Patterns for Designing and Implementing an Environment for Software Start-Up Education

Today's students are prospective entrepreneurs and employees in modern, start-up like environments within established companies. In these settings, software development projects face extreme requirements in terms of innovation and attractiveness of the end-product. They also suffer severe consequences of failure such as termination of the development effort and bankruptcy. As the abilities needed in start-ups are not among those traditionally taught in universities, new knowledge and skills are required to prepare students for the volatile environment that new market entrants face. This paper reports experiences gained during seven years of teaching start-up knowledge and skills in a higher-education institution. We offer a collection of patterns that help educational institutions to design, implement and operate physical environments, curricula and teaching materials, and to plan interventions that may be required for project-based start-up education.