Educators have long used business plan as an important vehicle to teach entrepreneurship courses around the world. In the past two decades, China has witnessed tremendous economic growth and explosive private entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship education in China, though still relatively new, has experienced significant growth as well. The number of Entrepreneurship courses (programs) that are set up by Chinese higher education institutions, and the level of student participation in entrepreneurship educational activities have been rapidly rising (Li, Zhang, & Matlay, 2003). While traditional business plan approach (BPA) is still used widely for its benefits such as helping entrepreneurs define and assess both the strategic direction and functional preparedness of an intended business, the value of business plan writing is in question (Honig, 2004). This approach has several important limitations for entrepreneurs in China, in our view, given some unique factors of Chinese entrepreneurial environment. For example, China’s formal institutions for private entrepreneurship are still in developing; casting a greater level of uncertainties/risks for entrepreneurs than their Western counterparts. A time-consuming and soon-could-be-outdated business plan will not help entrepreneurs if a major government regulation changes. In addition, the fast change of society and consumers also pose challenges for entrepreneurs adopting the business plan approach (BPA). On the other hand, Chinese entrepreneurs have reliedmuch on their personal connections and/or social capitals for founding resources and market information, making the lean startup methodology (LSM) much desirable and manageable. This is particular true in the fast growing e-commerce industries. These insights lead to the following question: Are Lean Startup Methodology (LSM) and the Business Plan Approach (BPA) mutually exclusive or two sides of the same coin? We hope by this PDW, we can achieve the following objectives.

Provide a brief overview of LSM and BPA, and their relative strengths and weaknesses.

Discuss the pedagogical tools that instructors could utilize in teaching entrepreneurship courses using one or the other approach.

Identify (in discussion with participants) the appropriateness of using LSM/BPA, given the Chinese entrepreneurial context.