Summary

A foundational course on the science and practice of launching new ventures. The purpose is to study and experience the first stages of the entrepreneurial process: from the identification of promising opportunities to the development of a viable and innovative business concept.

Content

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Keywords

Entrepreneurship, New ventures, Technology commercialization, Ideation, Prototyping, Lean Startup

Learning Outcomes

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

• Recognize the challenges of new venture creation in a comprehensive, integrative way
• Experience the early stages of the entrepreneurial process by working on a venture project proposal
• Sharpen one's ability to analyze and evaluate new venture opportunities
• Write and present a convicing venture project proposal
• Develop an "entrepreneurial mindset"

Transversal skills

• Resolve conflicts in ways that are productive for the task and the people concerned.
• Continue to work through difficulties or initial failure to find optimal solutions.
• Take feedback (critique) and respond in an appropriate manner.
• Collect data.
• Take responsibility for environmental impacts of her/ his actions and decisions.
• Communicate effectively with professionals from other disciplines.
• Give feedback (critique) in an appropriate fashion.
• Negotiate effectively within the group.
• Demonstrate a capacity for creativity.

Teaching methods

• Team work (developing business plan for a new venture)
• In-class exercises
• Lectures
• Case studies
• Guest speakers

Assessment methods

The course follows a continuous assessment approach, which provides more opportunities for feedback and learning from peers, lecturers and experts, and distributes more evenly the workload. There are three main set of graded assignments:

New venture project (team assignment): 60%

Venture ideas presentation 15% - Business model presentation 15% - Business plan presentation 15% - Final report 15%

Peer-to-peer feedback (individual assignment): 20%

Feedback on venture ideas presentations 6% - Feedback on business model presentations - 7% - Feedback on business plan presentations 7%

Interview an Entrepreneur (individual assignement): 20%

 

Supervision

Office hours	Yes
Assistants	Yes
Forum	Yes
Others	Office hours upon request

Resources

Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)

No

Bibliography

Relevant readings and resources will be regularly shared by the instructor.

 

Ressources en bibliothèque

• Entrepreneurial Marketing / Lodish
• The entrepreneurial mindset / McGrath

Websites

• http://Entc.epfl.ch

Moodle Link

• https://go.epfl.ch/envs