I&E 715
Commercializing Deep Technology
Jamie N. Jones
Description from DukeHub
Deep tech is one of the most consequential arenas for new-venture creation, drawing record venture, corporate, and government capital toward science-based startups. These ventures succeed or fail on business decisions as much as technical ones: choosing the right market, designing a viable business model, managing long, capital-intensive development, and financing the company across technical and commercial milestones. This course examines how those decisions are made and applies them to a real technology invented at Duke. Over the semester, students evaluate an assigned technology, build a preliminary business case, and pitch the opportunity to prospective investors for feedback, developing transferable skills in market assessment, business-model design, and early-stage venture finance.
Skills
- financedescription: "financing" and 1 more
- designdescription: "designing" and 1 more
- makingdescription: "drawing" and 1 more
- leadershipAI review: "managing long, capital-intensive development"
- data and statisticsAI review: "evaluate an assigned technology"
AI-resilient: 2 of 5
- No: Physical, lab or field work
- No: Live work with people
- Yes: Judgment someone is accountable for · "decisions"
- Yes: A craft you practice with your hands or body · "drawing"
- No: Small, in-person format
The checks lean on Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025), which found generative AI applies least to physical work and hands-on work with people. A signal, not a promise. How the score works
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