An open-ended, discussion based class teaching the basics of idea generation, product development, and starting, and running a company. We will cover everything from how and why to start a company to funding, business types, business plans, marketing, and product design/assembly/production chains. The focus will be on mechanical and software startups. We will also talk about different types of funding, bootstrapping, Y-Combinator, the MIT Technology Licensing Office, incorporation, basic principles (i.e. making things people want), well-known startup successes and failures, and provide feedback from brainstorming sessions.

Nuclear fusion is often called the energy source of the future, but it always seems to be just 30 years down the road. Fusion energy from the sun is responsible for sustaining life on Earth. Without fusion, you wouldn't even be here today. However, we can't harness the power of the sun. Instead, we need to figure out how to make our own fusion power- and in a way, make our own sun. In this course, we will be discussing current fusion basics and what fusion could look like 30 years from now.