Course 2021-2022 a.y.

The course deals with the decisions that new ventures need to take in order to define and execute their development programs, and to select the most appropriate financial sponsor for the company. It focuses on the scaling-up phase of a startup, and covers the way to approach financial investors.

• Learn how to spot and evaluate new business opportunities.
• Analyse and evaluate growing strategies for startups.
• Learn how to organise a startup for the scaling-up phase.
• Identify the financing options available for early-stage companies.

• Structure and develop the business plan for a new entrepreneurial venture.
• Set the pace for growing the early venture.
• Structure and negotiate a fundraising round.

• Face-to-face lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
• Group assignments

The learning experience of this course is mainly based on face-to-face lectures.

The course is carried out with an extensive use of case studies, and the involvement of some guest speakers, mostly startuppers. The use of cases and external speakers aims at better connecting the body of knowledge covered in the course with real life examples.

A group assignment on a business case will be assigned to attending students. The group assignments will provide the teams with substantive and productive feedback before the final exam.

Attendance is not compulsory although strongly recommended given the constant use of case discussions and guest speakers’ presentations.

The evaluation of attending students is based on these graded components:

1. Class participation: 20%
2. Written group assignment: 20%
3. Final in-class written exam (individual): 60%

1. Class Participation (20%): attending students are expected to actively contribute to their own and others learning during the case discussions and debates. To successfully complete the course requirements, you need to participate in class on a regular basis, be able to voice your own views in the plenary sessions, consider the arguments and reasoning of your colleagues, and decide whether to change your point of view or not.  Contributing only “active listening” during class discussions is not sufficient to earn a good mark nor is taking up “air time” simply to talk in class. The best participation marks go to those students who make insightful comments or ask substantive questions and who contribute to the learning of others.

2. Written Group Assignment (20%): attending students need to organise themselves into groups, in order to analyse and write-up the questions of a case study.

With the group assignment, students demonstrate their ability to:

·        Analyse the business model and revenue model of an entrepreneurial venture;

·        Analyse the competitive landscape and the strategic position of the venture;

·        Recommend appropriate responses to business and organisational issues that a growing venture usually faces;

·        Organise complex teamwork tasks.

3. Final in-class Individual Written Exam (60%): the written exam includes 8 open questions (to be answered in about 1,5h). The exam is closed-books. The examination questions test the degree to which an individual student comprehends the concepts covered in the course. The exam will also show whether students are able to communicate relevant practical inferences from what they have learned.

Non-attending students are evaluated with a written exam, on the course materials, including slides, background notes and cases. 

• All the materials (slides, chapters of the book, articles, cases) included in the program is mandatory for all students (attending and non-attending students). 
• All the materials are accessible on Course Reserve or uploaded on the Bboard platform.