How long should an entrepreneurship lesson be for high schoolers?

Q: How long should an entrepreneurship lesson be for high schoolers?

60 to 90 minutes. That window is long enough to fit a full brainstorm, multiple pitches, peer scoring, and a debrief, but short enough to maintain attention. Anything under 45 minutes turns into a worksheet; anything over 2 hours turns into a workshop.

The story

We tested this directly. SideHustle Labs runs a 90-minute classroom format with four rounds of brainstorm, pitch, score, and rotate, with 4 to 5 students per team. We have used the same format at Mars Hill, the University of Oklahoma, Penn State, Xavier, and the University of Wisconsin. Across every campus, the 90-minute window consistently outperformed shorter pilots because students need at least three pitching reps to get past the awkward first one. We also did a 10-minute activation at Vigo with around 400 students; that format works as an energizer but cannot replace a real lesson. The takeaway is structural: a real entrepreneurship lesson needs enough time for students to fail at a pitch and try again.

What it means

If your block is 90 minutes, build the lesson around four rounds. If your block is 60 minutes, run three rounds and skip the longer debrief. Short formats can introduce concepts; only the longer block actually changes how students pitch.

Try it

• Play free at playsidehustle.com
• See us live: Sept 25 at Pershing Hall in Austin. luma.com/playsidehustle
• Email team@playsidehustle.com