Built for high school classrooms
Business Simulations for High Schools and CTE
Engage students with hands-on entrepreneurship simulations that teach leadership, problem-solving, and business skills right from the classroom.
For teachers, CTE leaders, and school administrators.
From the classroom to a career
Make a choice. Explain the tradeoff. Try again.
- learners
- 10K+
- institutions
- 100+
- classroom access
- Browser-based
Learner and institution totals are company-reported across Startup Wars, not specific to this audience. See evidence and sources.
Real-world learning they enjoy
Why Startup Wars works in high school
Startup Wars turns business class into an active learning environment where students think like entrepreneurs instead of memorizing definitions. Learners make decisions, manage resources, and lead teams in a format built for CTE and career readiness.
Student engagement
Gamified challenges help learners stay curious and motivated as they work through business problems.
Career-connected
Build practical habits in decision-making, creativity, and resource management.
Easy to launch
A browser-based simulation keeps the focus on learning, not setup.
Practical by design
Move from business vocabulary to business judgment
Students put their knowledge to work in an experience that rewards reflection, strategic thinking, and the confidence to make a next move.
Talk to our teamBuilt around your goals
Where it fits in your high school curriculum
Start with the work you want students to explain. These suggested uses help you plan a high school business simulation around your existing course.
- Introduction to business
- Student taskConnect price, cost, and demand.
- Evidence to assessA simple profit calculation with the assumptions explained.
- Career and Technical Education
- Student taskExplain an operational tradeoff.
- Evidence to assessA decision memo connecting inventory, customers, and available resources.
- Entrepreneurship and marketing electives
- Student taskDefend a customer and pricing choice.
- Evidence to assessA recommendation that compares alternatives and identifies a risk.
- Career readiness and advisory
- Student taskPractice a professional conversation.
- Evidence to assessA short team briefing, individual reflection, and next-step recommendation.
Explore the simulation catalog to choose a business context. For postsecondary courses, see business simulations for colleges and universities.
One scenario to explore
Put students in charge of a food truck.
The Food Truck series connects inventory, pricing, customer demand, and day-to-day operations. Use a familiar business to start a discussion about how those decisions affect each other.
See the Food Truck series →Try a food-truck decision
A classroom activity using Startup Wars
A food truck has one lunch period to make its plan work. Should it prepare fewer meals at a higher price, or more meals at a lower price?
An adaptable teaching example to introduce or debrief the Food Truck series. The numbers below are illustrative classroom material, not a live simulation result or built-in assignment.
Student decision brief
Two lunch plans. One recommendation.
Ingredients cost $2 per meal prepared. The event fee is $80. Unused meals cannot be sold later. Ignore other costs for this exercise.
Plan A
$7/ meal
60 meals prepared
Forecast: 50 sold
Plan B
$6/ meal
80 meals prepared
Forecast: 65 sold
Profit = meals sold × price − meals prepared × $2 − $80
The twist: either plan sells only 45 meals. Does your recommendation change? Explain why.
Teacher assessment
Look beyond the profit number.
Collect one short decision memo from each student. Use these three criteria, scored from 0–4, as an adaptable 12-point rubric.
Use the numbers
Show revenue, total cost, and profit for both plans.
Explain the tradeoff
Name the demand assumption and the risk of unused inventory.
Reflect and revise
Use the changed result to justify a next decision.
No signup needed. Includes a student handout, answer key, and scoring guide.
Explore the Food Truck simulation →From planning to debrief
What the teacher prepares and assesses
For this sample, prepare the handout, decide whether students work individually or discuss in pairs, and review the answer key. Calculators and a place to write are enough for the paper exercise.
For a platform lesson, first preview the chosen simulation and confirm student access. Use its actual decisions and feedback in your debrief; adapt this activity to the learning objective you selected.
Suggested 45-minute sample lesson · adapt to your class
5 min
Frame the decision
Introduce revenue, costs, and profit. Ask students why selling more does not always mean earning more.
10 min
Choose and justify
Students compare the two lunch plans below, calculate forecast profit, and record the assumption behind their choice.
15 min
Change the conditions
Reveal that either plan sells only 45 meals. Students recalculate and decide what their first forecast missed.
15 min
Debrief and reflect
Compare recommendations, discuss unused inventory, and collect one individual explanation of what each student would change.
In a pre-college program
Connecting science and entrepreneurship at USF
The University of San Francisco’s BioEntrepreneurship Academy lists Startup Wars in its pre-college course. Its description has teams making project management, marketing, and finance decisions for a vertical farming business.
Read USF’s course description →Explore the program context and other sources in our evidence overview.
Educator perspective · higher education
“Startup Wars makes the learning process more interesting and gives students opportunities to think differently.”
For teachers & school leaders
Planning a school or CTE rollout
Bring your instructional goals and practical requirements into the same conversation.
Discuss your school’s needsHow should I choose an entrepreneurship simulation for high school students?
Who provides this classroom activity?
How much class time and preparation should I plan for?
What devices and access will students need?
Can I use this in a CTE pathway?
How should I assess student work?
How do we evaluate licensing and school purchasing?
Your next business lesson
Make business class an experience students remember
See how Startup Wars can fit your CTE pathway, business course, or entrepreneurship program.