Founders: a startup and teamwork game for the classroom

The class splits into founding teams, assigned by the board. Every company launches the same product into the same town, so each quarter they compete for the same customers. Teams set four levers together on their phones, price, product, marketing and hiring, and the screen shows where they disagree. Investors call twice a year. The board is the market: share, price versus rating, and runway for every company. Everyone on a team scores its final value.

Screenshots

The class screen

A student's phone

The end-of-game recap

What students learn

✓How to reach one decision as a team against a deadline, and what happens when you don't
✓How price, quality and marketing interact to win or lose customers
✓Why growth costs cash before it makes any, and what runway means
✓What investors buy when they fund you, and when giving up a share is worth it

How it works

1The board splits the class into founding teams.
2Every company launches the same product into the same town and competes for the same customers.
3Each quarter, teams set four levers together on their phones: price, product, marketing and hiring. The screen shows where teammates disagree.
4Investors call twice a year with offers, and teams decide whether to give up a share.
5Everyone on a team scores its final company value.

A 35-minute lesson plan

Before (5 min)

Ask: what's harder, coming up with a business idea or agreeing on decisions with a team? Hold the answers for the end.

Play (20 min)

Play the full game (about 20 minutes). Give teams space to talk between quarters.

After (10 min)

Have each team explain one decision they argued about, and whether it was the right call.

Discussion questions

How did your team decide when people disagreed?
Did growing fast help or hurt your company? What happened to your cash?
Was taking investor money worth giving up part of your company?
How did your price and quality compare with the winning company?

Teacher tips

Teams of 3 to 5 work best. Needs at least 4 players in total.
Ask each team to choose a CEO who breaks ties. It sparks a great conversation about leadership.

Questions teachers ask

Do I choose the teams?+

The game assigns teams automatically, which avoids the usual friend groups.

What does dilution mean?+

When you sell part of your company to investors, you own a smaller share of it. The game shows that trade-off when investors call.