ENTR460: High Technology Entrepreneurship

This guide was designed to support your work in ENTR 460: High Technology Entrepreneurship. You'll use this guide throughout the course as you define a real-world problem, evaluate potential technologies, explore markets, and begin shaping an early-stage business concept.

Students in this course will work in teams to identify a genuine market need, review related IP documents, and analyze opportunities using conceptual frameworks and analytical tools introduced in class. This guide brings together the key library resources that can help you:

• understand your target market and industry landscape
• explore comparable technologies and competitors
• evaluate investment trends and potential customers
• build evidence to support your emerging business model

Your class session with the library focuses on PitchBook and its role in market research. This guide also includes other recommended databases and tools that might be helpful throughout the semester.

When using some library databases (like PitchBook, IBISWorld, Business Source Premier, etc.), search with exact company names, keywords, or short phrases instead of full questions.

Example: You are looking for information about parking challenges in busy urban areas

DO search: 

• "urban parking" AND "availability"
• "parking apps" AND "market size"

DO NOT search (unless using an AI tool): 

• Why is parking so hard to find in cities and what solutions exist?

• How big is the market for parking apps and who are the competitors?

If you want to keep a phrase together, place it in quotation marks. You can also use connectors like AND, OR, and NOT to help the database understand what you’re looking for.

AI Searches: Some databases now offer AI search features, where you can use natural language or ask full questions. These tools are usually labeled clearly (often with an AI chat box, sparkle, or robot icon). It is okay to use longer questions/sentences when you see these features.

New to using library resources?

Here are some basic terms that will hopefully help as you get started!

• Library Catalog - The online search tool for books, ebooks, and other materials the library owns.
  • I like to think of the catalog like Google, but just for the library’s collection. It searches nearly everything the library has access to.
    • Example: DELCAT
• Database -  An online collection of information you can search.
  • I like to think of databases as a massive Google Drive with many folders and files.
    • Example: Business Source Premier, where you can find articles, reports, and case studies about companies and industries.
• Journal - A publication that comes out regularly, like a magazine, but for research or professional news.
  • I like to think of it like one folder in Google Drive with many files inside.
    • Examples: Harvard Business Review (professional/trade), Journal of Marketing (scholarly).
• Article - A single piece of writing published in a journal, magazine, or newspaper.
  • I like to think of it like a single Google Doc or Sheet in a folder.
    • Example: An article in Harvard Business Review about business strategies.
• Keyword - The main word or phrase you use when searching.
  • It kind of reminds me of a hashtag or trending topic link that helps find what you’re looking for.
    • Examples: “Starbucks” (one word keyword), “fast food industry” (keyword phrase).
    • If you are searching for a phrase, put it in quotation marks, otherwise the platform you are using might break up the phrase into single words
• Citation - The details that tell you where an article, report, or other material came from (so it will share the author, title, journal name, date, etc.).
  • It is like an academic version of a credit line or byline, or like when you hit the share button online and it shows the original source/creator.
    • Guide to citing sources

Please reach out! You can contact me using the Send me a message link or chat with any librarian through Ask the Library. For more assistance from the Library or UD, please visit the Help section of this guide.