# Teach the 1K Workshop

Before we get into the workshop itself, we should set a few expectations:

# What this is and isn't about

Generally, when we think about "teaching entrepreneurship", we often assume it's in the context of how to build a venture-backed business, or how to build an MVP. Similarly, when people hear about the $1,000 Project, they often assume our class is a primer on how to run a Kickstarter project.

Rather, our course is focused much more upstream: how to get started when you have an inkling of an idea.

Fundamentally, we have been exploring the question: "What enables artists, entrepreneurs, and activists to be successful in today’s networked world?"

After 10 iterations of teaching it, our current best answer to this is:

• the ability to confront and navigate uncertainty, and
• the ability to grow and sustain relevant networks.

# Teaching through challenges

The best way we have figured out how to teach these two skills is through something we call the $1K Challenge, which we first developed at the School of Visual Arts’ MFA in Interaction Design program. In 2018, we framed the $1K Challenge to our students at SVA as:

# Outcomes

In response to this prompt, our students made things like:

In the last 7 years, we have taken over 100 people through this program, who have collectively raised more than $340,000 for their ideas.

But it’s not really about the money. Instead, the money is a carrot that lures them through an obstacle course that forces them to learn real, valuable, lessons.