Module 1: Developing Your Idea: Some entrepreneurs fall into the trap of thinking “if we build it they will come” but that is very rarely the case. Solutions for problems in the market should be specifically developed for a target customer and that takes some up-front planning and research. This video module provides some tools and techniques for developing your idea so that you can be more certain that what you’re building will lead to a viable business that can hopefully scale and become sustainable.
Instructor: Damilola Runsewe
Damilola Runsewe was born in Zaria, Nigeria. He Had his first degree and master’s degree in Chemical Engineering. He is currently pursuing a Doctorate degree in Materials Science, Engineering, and Commercialization at Texas State University. Last year, he participated at the Rice Business Plan Competition with Nabaco, an edible food coating startup from Texas State University, where helped, secure a $100,000 undiluted prize money. He has worked in the upstream oil and gas industry as a drilling engineer, and a wastewater treatment engineering company prior to obtaining a master’s degree. During his master’s degree program, he co-founded an atmospheric generation company called Atmospark, which was able to raise a total of $75,000 from seed investments and prize money. He served as the startup’s Chief Technology Officer. His current interest and area of research is in the medical device industry with respect to early detection of illnesses. Runsewe utilizes conducting polymers in combination with biorecognition molecules to detect target analytes electrochemically. The potential impact of his research in the future is to enable continuous real-time monitoring of the progression of diseases like cancer.