040214 UE Tech-based Entrepreneurship (MA) (2025W)

Purpose of the course
This course is a hands-on experience in which you have to generate your business idea in an accelerated environment.

Entrepreneurship primarily addresses the challenges of generating an idea, testing it in the market, and iteratively developing the idea to improve it. The course uses a hands-on approach. You will receive guidance on how to structure and implement an entrepreneurial business, ranging from the inception of a product/service design to raising capital. Throughout the course, the cross-functional and interdisciplinary nature of going from idea to company will be emphasized.

Competencies developed
During the course, students will gain the capabilities to identify entrepreneurial opportunities and develop business ideas from these opportunities. These skills are not only of high value for new entrepreneurial companies but also relevant in a broader business context. In fact, what we do is a central tool for planning and managing new business activities/ventures within established organizations.
This course aims to develop:
• Your ability to apply knowledge, frameworks, and techniques from many disciplines, such as marketing and finance, in the context of going from idea to company.
• Your ability to modify existing tools to offer new solutions to complex problems or to create new opportunities.
• Your ability to deliver effective written and oral presentations.
• Your ability to identify all relevant stakeholders and propose solutions that consider multiple interests when setting up new ventures.
• Your ability to be innovative in the development of business solutions/ideas.

Teaching methods

We will develop the above-mentioned competencies throughout the course through four building blocks.
1. We discuss the key elements of building an idea, from the inception of an idea to the scaling of businesses and financing. We will devote each teaching session to the key elements relevant to moving your idea ahead.
2. Each session will provide you with the opportunity for peer feedback by presenting your progress to all participants to obtain feedback and share insights on what works and what doesn’t.
3. The central idea of this course is to really master a structured approach to building a business by gaining first-hand experience. Students will work on their assignments in their respective groups, and professors will be available to offer guidance at selected consultation sessions. The group work and consultation sessions will take place mainly outside the regular teaching sessions.

4. Finally, the course closes with formal presentations to a jury capable of evaluating the feasibility of pitches. This presentation will be organized like a “Dragon’s Den” where faculty and external guests will ask critical questions about the pitch.