Course 2018-2019 a.y.

30492 - ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW BUSINESS STARTUP

Department of Management and Technology

Course taught in English
Go to class group/s: 31
CLEAM (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  3 credits SECS-P/01  |  3 credits SECS-P/07) - CLEF (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  3 credits SECS-P/01  |  3 credits SECS-P/07) - CLEACC (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  3 credits SECS-P/01  |  3 credits SECS-P/07) - BESS-CLES (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  3 credits SECS-P/01  |  3 credits SECS-P/07) - WBB (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  3 credits SECS-P/01  |  3 credits SECS-P/07) - BIEF (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  3 credits SECS-P/01  |  3 credits SECS-P/07) - BIEM (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  3 credits SECS-P/01  |  3 credits SECS-P/07) - BIG (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  3 credits SECS-P/01  |  3 credits SECS-P/07) - BEMACS (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  3 credits SECS-P/01  |  3 credits SECS-P/07)
Course Director:
CARLO SALVATO

Classes: 31 (II sem.)
Instructors:
Class 31: CARLO SALVATO


Mission & Content Summary

MISSION

The mission of this course is to provide real world, experience-based learning on what it’s like to actually start a new business. The main objective is to allow participants to directly experience the earliest phases of an entrepreneurial startup process. Focus thus is on concept building and testing. In this course participants are asked to actively engage in developing the initial business idea, but also in talking to potential customers, suppliers, partners, and competitors, as they confront the chaos and uncertainty of how a real startup actually emerges from the entrepreneurs’ efforts.

CONTENT SUMMARY

  • What is a business idea and how it emerges.
  • What is a startup.
  • Different approaches to developing a business idea into a startup.
  • The lean startup approach.
  • The business model canvas.
  • Customer development.
  • The Power Pitch.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of the course student will be able to...
  • Define a business idea and a startup.
  • Recognize the key features of a viable business idea.
  • Recognize the different approaches to developing a business idea into a startup.
  • Illustrate the key steps in developing a business idea through the lean startup approach.
  • Illustrate the main elements of the Business Model Canvas.
  • Explain the logic behind the development of the main elements of a Business Model.

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of the course student will be able to...
  • Identify a business idea and frame it into a structured business model.
  • Individually present your initial business idea.
  • Discuss your business idea with others and create a team to develop it.
  • Brainstorm elements of the business model within your team.
  • Apply the lean startup approach to develop your initial business idea.
  • Perform the different stages of the customer development process.
  • Perform a Power Pitch of your developed business model.

Teaching methods

  • Face-to-face lectures
  • Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
  • Exercises (exercises, database, software etc.)
  • Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
  • Individual assignments
  • Group assignments
  • Interactive class activities (role playing, business game, simulation, online forum, instant polls)

DETAILS

The learning experience of this course includes, in addition to face-to-face lectures, case discussions, group works, exercises, real examples, simulations and interactions with guest speakers from startups and institutions that deal with startups. Topics are analyzed moving from real-life case-histories to make the students aware not only of the main concepts, but also of the most common issues experienced by real startups and how to analyze and address them.

  • Attendance: due to the practice-oriented teaching methodology, heavily based on interaction and class participation, attending is recommended.

Assessment methods

  Continuous assessment Partial exams General exam
  • Written individual exam (traditional/online)
     x
  • Individual assignment (report, exercise, presentation, project work etc.)
     x
  • Group assignment (report, exercise, presentation, project work etc.)
     x

ATTENDING STUDENTS

  • Individual or team: the major course project is a teamwork aimed at performing the first stages of development of a business startup. Attending participants are asked to autonomously form teams around their own business ideas. As a team, participants are asked to work on their project and deliver a final “power pitch” of the business idea they developed. This final presentation (and the related set of slides), determines the evaluation of the group assignment. Participants self-organize both individual roles and group activities to be carried out within the team.
  • Individual: each attending student is asked to individually provide a written “Peer Feedback” on the final presentation of another team.

NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

Non-attending students are assesses through a final written exam. The final written exam includes 3-6 open questions on the teaching materials for non attending students.


Teaching materials


ATTENDING STUDENTS

  • Course materials on the course web-learning platform.
  • Course materials handed in class.

NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

  • D.F. KURATKO, Introduction to entrepreneurship, South-Western, CENGAGE Learning, 2014, 9th Edition (or later).
Last change 04/06/2018 09:08