Course Objectives

In the first year of StartUp.lab, students are introduced to entrepreneurial thinking and entrepreneurship, with a major focus on the entrepreneurial mindset and skill set. Students are introduced to the lean startup approach to business creation, learning the art of customer discovery and understanding, and the skills needed to analyse and communicate business information.

In this year, students also participate in the Acceleration.lab, a social entrepreneurship project where they develop and deliver products for positive social impact.

The second year of StartUp.lab builds on the work completed in the first year of the program, with students applying their learning directly to a business activity.

During the year, students will learn more about the lean startup approach to business and entrepreneurship, using the Business Model Canvas approach to describing and planning businesses. Toward the end of the course, students will launch their own business, applying what they have learnt in the course to a real business situation.

Students will learn the knowledge and skills to:

• use entrepreneurial mindsets to think and act like an entrepreneur
• understand their own skills, motivations and attitudes and their application in entrepreneurial settings
• understand the difference between startups and companies
• apply customer discovery and development techniques to understand customer needs
• develop and validate potential solutions to customer needs
• collect and analyse consumer, industry and market data
• create and deliver business pitch presentations
• develop promotional and marketing campaigns
• use a design thinking approach in business and project planning
• work collaboratively to design and deliver entrepreneurial projects

Students will learn the knowledge and skills to:

• apply innovation and creativity techniques to develop business and product ideas
• use the Business Model Canvas to describe, design and challenge business models
• identify and develop different revenue models and monetisation strategies for business ideas
• understand and apply startup finance and funding concepts
• develop an effective entrepreneurial team for the delivery of business projects and activities
• identify and analyse business opportunities and their viability
• plan, develop and launch a business or entrepreneurial activity in the real world
• market and promote a business idea to potential partners, investors and customers