At the crossroads of innovation and entrepreneurship, the University of Chicago’s Masters Program in Computer Science (MPCS) offers a course designed to bring ideas to life. Entrepreneurship in Technology pushes students to transform technical knowledge into viable ventures, blending strategic thinking with real-world application.
We sat down with Professor Dylan Hall, the visionary behind the course, to understand its goals, structure, and real-world impact. Then, we spoke with the founders of BiteBiteGo, a company that grew from a classroom concept into a promising venture, to hear their firsthand experience of turning ideas into action.
Q&A with Dylan Hall, Professor of MPCS 51250 Entrepreneurship in Technology & Co-Founder, CEO of Safe Rate
Q. What inspired the creation of the Entrepreneurship in Technology course?
“My curricular goal is to help computer science students realize they can create their own companies. Think about it, why do so many new businesses happen? Because of changing technology. So who is best positioned to disrupt the industries of today? Computer science students. Yet, so many computer science students overlook this reality, and go work for someone else.
My student growth goal is for each student to realize how much they can accomplish when they work on something they are passionate about. The class is not about venture-backed startups, but about giving them the freedom to take an idea from first thought, and to make it tangible. That takes interviews, sales, creativity, and of course coding. I want students to have a taste of all of this.”
Q. How does this course differ from traditional entrepreneurship classes?
“I love the messy, very early (we had an idea yesterday!) stages of startups. Think about it. There are infinite ways you can spend your time in these early stages, and almost no one will be efficient. And because students are all working on different ideas, it’s hard to build a curriculum. As a result, many entrepreneurship classes “simulate” startups, or focus on a specific aspect like sales or finance to create predetermined takeaways.
But I ask the students to choose their adventure, and basically do it all at once, firsthand. My core belief is that you can only learn by doing, so each student and group’s takeaways will be different. Along the way, they’re making a lot of mistakes and failing a lot. That’s the point. So when you look back over the 10 weeks, you will see incredible growth. But each week will challenge you in a different way, so it may not feel like it until you’re done.”
Q. Can you walk us through the structure of the course?
- “Students form groups in week 1, and pick a topic area to explore
- They conduct a number of user interviews over the following weeks, as they search for smaller problem areas in their domain(s)
- When students are able to articulate their problem statement succinctly, they are allowed to “solution” and begin thinking about their offering. Many students want to do this day 1!
- Students then do a very manual (non-tech) solution that gives them their first users to uncover more insights and prioritize the features of their offering (0 to 1)
- Students can then begin building their minimum viable product to secure their first users/customers (1 – 10)
- Students then submit an application that’s similar to Y Combinator (YC) and do a sample YC-like interview for their final with local investors and founders.”
Q. How do you foster collaboration between students with different technical and business backgrounds?
“The group/project-based nature of the course has many different demands: coding, sales, outreach, interviews. So it aligns with different skill sets. Still, I ask every group member to regularly present their progress. I don’t believe in the “pitch person” and the “tech person.” I want everyone to speak in front of people, and I want everyone to build the product. It’s like having a first child with your partner. You may not have any idea what you’re doing, but you’re going to have to figure it out together, and both of you are going to change the baby’s diapers.”
Q. What are the biggest challenges for students trying to launch tech startups today?
“Getting started is daunting, and entrepreneurship is still a wealthy person’s game, sadly. Can it be meritocratic at times? Sure! There are those startup, rags to riches stories which people love, but they are the exception to the norm when we look at actual funding amounts. The truth is that funding is incredibly difficult to access for women founders and minority founders. Then, if you’re building companies in markets like Chicago rather than San Francisco, it’s that much harder.
But even with these challenges, I encourage students to just focus on what they can control, which is their customers and their product. You have to prove people wrong in entrepreneurship, especially if you don’t have a head start, and you just have to be ready for that. It’s reality. Especially when it comes to investors.”
Q. Have you seen any student startups emerge from the course? Any success stories you can share?
“It’s funny, I can tell you almost every idea that was conceived in the course, even after 8 years, and they all feel successful to me in some way. But I’ll answer this in 3 categories:
Groups who have become actual companies. JusticeText and BiteBiteGo. JusticeText is a great story in so many respects, and they’re building the software to make the lives of public defenders easier. And BiteBiteGo was developed in this year’s course and was the fastest to revenue that I have ever seen. Their unique take on bulk catering is great for UChicago students, and they’re already replicating their model with business customers.
Students who have pivoted to work on a different idea. I have at least 1-2 students each year who continue after the course, often on a different idea. I’ve seen students from this category go on to found Y Combinator backed companies in the West Coast, build marketplaces here on campus, or start companies in their home countries.
Groups that came up with ideas that were eventually commercialized by someone else. I love getting emails from former students who see an article about a startup that’s raised funding with a similar idea to their own! It shows that many of them were on the right path, but just may not have been able to pursue that idea at that point-in-time.”
Q. Is there anything else prospective or current students should know about the course?
“The course is simply about turning a new idea into reality. So you can be non-profit, for-profit, an intrapreneur, or a startup bro. All are welcome, and the goal is that you make something useful. It’s guaranteed that where you end up at the end of the course will be quite different from where you started, and that’s the point. I want you to grow both individually and in your new idea. And as a founder myself, I’ll also share the joy and pain of my startup journey as well.”
From Coursework to Company: The Founders of BiteBiteGo Share Their Journey
While the Entrepreneurship in Technology course is rich in insights and theory, its most compelling outcomes are the ventures it helps bring to life. One recent example is BiteBiteGo, co-founded by Chaplin Huang and Soyoon Moon during their time in the course. What began as a class project quickly turned into a scalable business idea. We caught up with the founding team to learn how the course shaped their entrepreneurial journey and where they’re headed next.
Q&A with Chaplin Huang & Soyoon Moon, Founders of BiteBiteGo
Q. How did you develop the idea for BiteBiteGo? Was this an idea you had before the class, or did it emerge from course discussions and assignments?
“The idea for BiteBiteGo emerged during the course, but it was rooted in frustrations we personally experienced for a long time. As college students, we were constantly dealing with overpriced campus food, limited variety, and delivery apps with sky-high fees and we wanted good food ourselves. We originally started with a different idea—building a scheduling platform for food trucks—but after testing the market, we realized it wasn’t viable. That led us to pivot toward the core problem we really cared about: making good food more affordable and accessible to students.”
Q. What part of the course helped shape your business the most?
“The feedback loop was the most impactful part of the course. Each week, we reported our progress based on a prompt from Dylan, and we used that as an opportunity to reflect and iterate. The consistent feedback—both from the instructor and our peers—helped us refine our direction, identify what was working, and make confident decisions about our next steps. Also, Dylan’s encouragement gave us the push we needed whenever we found ourselves doubting our direction.”
Q. At what point did you realize your class project had real potential?
“Surprisingly early—after our second weekly report. The feedback we got was mixed: people were skeptical, but intrigued. That week, Dylan told us bluntly, “Just do it.” So we did. We put up 500 posters around campus, and by the end of that weekend, we had over 120 sign-ups and 40 orders—basically from scratch. When we saw how excited people were receiving their meal boxes, we realized we were solving a real problem that students cared about.”
Q. What were your first steps after the course ended to keep the momentum going?
“Since we already had a growing customer base, our first priority was to show appreciation and reassure them that we weren’t going anywhere. From there, we took a step back to reflect on our goals and map out a long-term strategy. We knew we had something valuable, but we also knew it needed a solid business model to move beyond a fun side project and become a sustainable venture.”
Q. Have you secured funding, customers, or partnerships since then?
“Yes—we’ve grown both our individual and institutional customer base. We now have over 1,000 active individual users and have served multiple organizations including Y Combinator, UChicago’s CS labs, and the UChicago Economics Department. These partnerships have helped us validate the B2B side of our business as well.”
Q. What has been your biggest challenge while creating BiteBiteGo?
“Time management, without a doubt. UChicago’s course load is intense, and on top of that, Soyoon and I were involved in RSOs, interviewing for jobs, and trying to enjoy our final year. We had to build a rhythm—prioritize what mattered, keep each other accountable, and make sure we stayed aligned on our goals. It was tough, but it taught us discipline and teamwork.”
Q. What was your biggest takeaway from the Entrepreneurship in Technology course?
“That problem-solving isn’t just a buzzword—it’s about finding real, actionable ways to do things better. And you can only do that if you truly care about the problem. This course helped me realize that genuine passion is the foundation for great execution. Start with what matters to you, and don’t wait. Test things out.”
Q. What advice would you give to students taking this course in the future?
“This class is real—you’ll only get out of it what you put in. You have to find your own question and commit to solving it. Be ready to feel uncomfortable and pivot when things don’t make sense. In the age of AI, ideas are everywhere, but execution is everything. This course gives you the space to act like a founder, take initiative, and build something meaningful—don’t waste that opportunity.”
The Entrepreneurship in Technology course offered by UChicago’s Masters Program in Computer Science challenges students to move beyond theory and engage directly with the messy, rewarding work of building real world solutions. By emphasizing passion-driven problem-solving and encouraging a founder’s mindset, the course equips students with both the tools and the urgency to turn ideas into action. For those willing to fully invest, it is not just a class, it is a launchpad.
If you’re interested in moving your technical career forward with a MS in Computer Science, learn more about our program and apply here!