Program Focus
Finding solutions to critical problems facing our planet and country needs an early start, a unique solution mechanism, and real results.
The Common Mission Project (CMP), a 501(3)c, aligns People with Mission to create the next generation of entrepreneurs. We connect intention with action via access to emerging technologies and university programs that guide student teams, and transform problems into solutions.
From national security to natural disasters, from energy to the environment, the critical challenges we face today have common elements:
They cut across government, private, and non-profit sectors
Are constantly evolving in a fast-moving world
Require a problem-based approach to ensure solutions are relevant, grounded, and implementable.
Our university programs enable students to solve global and national problems at the speed of a start-up.
By connecting government, academia, and the private sector, we educate and position the next generation of mission-driven entrepreneurs to solve complex issues focused on our national security, climate, oceans, and communities.
How We Do It
We utilize the Hacking for Methodology (“H4”), which turns the classroom on its head. H4 Programs employ the Lean LaunchPad methodology, which combines deep beneficiary discovery with entrepreneurial tools such as the Mission Model Canvas and Value Proposition Canvas.
Experiential Learning
Hacking for Defense® is a hands-on program that immerses student teams in Department of Defense problems by having them test their business model hypotheses outside the classroom. Inside the classroom, it deliberately trades-off lecture time for student/teaching team interaction. From the first day of class, teams get out of the classroom and learn by doing.
In the class, the teams are not building a business. They are validating (or invalidating) their hypotheses.
Throughout the course, teams will modify the mission model (as they iterate or pivot). This results in teams bringing sponsor and market needs in dual use cases forward, after which they can decide if there is a worthwhile business to be built.
What this class does not include is execution of the business model. This course is all about discovery outside of the classroom.
The Flipped Classroom
The class is run using a “flipped classroom.” Instead of lecturing about the basics during class time, the instructor assigns the core lectures as homework.
Students watch a lecture on each component of the Mission Model Canvas, take a short quiz, and come to a class prepared with questions about the topic.
Instructors then supplement the video lectures with their own brief, in-class lecture about the week’s mission model topic. This allows instructors to use the class time for review of the concepts or advanced topics.
Team Teaching: Students up Front
Rather than a single instructor lecturing in front of the classroom, the class is organized around the concept of a team of instructors commenting and critiquing each team’s progress.
It’s the students who are doing the teaching. They stand up in front of the class every week and share their progress while getting the instructor’s comments and critiques.
While the comments may be specific to each team, the insights are almost always applicable to all teams.
Students receive real-time guidance during these weekly presentations. This continuous feedback simulates the intensity of a startup.
The Process
From problem sourcing to the launch of creative solutions, our programming guides Student Teams, Problem Sponsors, and Universities through a step-by-step process that enables efficient and effective implementation of solutions prototyping and data post-program.
The Process
From problem sourcing to the launch of creative solutions, our programming guides Student Teams, Problem Sponsors, and Universities through a step-by-step process that enables efficient and effective implementation of solutions prototyping and data post-program.
The H4 Ecosystem
Course Composition
H4 Courses are housed in either Political Science, Social Science, Engineering, or Business programs. There are typically two instructors and one to three teaching assistants per class, which meet on a weekly basis. Up to six teams form a class, with no more than five students per team.
Roles
Program Methodologies
The Common Mission Project’s programs are built on the success of multiple methodologies and programs, including:
The Lean LaunchPad
The Lean LaunchPad Class: It’s the same, but different
Steve Blank Blog -- March 26, 2019
How to Build a Startup: The Lean LaunchPad
Udacity Online Course
Stanford’s Lean LaunchPad Course Sets Students on Entrepreneurial Trajectory
Stanford Technology Ventures Program Blog -- October 23, 2014
The Mission Model Canvas
“How do we use the Business Model Canvas if the primary goal is not to earn money, but to fulfill a mission? In other words, how can we adapt the Business Model Canvas when the metrics of success for an organization is not revenue?”
The Mission Model Canvas – An Adapted Business Model Canvas for Mission-Driven Organizations
Steve Blank Blog -- February 23, 2016
National Science Foundation I-Corps Program
The National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps program prepares scientists and engineers to extend their focus beyond the university laboratory and accelerates the economic and societal benefits of NSF-funded, basic-research projects that are ready to move toward commercialization.
Startup Methodologies
The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-by-Step Guide for Building a Great Company
Steve Blank and Bob Dorf, 2014
The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses
Eric Ries, 2011
Our Programs
National Security Entrepreneurship
Enabling students to rapidly address real-world emerging threats, security challenges, and foreign policy issues across the globe and the United States.
Impact Entrepreneurship
Solving problems critical to the local, national, and global climate and environment through mission-driven entrepreneurship.
Ready to get involved?
The Common Mission Project is ushering in the next generation of leaders to solve our planet’s biggest challenges, but we can’t do it alone. We offer a variety of ways to participate and support:
Partner With CMP
Are you looking for solutions to a challenging problem faced by your organization or community?
Bring a Program to Your University
Are you a university educator or administrator looking to bring innovation and thought leadership to your institution?
Join the Alumni Network
Have you completed an H4 program and are looking to engage with the course in new and different capacities?
Become a Mentor
Are you interested in gaining access to our innovative methodology while engaging with talented students passionate about the work you do?
Support our Common Mission
With your help, we can solve tomorrow’s critical national security, civic, and climate challenges today.
Become a mission-driven donor and make a difference.
