Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that invention can be taught to business students who do not have the prior technical knowledge that is assumed to be a requirement for this kind of activity. Design/methodology/approach: This paper contains reflections on the results of introducing a specific course in inventing based on the insights of leading figures in the economics heterodoxy, who reject key tenets of the standard-economics approach that treats invention as exogenous. Findings: The result of this experiment suggests that teaching invention to business students is possible based on such foundations, as measured by the number of patent application made and granted. Research limitations/implications: Since there is no widely accepted theory to explain invention, there is no control for this experiment. This theoretical limitation should not detract, however, from the evidence presented here that there is something of practical use in the heterodox tradition that is being overlooked in enterprise and business education. Practical implications: This paper provides one model for teaching an important aspect of enterprising behaviour and also has practical outcomes in terms of the invented items themselves. In addition, it serves to demystify an aspect of business activity that is often left unexplored in business studies curricula. Originality/value: The paper is innovative at a conceptual and a practical level in providing both a foundation for the study of invention based on economic theory, and advice on how this can be taught to achieve practical and independently validated outcomes.