New Ventures in Business, the Arts and Social Entrepreneurship
Conceive value-creating new ventures across business, arts, and social sectors while analyzing entrepreneurship's societal role.
Summary
Past student reviews · John Surdyk
The class was heavily based on group projects with little outside work, though one student felt the pace was slow for a two-credit load. Quizzes were described as tough in one account.
What you’ll be able to do
Explain the entrepreneurial mindset and methods used in starting new ventures and what differs for social purpose ventures
Generate new venture concepts using idea generation techniques and articulate their value proposition
Evaluate opportunities using rigorous feasibility and experimentation processes
Develop, define, and clearly communicate a business concept
Apply introductory concepts in accounting, finance, marketing, intellectual property strategy and entity selection
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
↗All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapNone
- None
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- None
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
JOHN SURDYK is recorded teaching in Fall 2012, Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Calendar & sections
Spring 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.
Meeting source records
No records available.
Student experience
the class
Past student reviews · John Surdyk
Students found John Surdyk's teaching style engaging and enjoyable despite the material being dry. One student noted the class functioned like a two-credit workload with a focus on participation and group projects.
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2022: 3.66 GPA, 74.2% A/AB (n=31 letter grades); Fall 2023: 3.89 GPA, 94.3% A/AB (n=35 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.48 GPA, 63.6% A/AB (n=22 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Past student reviews · John Surdyk
The class was heavily based on group projects with little outside work, though one student felt the pace was slow for a two-credit load. Quizzes were described as tough in one account.
Past student reviews · John Surdyk
Students appreciated the instructor's passion and quirky personality, which made the class enjoyable. Weekly assignments and readings were manageable, though the textbook involved significant reading at times.
Topics
- Entrepreneurial mindset and methods for starting new ventures
- Market identification, funding sources, and founding team development
Skills
- Generating new venture concepts and articulating value propositions
- Evaluating entrepreneurial opportunities through feasibility and experimentation
- Applying foundational business concepts including accounting, finance, marketing, IP strategy, and entity selection
Grades
Latest available · Fall 2024— not enough history to project Spring 2027.
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
Grades over time
Through Fall 2024
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.
Sources & history
Catalog & offerings
Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.
Catalog observation history
Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.
Selected offering source records
No offering records for the selected term.
Raw records
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Student reviews
Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Read original reviews
Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
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"requirements_status": "valid",
"dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
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