Startup Wars · College teaching sample
Entrepreneurial decisions under uncertainty
A course module, decision memo, and assessment rubric for the Food Truck simulation series.
Prepared September 17, 2026. An original sample for instructor adaptation; institutional and college-instructor review have not been completed. Preview the scenario and adapt the activity to your syllabus, student needs, and course policies.
1. Plan the module
Suggested syllabus insertion
In this module, you will apply entrepreneurship concepts to a simulated food business. You will make an inventory decision, explain an alternative, compare your prediction with observed results, and propose a next step. Your written reasoning and reflection will be assessed using the rubric. Simulation profit alone does not determine your grade.
Learning objectives
- Justify a resource decision using a relevant business objective.
- Explain connections between inventory, customer demand, operations, and cash.
- Distinguish an observed result from an assumption about its cause.
- Propose a next test based on evidence and acknowledged limitations.
Instructor preparation
Preview the Food Truck series and confirm the scenario’s available decisions. Check devices, accounts, access duration, and support arrangements. Introduce revenue, costs, demand, inventory, and cash. Set activity boundaries, deadlines, collaboration expectations, and your academic integrity / permitted AI-use policy before assigning the work.
Suggested sequence
One option is to introduce the task in one class, assign simulation work between classes, and debrief in the next. Adjust after your preview; this is instructional guidance, not a universal product completion time.
- Prepare: introduce the business objective and discuss the tension between available stock, cash, and perishable inventory.
- Predict and decide: students record their choice, an alternative, and a prediction before working through the selected activity.
- Observe: students record relevant results available in the scenario and note missing information.
- Reflect: students complete the memo, discuss their reasoning, and receive instructor feedback.
Student handout
2. One-page decision memo
Decision and alternative
What did you choose? Which credible alternative did you reject, and why?
Prediction and evidence
What did you predict? Cite a relevant result you observed. Label assumptions and observations, and identify any information you could not obtain.
Connected business functions
How did your choice connect at least two business functions? For example, explain the relationship between an inventory commitment, cash, and operations.
Reflection and next test
What would you change next? What evidence would test your explanation? Identify a limitation or another possible explanation for the outcome.
Record actual observed information. Do not invent a result. Follow your instructor’s expectations for individual work, collaboration, and permitted tools.
Instructor assessment
3. Sample rubric and debrief
Score each criterion 0–3; four criteria; 12 points possible. Use 0 when there is no assessable evidence. Adapt the weighting and grade conversion to your course. This is an instructor-scored teaching sample, not an automated or validated assessment.
Business reasoning
3 · Strong: Explains the decision, a credible alternative, and the tradeoff.
2 · Developing: Explains a choice but only partly compares alternatives.
1 · Starting: States a choice with little explanation.
Use of evidence
3 · Strong: Connects relevant observed results to the decision; separates facts from assumptions.
2 · Developing: Includes evidence but its connection to the decision is incomplete.
1 · Starting: Relies on impressions or unsupported claims.
Cross-functional thinking
3 · Strong: Explains how the choice affects at least two business functions.
2 · Developing: Names two functions but only partly explains their relationship.
1 · Starting: Considers one function in isolation.
Reflection and next action
3 · Strong: Identifies a limitation and proposes a specific, justified next test.
2 · Developing: Suggests a change with limited evidence or a vague test.
1 · Starting: Repeats the outcome without a useful next action.
Debrief questions
- Which assumption most affected your inventory choice?
- Could another explanation account for the result?
- What would change with more demand, less cash, or less time?
- Which course concept helped explain the decision?
- What evidence would you need before making the same decision in a real firm?