Entrepreneurship

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Learn lean entrepreneurship, generate impact and sustainable business models

Module details

  • Offered to 1st years
  • Tuesdays 16.00-18.00
  • 8 weeks (autumn or spring term)
  • Planned delivery: On-campus (South Kensington)
  • Non-credit only
How to enrol
Entrepreneurship is a powerful mindset and a set of tools that anyone can learn and make it their own, regardless of their ultimate objective.
 
Whether your business aims to tackle the climate crisis, launch a breakthrough technology on the market, advance through the corporate career ladder or you want to try your luck on the next unicorn, we will review and learn the basics of the start-up founder’s toolkit and apply it for real.
 
This module is a practical and engaging journey that combines methodologies such as Design Thinking, Lean Start-up and Agile methodology.
 

“All human beings are born entrepreneurs. Business is a very beautiful mechanism to solve problems, and contribute to the world”- Muhammad Yunus, Nobel peace prize laureate and founder of Grameen Bank.

Information blocks

By the end of this module you will be able to:taking notes on desk

  • Examine key intellectual concepts in relation to entrepreneurialism.
  • Explore how entrepreneurial opportunities are discovered, validated, pursued and pitched.
  • Validate ideas in the market
  • Prepare a pitch for a business idea
  • Collaborate in cross functional teams with tight deadlines and not optimal conditions replicating the start-up environment

  "Startup success is not a consequence of good genes or being in the right place at the right time. It can be engineered by following the right process, which means it can be learned, which means it can be taught" - Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup

The module comprises eight thematic sessions:

Session 1: What is entrepreneurship? Why it matters today more than ever. Which kind of entrepreneur do you want to be?

Session 2: Entrepreneurs within existing organisations, or Intrapreneurs. One of the most wanted skills by recruiters these days.

Session 3: The behaviours of an entrepreneur, the dos and don’ts of successful founders. Spoiler alert: some of them are unpopular, such as “don’t fall in love with your first idea”.

Session 4: How to come up with a successful business idea, solving customer problems while matching your skill set and ambition.

Session 5: How to structure your idea and define a plan of action. The Lean Canvas and prioritising what you don’t know about your business idea.

Session 6: How to identify your first customers and take your idea from zero to small. Find your early adopters through Customer Discovery interviews

Session 7: How to get evidence from the market that your idea is worth it. Idea validation through experimentation and iteration.

Session 8: How to pitch your idea to onboard co-founders, judges, advisors, team members and... investors. Tell a story able to impress, influence and convince.

The module comprises eight thematic sessions. The first three are theoretical, all the others are practical and hands-on application of entrepreneurial tools and methods. The module is designed to encourage you to learn to work in groups, so you will work in small groups on your piece of coursework, both in and out of the classroom. Live teaching will be augmented by video and audio material deployed during the sessions to bring to life notable experiences and case studies from successful entrepreneurs.

You will submit assignments through the module VLE, though which you will receive written feedback commenting your assessments and providing insights for improving your pitch deck. You will receive feedback within two weeks of submission.

  • Coursework: Case study-based group assignment - Pitch Deck Minimum 8 slides (90%)
  • Coursework: Peer assessment – reflective essay no fewer than 300 words (10%)
  • ECTS value: 0
  • Requirements: You must be prepared to attend all classes and to spend about an hour a week preparing for each session
  • This module is designed as an undergraduate Level 4 course. For an explanation of levels, view the Imperial Horizons Level Descriptors page.‌
"A huge thank you from us all for the module, we really enjoyed it and learned a huge amount! Thank you."
"This is a wonderful course for beginners who want to start a business, it not only teaches us business strategies but also lets us know how to be an entrepreneur with good values."
"I enjoyed having the chance to put some key entrepreneurship strategies into practice. What captured my attention the most was learning about the lives of real entrepreneurs, their motivations and the challenges they faced."
"I am grateful to have learned this in my first year of university."
"a wonderful experience to work in a team... an amazing tool for my future career"
"Prior to the course, I felt that entrepreneurship is only meant for creative people. However, in creating my pitch deck, I was able to experience how to develop my ideas and view the process as methodological and systematic."