EXPLORE Entrepreneurship: From Idea to Launch
EXPlore Entrepreneurship
A Hands-On Workshop | Part of EXPlore Upskill Days at Nova Place | September 14-15, 2026
What does it actually take to go from idea to entrepreneur?
Most people with a great idea never take the first step - not because they lack talent, but because no one ever gave them the framework to move forward. On September 14, EXPlore Pittsburgh Tech Week is changing that.
CMU Distinguished Professor Mark Sanders - Director of Engineering, Design, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University's Integrated Innovation Institute - is bringing the same entrepreneurship framework he teaches at one of the world's top universities directly to the Pittsburgh community. Free. Hands-on. No prior business experience required.
In this two-hour workshop, you will work through a real framework for thinking like a founder - how to identify a problem worth solving, how to pressure-test your idea, and how to communicate it in a way that moves people. You will not just hear about entrepreneurship. You will practice it.
And the timing is intentional.
This workshop feeds directly into EXPlore's Startup Showcase and $10K Pitch Competition happening the same evening at Nova Place. Attendees who want to take what they learned straight to the stage will have the opportunity to do exactly that - putting their pitch framework into live practice in front of judges, investors, and Pittsburgh's growing startup community.
This session is capped at 50 seats. If you have been sitting on an idea, this is the room to be in.
Free and open to the community.
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