I used to be a DJ when I was in grad school. Now I design the entrepreneurship and innovation curriculum at Rice. These worlds are more similar than you'd think.
I'm a Senior Lecturer and Director of Strategic Initiatives and Programs at Rice University's Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. But I got here through an unusual path.
I've been into dance music since I was a teenager. In college in Atlanta, I collected vinyl, bought turntables, and started making mixes for friends. When I moved back to Houston and while in graduate school, I started DJ'ing at what I can only describe as a clubby rock bar. On nights off, I'd hang out with my friends who DJ'ed at clubs in the city and help them run the lights. I loved it — reading the room, adjusting on the fly, contributing to the energy of the night.
After getting my PhD, one of my advisors pulled me back to teach — and I never left. In 2013, I founded RED Labs, the University of Houston's startup accelerator. In 2016, I helped start the Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Lilie) at Rice University, where I now oversee academics, courses, and faculty for the entrepreneurship program.
These days I spend most of my time designing courses and programs where people actually make things and ship them. I've also built study abroad courses in Peru, Brazil, Japan, and the Netherlands, where the city becomes the classroom. The approach hasn't changed much since the DJ days: pay attention to the details, read the room, and make people feel like they're part of something worth showing up for.
Intro to Design and Innovation
People go out and learn from extreme users, turn observations into insights, and prototype solutions they test with real people.
New Enterprises: Discovery
A course about figuring out what you want to do — not by sitting and thinking, but by writing, cold emailing strangers, and having coffee chats with people doing interesting work. The idea is to expand your luck surface area. People leave with two possibilities they've actually tested and the confidence to reach out to anyone.
Design Build Ship
The course runs in two-week sprints. Each sprint, people pick an idea, build it, and ship it to real users. If it works, keep going. If not, start something new. Apps, videos, physical products — whatever they want to make.
iSEED Study Abroad
Japan · NetherlandsA human-centered design course abroad through Rice University's Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen's (OEDK) International Summer Experience in Engineering Design (iSEED) program. Courses in Paris, Amsterdam, and Tokyo. People go on noticing hunts, tackle design challenges, and build prototypes you can't build in a classroom.
I leave the details up to you
When designing an experience, should you share all the details at the beginning or reveal along the way? There's something exciting about the suspense and uncertainty of not knowing it all in the beginning.
I leave the details up to youStart at the extreme
When designing something new, don't start with the average person. The real opportunities — and insights — are at the extremes.
Start at the extremeThe allure of artisanal goods
Every Monday morning, I get a text from my dealer letting me know it's time to buy. What transforms the act of buying bread into a multi-day adventure?
The allure of artisanal goodsFrom tiki birds to baseball moves
The hospitality industry is full of fascinating examples of experience design. And to deliver a memorable experience, the devil is in the details.
From tiki birds to baseball movesExploring a city like a video game
Every time I travel to a city, I can't help but feel like I'm in a video game navigating levels of increasing difficulty. And to keep the game exciting, you need to feel mastery and a sense of progress.
Exploring a city like a video gameCraft your classroom experience like a DJ
How educators can be inspired by dance music.
Craft your classroom experience like a DJMake your own mixtape
A bot that asks you questions about songs in your life and generates a personalized mixtape. Inspired by the first session in Disco, one of my courses.
Make your own mixtapeThree guides for student founders
Written with Jamie Jones — practical guides on how a startup fits into your degree, what to do with your summers, and how to make the most of university while building something.
Three guides for student founders