LEARNING OUTCOMES
Startup Experience teaches students how to run an early stage, scalable startup to create social and economic value while solving a sustainability-related problem.
The course provides an entrepreneurial mindset and capabilities.
Within the course students will work on venture ideas within Sustainable Development Goals.
Learning outcomes are based on Bloom s Taxonomy. After the course, the students will be able:
To identify sustainable and scalable business opportunities
To pitch business ideas and ventures
To apply knowledge about marketing, user research, idea validation, experimentation and prototyping, and financial literacy for one s endeavor
To work in and lead diverse teams
To work effectively with different tools for team working and communicating remote-ly
To take ownership and responsibility for one s own work
To develop self-awareness and self-management skills, including time management and personal wellbeing
To think outside the box and be more innovative
To cope with challenge and know how to fail & pivot after having practiced resilience in a safe environment
To think critically and through ethical and sustainable lenses
The pedagogy is experiential, hands-on learning which exposes students (as far as possible) to real-world challenges and overcoming them using the entrepreneurial process. The course includes mostly workshops and hands-on team assignments based on venture ideas.
Credits: 9
Schedule: 14.09.2021 - 16.12.2021
Teacher in charge (valid for whole curriculum period):
Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Lidia Borisova, Lauri Järvilehto, Simo Lahdenne, Jari Ylitalo, Duy Tran
Contact information for the course (applies in this implementation):
CEFR level (valid for whole curriculum period):
Language of instruction and studies (applies in this implementation):
Teaching language: English. Languages of study attainment: English
CONTENT, ASSESSMENT AND WORKLOAD
Content
valid for whole curriculum period:
Experience what it s like to found and run a startup, without actually having to set up a company. During this course you will learn the essentials of entrepreneurship: user-centered product and service design, business ethics and sustainability, opportunity recognition, business modeling, teamwork, pitching, startup finance and marketing. That is, everything you need to navigate the fast-paced and unpredictable commercial environment, or even become a founder.
While the focus of the course is on setting up a new business as a startup, the skills you will learn are equally valuable in the context of existing companies. The course will suit a person who is adaptive, collaborative and creatively driven. Who is interested in going beyond conventional thinking practices to create effective teams and commercial value.
During the course, students work in small start-up teams that together go from initial problem definition all the way to the final investor pitch. Teamwork is one of the main learning skills of the course and simultaneously one of the biggest challenges for students. Throughout the course students will have team dynamic clinics and reflections to support the teamwork. At AVP, students don t just work in groups but build actual teams.
The course takes a firm stand in preventing burnouts which is why students will also learn about time management and focus on personal wellbeing. By the end of the course, students will not only have created a new venture but also gone through the project in a sustainable way. Through different exercises, students will be able to turn wellbeing-boost lessons into lifelong skills.
Assessment Methods and Criteria
valid for whole curriculum period:
The course is graded based on both team and personal performance.
Team performance is measured based on for example:
The customer value creation process (assessed in bi-weekly pitches)
Key company deliverables (including marketing campaign, shareholders agreement, etc.)
Personal performance is evaluated based on for example:
COO performance (each student will act as the company COO for a specific assignment, the student's performance in the assignment is based on the outcome of the assignment as well as a personal reflection on the management process and learning)
Final individual oral exam
The student s total grade is combined of the team grade and personal grade.
Workload
valid for whole curriculum period:
For 9 ECTS the workload is 243 hours of student work.
DETAILS
Study Material
valid for whole curriculum period:
Online materials distributed via MyCourses
Substitutes for Courses
valid for whole curriculum period:
Prerequisites
valid for whole curriculum period:
SDG: Sustainable Development Goals
1 No Poverty
2 Zero Hunger
3 Good Health and Well-being
5 Gender Equality
6 Clean Water and Sanitation
7 Affordable and Clean Energy
8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
10 Reduced Inequality
11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
12 Responsible Production and Consumption
13 Climate Action
14 Life Below Water
15 Life on Land
16 Peace and Justice Strong Institutions
17 Partnerships for the Goals
FURTHER INFORMATION
Further Information
valid for whole curriculum period:
Teaching Period:
2020-2021 Autumn I-II
,Spring III-V
2021-2022 Autumn I-II
,Spring III-V
Course Homepage: https://mycourses.aalto.fi/course/search.php?search=TU-E4100
Registration for Courses: In the academic year 2021-2022, registration for courses will take place on Sisu (sisu.aalto.fi) instead of WebOodi.
Registration via WedOodi. The number of participants will be limited.
Registrations will be prioritized in the following order:
1. Students for whom the course is mandatory (Master s Programme in ICT Innovation, Master's Programme in Advanced Materials for Innovation and Sustainability)
2. Students that have chosen the AVP Startup Minor
3. Other students so that the student base is as multidisciplinary as possible
For more info, please refer to MyCourses and AVP website https://avp.aalto.fi/avp-course/startup-experience/