvas
• "Use of Artificial Intelligence" statement included, if AI was used
• Signed team contract confirmed submitted (it can cost Module 1 points)
• Presentation group (Boomer or Sooner) and upload deadline confirmed with the professor

Rules from the Interview Guidelines

• Live, one-on-one, conversational. Surveys (Google Forms, emailed or texted question lists) don't count, because there's no follow-up or "why." With no real-time conversation it's logged as extra work, not an interview.
• Length: no minimum, but under 5 minutes is "questionable." Aim for about 15.
• Milestones (team totals): Module 1: 15 customers · Module 2: +20 customers (35) and 2 experts · Module 3: +15 customers (50).
• Interviewees should increasingly match your target market as the semester goes on.
• Record with consent if possible; otherwise take detailed notes.
• Keep one Excel log and submit it at every milestone. You'll also keep an Outstanding Questions list at the end of each module; it should steer your next interviews.
• Avoid leading or biased questions, as The Mom Test teaches. The book's Conclusion and Cheat Sheet section is the recommended prep.

The math

Working back from Wed Sep 30 that's about two interviews a day for the whole team, starting today. Sooner teams get two extra days.

Log columns (from the template)

Interview Number · Interview Date · Length (minutes) · Name of Interviewer · Name of Interviewee · Customer or Expert? · Interviewee Information · Interview Summary · Major Takeaways (Implications for Our Idea) · Other Notes

1. Open (1–2 min). "Thanks for making time. I'm a student at OU researching how people deal with [the general area, not your idea]. I'm not selling anything. I want to learn from your experience. It takes about 15 minutes. Is it OK if I take notes / record?"
2. Their context (2–3 min). "Tell me about [their role or routine around the problem]." "How often does [situation] come up?"
3. Specific past events (6–8 min).
   • "Tell me about the last time [the problem event] happened."
   • "What led up to it? What did you do next?"
   • "What was the hardest part? Why?"
   • "What did that cost you in time, money or stress?"
   • "What have you already tried? What happened?"
   • "What do you use today, and what don't you like about it?"
4. Priority and money (2 min). "Where does this rank among the things you're dealing with right now?" "Do you or people you know spend money on this? On what?"
5. Close (2 min). "Is there anything I should have asked?" "Who else should I talk to?" "Could I follow up if I have more questions?"

Free, credible starting points

1. Find your industry's code in the NAICS system (U.S. Census Bureau). Most data sources are searchable by it.
2. Pull a national snapshot from BLS Industries at a Glance (employment, wages, trends).
3. Check counts and firm sizes with Census Bureau tools such as Census Business Builder and the Statistics of U.S. Businesses (search those names on census.gov).
4. Ask OU Libraries whether they offer industry-report databases such as IBISWorld or Business Source Complete "Industry Profiles." University libraries commonly do, but I couldn't verify OU's access. See a sample library business guide.
5. Trade associations often publish size, structure and trend summaries.

What the slide needs

• What type of industry this is.
• Who typically operates in it (large incumbents, small local firms, platforms…).
• How problems like yours are generally addressed today.
• 3–5 sourced facts (size, growth, structure), each with a citation on the slide or in the notes.
• Keep it general, not company-specific. The brief says so explicitly.

The three rules

1. Talk about their life, not your idea. Reveal the idea and people turn polite and start rating it.
2. Ask about specifics in the past, not generics or opinions about the future. Past behavior predicts more than promises do.
3. Talk less and listen more.

What interviews are for, and what they aren't

They are for learning how someone lives, what they've already done about a problem, what it costs them, and who else has it. They are not for pitching, collecting compliments, or asking people to predict what they'd buy.

Bad data, and how to deal with it

• Compliments: pleasant and worthless. Deflect them and ask for a concrete example.
• Fluff: generic claims ("I usually…"), future promises ("I would…") and hypotheticals ("I might…"). Anchor them to the last time it actually happened.
• Ideas and feature requests: ask why they want it and how they cope today instead of taking the suggestion at face value.

Commitment and advancement

A good meeting ends with the other person giving something up: time (a follow-up, a trial), reputation (an introduction to a decision-maker or peer), or money (a pre-order, deposit or letter of intent). Enthusiasm without a cost to them is a "zombie lead."

Entrepreneurial orientation

Five dimensions: autonomy · competitive aggressiveness · innovativeness · proactiveness · risk-taking (Clark, Covin & Pidduck, 2024).

Three lenses

Kirzner: alertness to arbitrage opportunities. Schumpeter: creative destruction. Shane: identifying, evaluating and exploiting opportunities. Open question: are opportunities discovered or created?

Entrepreneurial action

McMullen & Shepherd (2006): what you know shapes which opportunities you can see; what motivates you shapes which you pursue. "A good idea for someone else" is not "a good idea for me."

Mindsets

Job vs career vs calling. "How can I build a personally meaningful venture?"

Persist / pivot / pause

Persist: keep going as is. Pivot: change the idea based on new information. Pause: stop because it may not be the right opportunity. Knowing when is critical.

Team success

Moderate diversity works best; relevant experience matters most when it matches the venture's challenges; complementary roles (financial, operational, visionary).

Recurring questions

How different should the product be (novelty vs familiarity)? How will you compete (Porter's generic strategies)? Where is it on the adoption curve? How will you fund it, and earn enough to survive?

Class 1.1 point

Starting a business is different from starting and sustaining a successful one.

DISC and Rocket Fuel

DISC (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness) was used to form teams: no more than two D's or two I's on a team, and at least one Integrator.

Visionary: passionate idea generator with big-picture thinking who works on the business; risks boredom with daily operations and too many unfocused ideas.

Integrator: runs day-to-day operations, holds people accountable, harmonizes functions and executes the vision; risks getting little recognition and being pushed to move faster than is realistic. Together they are the "rocket fuel."

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (Lencioni)

1. Absence of trust: hiding weaknesses. Remedy: model vulnerability.
2. Fear of conflict: avoiding hard topics. Remedy: ground rules for healthy debate.
3. Lack of commitment: feeling undervalued. Remedy: involve people in decisions; clear goals.
4. Avoidance of accountability: missed deadlines, low standards. Remedy: clear expectations, visible progress.
5. Inattention to results: personal success over team goals. Remedy: measurable team goals.

Guatemala: purpose layered on top of necessity

What GEM's data shows (report profile, Table A5)

• All four motives are high: jobs scarce 91.5% (tied 2nd), wealth 83.9% (5th), make a difference 83.7% (1st), family tradition 55.4% (4th).
• Strong impact orientation: 91.5% always consider social impact (3rd), 92.6% environmental impact (1st), and 86.7% prioritise social or environmental impact above profit or growth (2nd).
• Nearly one in four adults (23.7%) is starting or running a new business (6th). 35.0% say household income fell this year.
• Experts rate the entrepreneurial environment poor: NECI 3.7, 52nd of 56 economies. GDP per capita is about $14.1K (PPP).

What outside sources add. GEM's Guatemala team describes entrepreneurship as a vital income source for people who can't find formal jobs, a flexible option for people with household responsibilities, and a long-standing family tradition passed down through generations. The global report's Ch. 5.2 adds that lower-income economies are somewhat more likely to endorse the "make a difference" motive: half of low-income economies have at least one in two early-stage entrepreneurs agreeing, against about a third in middle- and high-income economies.

Reading it. Purpose here doesn't compete with money or survival; it sits beside them. Most entrepreneurs endorse every motive, so business is both livelihood and contribution to family and community.

Republic of Korea: a wealth-first entrepreneur

What GEM's data shows (report profile, Table A5)

• Wealth is the motive that stands out: 79.6% (8th). Make a difference is 10.2% and family tradition 8.5% (both last, 51st); jobs scarce is 34.0% (48th).
• Lower impact orientation: 62.3% always consider social impact (44th), 50.3% environmental (49th), and only 38.5% prioritise social or environmental impact above profit or growth (48th).
• A strong environment: NECI 6.0, and 1st of 56 economies on ease of entry (market dynamics). GDP per capita is about $54.0K (PPP).
• Fear of failure is among the lowest (29.2%, 50th of 51), and early-stage activity is 11.7% of adults (tied 24th).

What outside sources add. A study of factors inhibiting youth entrepreneurship in Korea describes strong preferences for large corporations (26.6%), public enterprises (18.1%) and government jobs (11%) over startups (5.1%), and a culture in which large-conglomerate (chaebol) employment signals success. That is about who starts a business, not why, so treat it as supporting context rather than proof.

Reading it. In a high-income economy with plenty of jobs and easy market entry, people who do start businesses skew toward opportunity and money, and a social mission is rare. That is a hypothesis consistent with the data, not something the survey proves.

Evidence that it can help

• Persistence. In a six-month, three-wave survey of 289 technology entrepreneurs in eastern China, prosocial motivation predicted entrepreneurial persistence, mostly through a sense of meaning and psychological well-being (Management Decision, 2025).
• Social and financial results can move together. Studies of social enterprises report that social performance partly carries the link between a social orientation and financial results (Frontiers in Psychology, 2021; Sage Open, 2024; a 2023 systematic review). I read these at abstract level. Caution: they study enterprises that already exist, and success can drive both.

Evidence that it can hurt

• Getting off the ground. Renko (2013) followed nascent entrepreneurs and found that prosocial motivation reduced the likelihood the venture became an operating firm within four years, more so when the offering was new to the market (Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice).
• Building a model with no template. A 2025 study of mission-driven early-stage founders, per its summary, finds they must first discover and create a viable business idea because they can't rely on proven models, and that turning it into regular sales can take more effort (Small Business Economics; I could read only the summary, not the full text).