05 May Creative Destruction Lab Gives Students Invaluable Startup Experience Through Consulting
Albert Elston Jr., CDL Program
In Fall 2020, the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) launched the CDL-Wisconsin Program. The CDL-Wisconsin Program is a collaboration with the Creative Destruction Lab at the Rotman School of Management and is an initiative that provides learning opportunities for our students and connects entrepreneurs with CDL’s global network of experts.
CDL-Wisconsin is an innovative partnership between the Wisconsin School of Business, the School of Computing, Data and Information Sciences (CDIS) and American Family Insurance. The program leverages the UW’s highly ranked programs in Risk & Insurance, Computer Science and Entrepreneurship.
The Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) course in the spring 2021 semester offered a dynamic, challenging practicum that paired students with startups in the earliest stages. As many of the startups had little to no business expertise on their founding teams, the contributions made by UW students had an immediate and profound impact on the direction of the business.
It’s not only the course’s learning outcomes that set it apart from more traditional courses; unlike most classes, the CDL bridges two semesters which began in the fall 2020 semester and concluded at the end of the spring 2021 semester. Furthermore, because students were tasked with working as team members of various third-parties, some work was required over the winter recess.