Due to maintenance of the University website the application deadline has been extenden until Wednesday, February 21 at 8.00 a.m.
Skills: Researching, Analyzing, Generating Solutions, Project-based working, Digital skills, Collaborating, Oral communication, Presenting, Societal awareness, Reflecting, Independent learning, Resilience
Topics: Problem validation, Digital marketing, Business modeling, Customer and user development, Budgeting, Business modeling, Public speaking
Disciplines: Entrepreneurship, Social studies, Business management
Type: Honours Challenge. This course is aimed at gaining practical problem-solving experience in an organisation.
Admission requirements
This course is an (extracurricular) Master Honours Challenge aimed at talented 3rd (and on) Bachelor's students and Master’s students. Admission will be based on academic background, GPA and motivation.
Description
Entrepreneurship changes the world, but not always for the better. In this course, you first reflect on current business practices and the more sustainable, circular, and impact-driven alternatives.
During most of the course, you will be working on your own project or business idea. You might have a specific idea already, or a more general interest - as long as you are willing to make an impact with entrepreneurship you are welcome! You can either work individually or join others to form a team. Throughout the course, you will learn the necessities of becoming an entrepreneur, like market research, budgeting, branding, storytelling, and pitching.
In this dynamic course, you are tasked with finding a sustainable business model while addressing the societal impact and ethical concerns that may arise. You will be introduced to different entrepreneurial tools to help you align your business proposition with your first possible customers.
This is a very hands-on course, where you get to interact with different stakeholders, you get to make use of your own network, and reach out to different people in order to make things happen.
Course objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
apply theories and entrepreneurial tools;
evaluate the needs and preferences of their clients and users;
identify their own assumptions and find ways to test them rapidly;
critically assess ideas by conducting rapid assumptions tests;
develop and test your experiment;
present your solutions and answer questions effectively;
work within a group of students with diverse backgrounds;
reflect on your personal progress and role within your team.
Programme and Timetable
Meetings of this challenge will take place from 17:15-19:00 on the Tuesdays:
I Understand
Session 1: 5 March (The Hague, Schouwburgstraat, room A2.05)
Introduction to the course, technology & impact
After an introduction to the course content, structure, and assessment. During this class, you will be introduced to entrepreneurship. What does it mean to be an entrepreneur? What type of entrepreneur would you like to be? What does it mean to bridge entrepreneurship and impact? What are the technological and societal trends impacting the world and the way we perceive entrepreneurship?
Session 2: 12 March (The Hague, Schouwburgstraat, room A2.05)
Choosing a project direction
During this class you will learn how to effectively analyze and understand the context of the world we live in today and your business idea. With this information, you will be able to map problems or directions where you would like to direct your project/focus.
Session 3: 19 March (The Hague, Schouwburgstraat Living Lab)
Value, customers and business models
During this class you will understand the importance of identifying value propositions, and the business model and revenue model for your business idea. During this session, we will also debate the possible impact of the business decisions you take with a panel of entrepreneurs.
Session 4: 26 March (The Hague, Schouwburgstraat Living Lab)
Field work
During this session you will need to schedule interviews and connect with people that can help you understand the context of your impact and your business idea.
Session 5: 2 April (The Hague, Schouwburgstraat, room A2.05)
Field work
During this session you will need to schedule interviews and connect with people that can help you understand if your solution can solve the problem you are envisioning.
II Develop
Session 6: 9 April (The Hague, Schouwburgstraat Living Lab)
Present findings
After two week fo self work, this week you will present your findings and receive feedback from your peers.
Session 7: 16 April (The Hague, Schouwburgstraat Living Lab)
Value proposition and landing page
During this session we will define your value proposition and discuss on how to communicate that through a landing page for your target audience.
Session 8: 23 April (The Hague, Schouwburgstraat Living Lab)
Assumptions and experiments
During this session you will learn about basic elements of product development and Rapid Prototyping techniques which will allow you to test your solution in the coming months.
III Test
Session 9: 30 April (The Hague, Schouwburgstraat Living Lab)
Budgeting and money talks
Every sustainable business requires money to work. During this class you will Understand different revenue engines, you will assess the cost structure of your solution, and will build a Financially Sustainable Model.
Session 10: 7 May (The Hague, Schouwburgstraat Living Lab)
Field work
During this week you will need to schedule time to build and test your pilot.
Session 11: 14 May (The Hague, Schouwburgstraat Living Lab)
Field work
During this week you will need to schedule time to build and test your pilot.
Session 12: 21 May (The Hague, Schouwburgstraat Living Lab)
Field work
In today’s world, learning how to convey stories is more important than ever. During this class, you will have a session where we will discuss the importance of storytelling and communication techniques that you can apply in the creation of your video.
Session 13: 28 May (The Hague, Schouwburgstraat Living Lab)
Storytelling
During this class we will watch the video of your assumption tests journey and explain how this has impacted your solution.
Session 14: 4 June (The Hague, Schouwburgstraat Living Lab)
Hand in pitch deck
This week you will submit all the final assignments (pitch, self-reflection and landing page)
Location
The Hague, Schouwburgstraat, room A2.05 and Living Lab
Course load
This course is worth 5 ECTS, which means the total course load equals 140 hours:
Seminars: 8 seminars of 2.5 hours = 20
Field work: 6 blocks of 2.5 hours = 15
Literature reading & engagement: 10 hours p/week = 70 hours
Assignments & final essay = 36 hours
Assessment
Individual assessment:
40% Individual final report
Project assessment:
15% Understanding presentation
15% Landing page
30 % Final pitch
Reading list
All reading is available online, or will be made available to students.
Judit Kertesz (2017) Introduction to empathy maps. RealTimeBoard. Accessed: 29 January 2018. Available at: https://realtimeboard.com/blog/introduction-to-empathy-maps/
Monarth, H. (2015) The Irresistible Power of Storytelling as a Strategic Business Tool. HBR
Twersky, F., Buchanan, P., & Threlfall, V. (2013). Listening to those who matter most, the beneficiaries. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 11(2), 40-45.
Peredo, A. M., & McLean, M. (2006). Social entrepreneurship: A critical review of the concept. Journal of world business, 41(1), 56-65. (Available online)
Bloom, P.N. and Dees, G. (2008), Cultivate your ecosystem. Stanford social innovation review, 6(1), pp.47-53.
Alter, K., 2007. Social enterprise typology. Virtue Ventures LLC, 12, pp.1-124.
Twersky, F., Buchanan, P., & Threlfall, V. (2013). Listening to those who matter most, the beneficiaries. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 11(2), 40-45.
Strategyzer, A.G., 2015. The value proposition canvas. Retrieved at January, 10, p.2016.
Other possible literature will be announced in class or via Brightspace.
Brightspace and uSis
Brightspace will be used in this course. Upon admission students will be enrolled in Brightspace by the teaching administration.
Please note: students are not required to register through uSis for the Master Honours Classes. Your registration will be done centrally.
Registration
Submitting an application for this course is possible from Monday, 5 February until and including Wednesday, 21 February 2024 at 8.00 a.m. through the link on the Honours Academy student website.
Note: students don’t have to register for the Master Honours Classes in uSis. The registration is done centrally before the start of the class.
Contact
Betty Huerta – betty@plnt.nl