Faculty Collaboration Reveals Entrepreneurship's Missing Link

Keller Center faculty members Ken Anderson and Derek Lidow recently co-authored a compelling new paper introducing the concept of Entrepreneurial Critique (EC)—a transformative approach to improving entrepreneurial outcomes. 

In their joint work, Anderson and Lidow draw from the world of design to propose EC as a vital, yet missing, component in entrepreneurial methodology. Their research reveals how EC, adapted from design critique, can help entrepreneurs identify blind spots, challenge assumptions, and refine their problem framing before committing significant resources.

“Startups move fast. Sometimes that’s great. Sometimes it’s like watching someone sprint into a wall because no one wanted to ask a basic question,” says Anderson. “Entrepreneurial critique is just a way to ask those questions long before the money’s gone, the team’s burned out, and the product turns out to solve the wrong problem, beautifully.”

Their paper, Learning from design: The potential of entrepreneurial critique, highlights Keller’s distinctive position at the intersection of design and entrepreneurship, providing a fresh and practical tool for founders, designers, and educators alike.

“Based upon our joint work at the intersection of design and entrepreneurship, Ken and I identified a key missing element of how entrepreneurs tend to conceptualize their ideas,” adds Lidow. “Entrepreneurial critique is easy, fast, and inexpensive—and yields vastly improved chances of success. We hope to see lots of entrepreneurs adopting the method.”

Recently published in the Journal of Business Venturing Design, their work not only defines EC but also explores the cultural and educational barriers to its adoption, making a strong case for integrating critique into entrepreneurial education and practice.