This course is about how to convert a business idea into a real company

The teachers are serial entrepreneurs and investor who not only have a theoretical understanding of entrepreneurship and innovation but have real-life experience as founders of several start-up companies.

The course is built on the fact that most experts and experienced entrepreneurs agree that the true challenge in entrepreneurship does not lie in getting the idea or in writing the initial business plan, but in the processes related to the conversion of the “good idea” and “plan” into a successful venture.  This ability is what separates the successful from the not so successful entrepreneurs.

The course will give you both theoretical- and practical insights on how YOU can build a successful startup!

 More specifically, the course will deal with strategic issues related to:

·         Alternatives to Business Planning. The most successful entrepreneurs does not think in traditional “business planning” mode but instead do “Effectuation”. You will learn about Effectuation, and how this thinking can improve your chance of success.

·         Getting to Plan B and Lean Startup.  Almost all entrepreneurs will experience that the “Plan A”, as described in the initial business plan, will have to be amended or abandoned. You will learn about Lean Startup and how you come to a viable “Plan B” in the shortest time, and reduce your risk in the process getting there.

·         Customer Development. How to understand the customers/users. What is the pain? Which problem is going to be solved? Are the customers/users willing to pay for solving the problem? These questions are essential for any startup and you will learn how to use Customer Development as a supplement to classic Product Development processes.

·         Networks. How start-up companies can acquire resources via external organizations to grow/survive. Theories and application of those on real-life cases. Reflections on how to build and use networks of complementary competence.

·         Funding. Capital is often one of the needed resources entrepreneurs have the hardest time securing during the initial faces. We discuss how to involve and persuade different sources of capital (venture capital, business angels, customer-funded etc.) and strategies for acquiring them (incl. how to pitch the business opportunity to these investors). The relationship is about both the complexity of practice and theoretical models.

·         Innovation.  R&D and innovation is very different in smaller organisations compared to multi-nationals. We discuss theories and strategies for doing disruptive innovation in small companies, and how many theories are challenged under these conditions of uncertainty.

 
The theoretic foundation of the course will be articles from leading journals and books on entrepreneurship. This will be combined with written- and real-life cases from several Danish and international start-up companies.  We will have high-profile guest-speakers (venture capitalists, serial entrepreneurs, business angels) to present such cases.
 
The course will combine lectures, in-class discussions, and project work.  The course includes a group-project where you will apply the frameworks learned on a real-life case.
 
The course’s development of personal competences:
This course prepares students for realizing their entrepreneurial potential, either as entrepreneurs or as key-employees in smaller organizations.
 
During the course students are expected to develop the ability to critically analyse and discuss theory, approaches and concepts in connection with entrepreneurship and innovation in small companies – and how to apply the theoretical knowledge on real-life cases.

Mullins, J. & Komisar, R. (2009) Getting to Plan B., Harvard Business Press
 
Blank, Steven, (2006) Four Steps to the Epiphany, Cafepress.com
 
Ries, Eric (2011, The Lean Startup, Penguin Books Ltd
 
 
Mette Mønsted
Networking for innovation - managing through networks. Published in: Strategic Networking in Small High Tech Firms, Samfundslitteratur, 2003
 
Paul Miller
Marketing Technological innovations- the challenges of creating markets. Published in: Strategic Networking in Small High Tech Firms, Samfundslitteratur, 2003
 
Noam Wasserman
The Founder's Dilemma
Harward Business Review, Feb 01 2008
 
Colin Mason and Matthew Stark
What do Investors Look for in a Business Plan? A Comparison of the Investment Criteria of Bankers, Venture Capitalists and Business Angels International Small Business Journal, 2004
 
Andrew Wong, Mihir Bhatia, Zachary Freeman Angel finance: The other venture capital Strategic Change Volume 18, Issue 7-8, pages 221–230, November 2009
 
Henry Chesbrough, Adrienne Kardon Crowther Beyond high tech: Early adopters of open innovation in other industries. R&D Management, Volume 36, Issue 3, pages 229–236, June 2006
 
Marc Gruber and Joachim Henke
New ventures based on open innovation – an empirical analysis of start-up firms in embedded Linuxl International Journal of Technology Management
Volume 33, Number 4 / 2006, Pages:  356 - 372
 
Henry W. Chesbrough
Why Companies Should Have Open Business Models MIT Sloan Management Review, Jan 2007
 
Christopher T. Street, Ann-Frances Cameron External Relationships and the Small Business: A Review of Small Business Alliance and Network Research Journal of Small Business Management, Volume 45, Issue 2, pages 239–266, April 2007