1) I do not have any ideas for a startup or product, can I
still take cs490e?
YES! Part of the goal
of this course is to help students develop ideas and execute them.
For ideas on how to innovate, check out our “How to
Innovate” section in our Video Library.
2) Do I have to actually implement something for this
course?
YES! If there was no
beta product deliverable this course would be teetering on pointlessness.
3) Why should I take
this class?
See Student Benefits.
4) Do I have to know a specific programming language or
software tool in order to take this course?
No! We do not care
how you end up implementing your beta product.
It is up to you and your group members to determine what language/tools
you will use. This is part of the beauty
of a startup you can use whatever tools you feel are most powerful and are not
forced to use suboptimal ones just because you were “told” to.
5) Why doesn’t this course have an expensive textbook
associated with it?
Dead trees are so pre-Internet. When you go off into the “real world,” nobody
is going to tell what resources you’ll need in order to get some task
accomplished. This can be true even if
you decide to work for a large corporation.
Regardless, not assigning a specific textbook allows you to “flex” your
entrepreneurial muscles. ( Besides, we have a really cool wiki Hank wrote on entrepreneurship available 
)
6) Do I REALLY need
to put in 10 – 12 hours per week for this course?
Yes, but this can vary arbitrarily (in either direction) based
on skill/idea/commitment of the team.
Aiming for this time commitment ensures that you won’t be embarrassed
when it’s time to demo each team’s product.
Besides, you never know who may be looking what product you
produce. We would submit to you that if you earnestly put in the time for this course your efforts will reward you well beyond your years at Purdue--few courses can make such a claim.
