Antonios D. Livieratos, Athanasios Dimas
As the importance of entrepreneurship education is growing within and beyond universities, educators are facing two challenges. Lean startup, the methodology currently used in most entrepreneurship classes, is giving emphasis on action rather on theory leading thus to the need for experiential learning. Moreover, educators need to integrate in their curricula elements related to new tools financing startups that implicate the crowd. Responding to those challenges, the authors developed the Educational Crowdfunding Game (ECG), an in-class simulation game that enables peer-to-peer evaluation of student ventures. By wearing both the entrepreneur’s and the investor’s hat, the game aims to make students understand what it takes to develop investable startups. The main aim of the research is to review the game and asses its application. After an initial pilot application, the game was applied in four classes enabling the collection of quantitative and qualitative data via questionnaires and focus groups. Findings indicate that the ECG contributed significantly to the learning outcomes of the courses, and it was assessed as a very useful educational activity that is more effective than traditional teaching methods. Overall participants expressed the opinion that they were highly satisfied from participating in it. The essence of ECG may be summarized in the words of one of the participants who claimed that “when I started judging the entrepreneurial ideas of others…, I understood what was wrong with my idea, why an investor would not invest in my idea and what my next steps should be to make my idea investable”. The contribution of this paper is threefold. Firstly, it introduces a new validated in-class game especially designed for entrepreneurship and/or innovation classes. Secondly, it contributes to the discussion on experiential learning in entrepreneurship education suggesting that in-class games, like ECG, could significantly enhance students’ experience and engagement. Finally, findings provide evidence that in-class games spurring interaction both between students and the educator as well as among students can advance the reflective process that is crucial for entrepreneurship education.