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Build and pitch a startup concept in this 2-week program for high school students on Georgetown University’s campus.
Course Description
Put a promising idea through the questions a business has to answer: who needs it, what will it cost, and why would someone choose it?
In this course you will work in a small team to identify a customer problem and shape a startup concept. Research, discussion, and feedback help you refine the idea. The five Ps of business, product, price, promotion, place, and people, turn it into connected decisions. Create a value proposition and logo, try a speed pitch, and explore marketing and sales.
The numbers need to work too. Estimate startup costs, pricing, and revenue in a simple financial snapshot. Compare legal and business structures, and consider how negotiation, relationships, culture, and international markets could affect your venture. Your team’s one-page summary and pitch deck bring the reasoning together. Every student speaks in the final investor-style pitch, explaining the customer, solution, business logic, and changes made after feedback. The work introduces the testing and revision behind a credible business proposal.
This two-week course for high school students takes place at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. The program is developed by Georgetown University and offered in partnership with Summer Discovery. Residential and commuter options are available.
What You Will Do
• Identify a customer problem worth investigating
• Refine a value proposition through research and feedback
• Map product, price, promotion, place, and people
• Create a logo, speed pitch, and business one-pager
• Estimate startup costs, pricing, revenue, and feasibility
• Deliver an investor-style pitch with your team
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Define a customer problem and a focused value proposition
• Evaluate a venture’s marketing, finances, and organizational choices
• Defend a business concept and explain revisions made through feedback
You’ll leave with your team’s pitch deck, business one-pager, financial snapshot and a certificate of completion.
Why Entrepreneurship Skills Matter
An appealing idea can hide an untested assumption about a customer or a cost. Connecting research with financial estimates helps you decide what needs more work before committing resources. A pitch makes those assumptions visible to other people.
Negotiation and business structures add practical limits to creative choices. Working through them with a team gives you practice deciding with incomplete information and revising when feedback exposes a gap. That is part of turning entrepreneurial enthusiasm into a proposal someone can examine.
Who Should Attend?
For students who have completed 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade.
You might enjoy spotting an unmet need, shaping a product idea, or figuring out how a business earns money. This course brings those interests together in a fast-moving team project. Expect close collaboration, quick revisions, and honest discussion of your assumptions. You’ll use basic spreadsheets and presentation tools, and every student speaks in the final pitch.
Recommended by More Than 4 out of 5 Students
Based on students surveyed in 2026 about Summer Discovery High School programs at Georgetown University campus.
Your Summer at Georgetown University
Studying on Georgetown University’s campus gives high-school students the opportunity to explore an academic interest while experiencing campus life in Washington, D.C. Its historic campus and surrounding neighborhood sit near embassies, institutions, and organizations that shape national and international conversations, giving the summer a distinctive sense of place.
Students learn alongside peers with similar interests, navigate a new environment, and gain independence through everyday choices and responsibilities. Time outside class helps students experience the broader rhythm of university life while considering what subjects, communities, and possible directions feel right for them. For families, the program offers a combination of substantive academic exploration, personal growth, and clearer insight into what a student may want to study or pursue next.
Summer Discovery Certificate of Completion
After successfully finishing this course, you will be awarded a certification completion for your accomplishment.
*This is a preview, not what you will receive