Course syllabus for Creating new business

Course syllabus adopted 2023-02-08 by Head of Programme (or corresponding).

Overview

  • Swedish nameEntreprenörskap
  • CodeTEK010
  • Credits7.5 Credits
  • OwnerMPMEI
  • Education cycleSecond-cycle
  • Main field of studyIndustrial Engineering and Management
  • DepartmentTECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS
  • GradingTH - Pass with distinction (5), Pass with credit (4), Pass (3), Fail

Course round 1

  • Teaching language English
  • Application code 26117
  • Block schedule
  • Open for exchange studentsNo

Credit distribution

0105 Examination 7.5 c
Grading: TH		 7.5 c
  • 11 Jan 2024 am J DIG
  • 03 Apr 2024 am J DIG
  • 26 Aug 2024 pm J DIG

In programmes

Examiner

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Eligibility

General entry requirements for Master's level (second cycle)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Specific entry requirements

English 6 (or by other approved means with the equivalent proficiency level)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Course specific prerequisites


Aim

This course deals with the creation of new business focusing primarily on independent startups. Special emphasis is placed on theories and pragmatic methods tailored to the earliest stage in a startup’s life. This stage is characterized by great uncertainty regarding issues such as: what you as an entrepreneur want to do, who will be involved in the process, who your customers are, what problems they have, what your product and value proposition should be, how you will acquire customers, how you will distribute your product to those customers, and how you will make money. Besides providing theoretical understanding of how to analyze and think about such questions, a major ambition of this course is to expose students to useful tools and tactics that will help them turn an idea or technology into a validated business. This is accomplished through a combination of lectures, readings, videos, and a project assignment. The project assignment is central to the course and provides students with a very hands-on learning experience. The projects have in previous years lead to the creation of a number of real companies.

Knowing how to create new business is valuable in many areas. Completing this course will help prepare students for careers in: startups, whether as founders or employees; established organizations, whether as product managers, intrapreneurs, or in some other innovation-related capacity; consulting, with focus on product, service, and business design; and venture capital. More generally, the course will provide insights that are valuable in projects and situations where innovative ideas are developed.

Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)

After completing the course, students will:
  • Be familiar with modern startup theories.
  • Know the value and limits of business planning.
  • Know the difference between a startup and a company.
  • Know how to elicit valuable feedback through customer interviews.
  • Know how to work with experiments and prototypes to speed up learning.
  • Know how to engage other stakeholders in co-creation processes.
  • Know how to work with metrics and key process indicators in startups.
  • Know how to manage the transition from early adopters to mainstream users.
  • Be familiar with sources of venture finance.
  • Be familiar with issues related to gender and diversity in the context of entrepreneurship.
  • Have learned about a range of specific tools and methods for efficiently identifying and testing business model assumptions.
  • Have improved their presentation skills.
  • Know what startup support is available at Chalmers.
  • Potentially have kick-started their entrepreneurial career.

Content

The course covers a range of issues central to the successful creation of new business. These can be organized into three broad phases, with emphasis being on the second:
  • Identifying: identifying business ideas, analyzing markets, structuring business models.
  • Designing: experimental testing of business hypotheses, transformational co-creating with others.
  • Scaling: entering mainstream markets, metrics and growth, venture finance.

Organisation

The course is based on readings, lectures, guest lectures, and videos that cover theories, methods, and practical tools for identifying, developing, and scaling new business. The projects, which make up an essential part of the course, will further help students understand and apply theories, methods, and tools in a real-life setting.

Literature

See the course homepage

Examination including compulsory elements

Grading is done on the basis of quizzes, written exam and project work.

The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers on educational support due to disability.