MSc: It business start
IT_Business_Start
- Course name: IT Business Start
- Code discipline:
- Subject area: Technological entrepreneurship
Short Description
This course is for the first-time entrepreneur. We will briefly but concisely discuss all the issues related to starting your own project from scratch: how to make sure that your idea is in demand, how to do market research, how to stop putting off the launch, why the customer is more important than the product, and how to do customer research. During this course, students will get used to their entrepreneurial role, build teams, formulate a business and product idea and be ready to delve into the complexities of business development in the following courses.
Prerequisites
Prerequisite subjects
- N/A
Prerequisite topics
- N/A
Course Topics
| Section | Topics within the section |
|---|---|
| Introduction & Building Your Team & Making Your Team Agile |
|
| Defining Your Customer & Defining Your Product & Defining Your Rivals |
|
| Defining Your Business Model & Defining Your Vision |
|
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
What is the main purpose of this course?
The purpose of the course is to walk students through the concrete steps that are necessary for an entrepreneur to develop a tech product and build a solid business around that tech product.
ILOs defined at three levels
Level 1: What concepts should a student know/remember/explain?
By the end of the course, the students should be able to ...
- design-thinking tools to design the prototype of the product,
- approaches to designing and testing a business model through the experiments,
- frameworks of agile development,
- storytelling methods to design a brand,
- pitching presentation tools.
Level 2: What basic practical skills should a student be able to perform?
By the end of the course, the students should be able to ...
- concrete steps of creating a value proposition for a customer,
- concrete steps of the business design (business model, hypothesis formulation/testing and minimum-viable product creation),
- SCRUM roles, ceremonies and artefacts,
- specifics of pitch presentation for investors.
Level 3: What complex comprehensive skills should a student be able to apply in real-life scenarios?
By the end of the course, the students should be able to ...
- build and manage the startup team,
- define the customer problem and validate it,
- create the product to fit the problem with agile methods,
- define the business model around the product,
- promote a product and a startup,
- build strong networks in the business world.
Grading
Course grading range
| Grade | Range | Description of performance |
|---|---|---|
| A. Excellent | 90-100 | - |
| B. Good | 75-89 | - |
| C. Satisfactory | 60-74 | - |
| D. Fail | 0-59 | - |
Course activities and grading breakdown
| Activity Type | Percentage of the overall course grade |
|---|---|
| Final presentation | 30 |
| Project Report | 20 |
| Project Progress | 50 |
Recommendations for students on how to succeed in the course
Participation is important. Showing up and participating in discussions is the key to success in this course.
Students work in teams, so coordinating teamwork will be an important factor for success.
Reading the provided materials is mandatory, as lectures will mainly consist of discussions.
The main assignment in the course is Market research paper which is supposed to be useful not only for this course but s a basis for future business oriented courses
Resources, literature and reference materials
Open access resources
- Tidd, J. & Bessant, J. (2011). Managing Innovation: Integrating Technological, Market and Organizational Change
- Stickdorn, M. & Schneider, J. (2010). This is Service Design Thinking. Wiley.
- Brown, T. & Kātz, B. (2009). Change by design. New York: Harper Business.
- Osterwalder, A.& Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers
- Sutherland, J. (2014). Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time
- Ries, E. (2011). The Lean Startup
Closed access resources
- N/A
Software and tools used within the course
- Boardofinnovation.com
- Miro.com
- Notion.com
- MS Teams
Teaching Methodology: Methods, techniques, & activities
Activities and Teaching Methods
| Teaching Techniques | Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Problem-based learning (students learn by solving open-ended problems without a strictly-defined solution) | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Project-based learning (students work on a project) | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Differentiated learning (provide tasks and activities at several levels of difficulty to fit students needs and level) | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Contextual learning (activities and tasks are connected to the real world to make it easier for students to relate to them); | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Business game (learn by playing a game that incorporates the principles of the material covered within the course). | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Task-based learning | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Learning Activities | Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lectures | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Interactive Lectures | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Lab exercises | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Cases studies | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Group projects | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Peer Review | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Discussions | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Presentations by students | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Written reports | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Oral Reports | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Quizzes (written or computer based) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Simulations and role-plays | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Essays | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Experiments | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Individual Projects | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Formative Assessment and Course Activities
Ongoing performance assessment
Section 1
| Activity Type | Content | Is Graded? |
|---|---|---|
| Discussion | 1. What is a startup? 2. What are the roles within a team? 3. How should you form the team of a startup? 4. What types of leadership are the most effective? 5. What are the ceremonies, roles and artifacts of SCRUM? |
0 |
| Workshop | Fill in the team canvas to put all your goals and common values on one page. | 1 |
Section 2
| Activity Type | Content | Is Graded? |
|---|---|---|
| Workshop | 1. Define INTERESTING industries for all team members. Define industries in which you HAVE KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE. Put these industries on the matrix. Choose ONE industry for your project that meets 2 criteria above. 2. Brainstorm about stakeholders from your market. Choose the segment that you sympathise the most. 3. Define the customer segment you empathise the most (i.e. elderly people, children, office workers etc.). Define JOBS TO BE DONE. Put each job on the separate sticker. Define user's PAINS. Put each pain on the separate sticker.Define user's GAINS. Put each gain on the separate sticker. 4. Brainstorm what products you can offer to the chosen segment with their pains or gains. If you are stuck, use SCAMPER techniques.Group ideas that have the similar topic into clusters. Choose 1 top idea for further development based on 2 defined criteria (innovative potential and feasibility). 5. Choose the best product idea. Define PRODUCTS & SERVICES. Put each item on the separate sticker. Define GAIN CREATORS. Put each item on the separate sticker. Define PAIN RELIEVERS. Put each item on the separate sticker. 6. Review your pain relievers and gain creators.Check if pain relievers and gain creators correspond with JBDs, pains and gains from the customer profile. Highlight those that correspond with each other. If there are any pain relievers and gain creators are left, they don't create the value for a customer. Check how you can redefine you value proposition. 7. Define your 5 main competitors. Define competing factors (these are your pain relievers and gain creators). Draw the strategic canvas based on competing factors. Define areas where you can compete. Redefine your value proposition if necessary (make new priorities for product and services, pain relievers, gain creators. |
0 |
| Discussion | 1. How to validate a problem? 2. How to validate a market? 3. How to validate a solution? |
0 |
| Customer research | 1. How customers do their jobs in the industry right now? 2. How can we develop the empathy with users? 3. What is a persona? How to design a persona? |
1 |
Section 3
| Activity Type | Content | Is Graded? |
|---|---|---|
| Discussion | What is the value of the business model canvas by Alexander Osterwalder? What are the components of the business model? What is the Minimum Viable Product (MVP)? How to define must-have, should-have and could-have requirements? |
0 |
| Group project | Please, develop the business model for your tech product. Please, test your business model using experiments with your prototypes. Please, create the concept for your Minimum Viable Product. |
1 |
| Workshop | Formulate all blocks of the business model for your business idea. Define the forces that shape your business environment. Define must-have, should-have and could have requirements for your product. |
0 |
| Group presentation | Create a story for your product. Think about your user as a hero and your product as a helper. | 1 |
Final assessment
Section 1
For the final assessment, students should complete the Market Research paper. It should follow the market research paper structure, contain information about market volume (TAM SAM SOM), data must be gathered with help of data sources learnt. The paper should refer to market potential and give the basis to make business decisions, answer questions on how to start and develop your idea, what is your business model, target customer persona, product MVP etc.
Grading criteria for the final project presentation: Market sizing has been carried out Customer segments are named Сompetitor analysis has been conducted At least 2 prominent data sources are used Customer discovery interviews conducted Future steps are mapped out The final report is visualized clearly and transparent
Section 2
Section 3
The retake exam
The retake exam. For the retake, students have to submit the results of the market sizing exercise with the TAM SAM SOM method in the form of a visual framework studied.