Entrepreneurship in life sciences

Summary

Based on real-world examples, hypothetical or own inventions, students are provided with a skill set for translating scientific innovation into a convincing investor pitch (including a comprehensive slide deck on all relevant aspects) and applications for funding of a startup project

Content

Keywords

Market and competitor analysis, customer needs, business models, product development, growth and scalability, intellectual property and freedom to operate, regulatory issues and seed funding

Learning Prerequisites

Required courses

none

Important concepts to start the course

Solid knowledge and understanding in the life science domain and a strong interest in entrepreneurship

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, the student must be able to:

• Present a real world case study of a failed or successful startup (5 min individual task)
• Analyze Market and competitor data
• Formalize Funding applications
• Perform convincing investor pitches (10 min group effort)

Transversal skills

• Plan and carry out activities in a way which makes optimal use of available time and other resources.
• Assess one's own level of skill acquisition, and plan their on-going learning goals.
• Communicate effectively with professionals from other disciplines.
• Give feedback (critique) in an appropriate fashion.
• Demonstrate a capacity for creativity.

Teaching methods

(i) Detailed discussion of real world examples

Examples and concepts are introduced by the teachers and discussed in an interactive way. This provides the basis for preparing an individual case study and group tasks such as funding applications and investor pitches.

(ii) Independent follow-up work by the students in groups and individually

Students prepare a case study of an existing startup (indivudal task) and a group pitch, based on their own example innovations (hypothetical or real). Supervision and support are provided by the teaching assistants.

(iii) Example pitches by the teaching assistants

During one lecture the teaching assistants give example pitches with particular strengths and weaknesses, which are subsequently discussed and evaluated.

Maximum number of course participants is limited to 25 to enable a truly interactive format.

Expected student activities

Preparation of an individual case study (3min with slides)

Preparation of a written funding application including data base searches (papers, patents and business figures)

Preparation of a group pitch (10 min with slides)

The best group will be awarded with a trophy!

Assessment methods

Evaluation of the written funding application (25%)

Evaluation of the group pitch (35%)

Evaluation of the individual case study (35%)

Evaluation of participation in the discussions related to pitches of other students (5%)

Supervision

Resources

Moodle Link

• https://go.epfl.ch/BIO-490