Syllabus

BADM 372 – Information Systems & Operations Management Practicum
Updated for Fall 2025

Class Time – Tuesdays / Thursdays ·

Launch an AI‑powered startup in 15 weeks. This studio transforms business juniors & seniors into solo founders who command generative‑AI tools (Lovable, Bolt, Cursor, Windsurf) to ideate, design, code and publicly launch a real web or mobile product. Build in public, fail fast, and graduate with a portfolio that showcases your entrepreneurship and AI‑product‑management talent. #WeAreBuilders

Who Should Enroll — Aspiring product managers, consultants, or founders who want to wield AI teammates and ship software. Don’t know how to code? Perfect — we love #VibeCoding.

1. Course Description

Hands‑on, founder‑first studio where each student conceives, validates and ships a software venture using AI agents as core teammates. Focus areas: design thinking, agile product management, version control, market research & validation, AI safety & ethics and build‑in‑public growth tactics.

2. Learning Objectives

  1. Frame problems with design thinking and user research.
  2. Harness LLM agents for ideation, coding, PM and GTM tasks.
  3. Orchestrate agile sprints, Git/GitHub workflows and CI/CD.
  4. Build & deploy a functional web/mobile MVP with auth, payments and analytics.
  5. Run lean validation experiments and interpret early‑stage metrics.
  6. Integrate AI‑safety best practices into product decisions.
  7. Document and reflect on learning via public blogs & a curated portfolio.
  8. Persuade stakeholders through demos, decks and data stories.

3. Mindset & Philosophy

Founder agency • Build > Talk • Fail‑fast learning • Public transparency • Process > Outcome

4. Course Phases

Phase Weeks Focus
On‑Ramp & Micro Sprint 1 – 4 Tool onboarding, design thinking, rapid micro‑project
Venture Build Sprints 5 – 14 Four 2‑week agile sprints toward MVP & launch
Launch & Reflection 15 Public launch, Demo Day, portfolio polish

5. Weekly Schedule (session‑level)

Wk Tue (A) Thu (B) Sprint Milestone Blog Prompt
1 Kickoff · AI‑solopreneur mindset · Lovable/Bolt ideastorm Design Thinking 101 · Empathy mapping with ChatGPT · Micro‑project brief My Founder Why
2 Micro build (Cursor) Micro demo & retro Micro Demo What I built in 180 min
3 Market research with LLMs · TAM Validation interviews · Founder AMA Talking to users
4 AI Safety & Ethics workshop Venture idea lock‑in · Git/GitHub crash Sprint 0 Plan Ethical considerations
5 Product roadmap · Windsurf user stories Sprint 1 build day Sprint 1 Start Roadmap v1
6 Responsive design + Auth lab Sprint 1 demos · Peer critique Sprint 1 Demo Tech decisions
7 Agile rituals w/ AI Sprint 2 build day Sprint 2 Start My AI stand‑up
8 Version control deep dive · AI code review Sprint 2 demos · Alumni panel Sprint 2 Demo Feedback I’m acting on
9 Metrics & analytics Validation experiments · Landing pages Sprint 3 Start Key metrics
10 Pricing & payments (Stripe/Polar) · Transactional emails (Loops) Sprint 3 build day Revenue model
11 Growth loops & build‑in‑public tactics Sprint 3 demos Sprint 3 Demo Shipping to strangers
12 Storytelling & decks VC office hours · Pitch practice Sprint 4 Start Pitch deck draft
13 AI PM career skills · LinkedIn tuning Sprint 4 build day Roles I’d pursue
14 Public Launch Day — Product Hunt etc. Post‑launch analytics · Iterate Launch Live Launch post‑mortem
15 Final Demo Day — VC & Alumni judges Reflection workshop · Portfolio finalize Portfolio Final Biggest takeaway

6. Assessments & Weightings

Component Description Weight
Startup Log 10 public blog / X posts 20 %
Micro‑project Rapid build + reflection 5 %
Sprint demos Four demos (Wks 6, 8, 11, 13) 20 %
Public launch & metrics Launch package + 1‑week metrics review 15 %
Peer evaluations Feedback quality & participation 10 %
Final portfolio + reflection Curated artifacts + essay 15 %
Engagement & preparedness Presence & readiness 15 %

7. Guest & Industry Touch‑points

Founder AMA (Week 3) · Alumni PM panel (Week 8) · VC office hours (Week 12) · Demo‑Day judges (Week 15)

Contact

Prof. Vishal Sachdev
 217‑244‑2420
vishal@illinois.edu
Office: BIF 3030A (or cyberspace ☁️)