Course 2018-2019 a.y.

• Identificazione dell’opportunità di business (dall’idea al business concept).
• Analisi del mercato, consumatori e competitors.
• Principi di business model design.
• Creazione del consumatore.
• Identificazione e test delle assunzioni chiave sottostanti il business model.
• Posizionamento strategico.
• Proiezioni finanziarie (costo acquisizione consumatore; customer lifetime value).

• Comprendere il processo di start-up and business planning, e la sua utilità pratica. 
• Identificare e spiegare come una specifica innovazione può creare valore per un consumatore target. 
• Identificare i trade-offs che gli imprenditori hanno nel disegnare un modello di business, e nelle scelte di posizionamento strategico del business.  
• Spiegare la relazione tra le diverse attività del modello di business, e come si collegano alla creazione e ritenzione del valore. 

• Condurre un’analisi dell’opportunità di business sulla base del potenziale valore del mercato.
• Identificare un chiaro mercato target del business, ovvero gli early adopters; e la customer journey.  
• Scegliere e applicare gli strumenti adeguati per ideare e condurre esperimenti volti a testare le assunzioni del modello di business. 
• Interpretare l’evidenza dei test per validare le assunzioni chiave o riformulare le stesse.
• Lavorare in team, interagire in forma costruttiva, e pensare in maniera critica.

• Lezioni frontali
• Testimonianze (in aula o a distanza)
• Analisi casi studio / Incidents guidati (tradizionali, multimediali)
• Lavori/Assignment di gruppo
• Altre attivita' d'aula interattive (role playing, business game, simulation, online forum, instant polls)
• Partecipazione a competizioni esterne

Oltre alle lezioni, gli studenti lavorano in team e interagiscono (anche fuori dell’aula) con potenziali consumatori del progetto di business. Come team, gli studenti conducono surveys, esperimenti, parlano a potenziali consumatori/partners/competitors, e presentano (per le sessioni calendarizzate) le singoli parti del business model, discutendo i test e risultati che il team ha condotto per validare le assunzioni del modello di business. Testimonianze da parte di guest speakers, e alcuni casi aziendali sono proposti agli studenti al fine di offrire e discutere dei vari aspetti del processo imprenditoriale in contesti reali. Inoltre, gli studenti hanno la possibilità di lavorare su progetti di startup reali e interagire con i loro imprenditori. 

Il voto finale comprende due principali componenti: 

1. Teamwork outcome (60% del voto), che include group assignments e presentazioni, il pitch finale di presentazione e il documento finale di business plan, volti a testare le abilità degli studenti di lavorare in team, e produrre un risultato di progetto. 
2. Peer evaluation (40% del voto), volta a valutare il contributo individuale dello studente al lavoro e output del team. Ogni studente assegna in forma confidenziale un punteggio ad ogni membro del team da 0 a 30, con una differenza minima di 2 punti. 

Il voto è interamente determinato sulla base di un esame scritto. L’esame verte su 5 domande aperte sui temi del corso. 

• S. BLANK, B. DORF B, Startupper, Egea, 2013.
• A. OSTERWALDER, Y. PIGNEUR, Creare Modelli di Business, Wiley & Sons, 2010 (testo illustrativo, utile per comprensione/ideazione di Business Model Canvas).
• J.W. MULLINS, The new business road test. What entrepreneurs and executives should do before writing a business plan, Prentice Hall Financial Times, 2006.
• Le slides del corso, e altre letture sono fornite tramite piattaforma Bboard del corso. 

• Identification of the entrepreneurial opportunity (from the idea to the business concept).
• Market, customers and competitors analysis.
• Business model design principles.
• Customer creation.
• Identification and test of key assumptions underlying the business model.
• Strategic positioning and go-to-market strategy.
• Financial projections (customer acquisition cost; customer lifetime value).

• Understand the start-up and business planning process, and its practical utility. 
• Identify and explain how a particular innovation can create value for a target customer.
• Identify the trade-offs that entrepreneurs face in designing a business model, as well as in the choice of positioning strategically their business in the market.  
• Explain the relationship between the different business model activities, and how they relate to value creation and value capture for the business venture.

• Perform a business opportunity analysis based on the potential market value.
• Identify and profile a clear target market for the business – i.e., early adopters; and the customer journey.  
• Choose and apply the appropriate tools to design experiments for testing the business model’s assumptions.
• Interpret the evidence from the tests to validate the key assumptions or reformulate them while designing the business model.
• Work in team, interact in a constructive way, and think critically.

• Face-to-face lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
• Group assignments
• Interactive class activities (role playing, business game, simulation, online forum, instant polls)
• Participation in external competitions

The learning experience of this course includes, in addition to face-to-face lectures, working in team and interacting (outside the classroom) with prospective customers. As a team, students conduct surveys, experiments, talk to prospective customers/partners/competitors, deliver (for scheduled sessions) presentations about the individual parts of the business model, and discuss the tests and results the team has come up with for validating the underlying assumptions of the business model. Guest speakers and stylized cases are proposed to students to offer and discuss the issues of the entrepreneurial process in applied, real cases. Moreover, students are offered the opportunity to work on real startup projects and interact with their entrepreneurs.

With the purpose of measuring the acquisition of the above-mentioned learning outcomes, the students’ assessment is based on two main components: 

1. Teamwork outcome (60% of the final grade), which includes group assignments and presentations, final elevator pitch presentation and final business plan document, aimed to test the students’ ability to work in team, and deliver a project’s result. 
2. Peer evaluation (40% of the final grade), aimed to assess the student individual contribution to the team’s output. Each student is asked to rate the contribution of each of the team members by confidentially assigning a score from 0 to 30 to each group member, with a minimum difference of 2. 

Students’ assessment is based on a written exam. The exam consists of 5 open questions on the key aspects of the start-up and business planning process. 

The main course material, for both attending and non-attending students, is: 

• S. BLANK, B. DORF, The Startup Owner’s Manual. K&S Ranch Publishing, 2012. 
• A. OSTERWALDER, Y. PIGNEUR, Business Model Generation. Wiley & Sons, 2010.
• J.W. MULLINS, The new business road test. What entrepreneurs and executives should do before writing a business plan, Prentice Hall - Financial Times, 2006.
• The slides of the course, and additional readings are uploaded to the Bboard platform of the course.