Have you ever thought about creating your own business? Are you interested in working for a start-up, a Venture Captial Fund or a large company as an “intrapreneur“? If so, this practical and interdisciplinary seminar might be the ideal kick-start of your entrepreneurial journey.
This seminar is about how to transform prospective business ideas into successful early stage ventures. Students will learn how to assess business opportunities, articulate their vision, create a viable business model, obtain funding as well as the importance of sustainable partnerships.
The set-up of the course is two-fold: The first part focuses on key concepts that comprise the academic subject of “Entrepreneurship” to provide a solid theoretical foundation for discussion.
In the second part of the course, students are to develop an idea for a venture of their own choosing in small teams. Based on the previous learnings, students are required to compile a business plan including sales/marketing objectives as well as financial projections. This business plan then needs to be presented to a panel of “potential investors”, followed by a challenging Q&A session.
Please let us know in the comment field if you already have a start-up idea or if you are already experienced with entrepreneurship.
Location: Zurich
Timeplan: Friday 14:00 to Sunday 18:00
Working language: English
Lecturers:
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- Dr. oec. Yuan Yao: Alumna of the Swiss Study Foundation, former UN Youth Delegate of Switzerland, certified lecturer/translator, Ph.D. in “International Business” with focus on entrepreneurship from the University of St.Gallen, serial entrepreneur (11 years of entrepreneurship experience, currently Founder and CEO of INDULGE), professional chef & tea sommelier
- Thomas Zweifel: Rechtsanwalt, BBA HSG, LL.M. from UCLA. Thomas is an experienced business lawyer and currently works for one of the largest corporate law firms in Switzerland.
- Ela Lamari (Guest Speaker): Ela launched her first online shop at age 18 which she then successfully sold. She is a financial expert who has worked many years for large corporations such as Ringier or Swiss Re before starting her own digital marketing agency.
Direction: Dr. oec. Yuan Yao, discover more about her in this podcast (German) -> Link
Coordination: Dr. Sarah Beyeler
Administration: Nathalie Ellington
Number of participants: max. 20
Readings: Required readings and articles will be provided during class.
Further recommended readings:
Carnegie, D. (1936). How to win Friends and influence People. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Cullinane, J. (1993). The Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide: 101 Tips for Managing in Good Times & Bad. Illinois: Business One Irwin.
Ferriss, T. (2007). The 4h-Workweek. New York: Crown Publishing Group.
Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers: The Story of Success. Boston: Little, Brown & Company.
Kaplan, J. (1996). Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure. New York: Penguin.
Krass, P. (ed). (1999). Book of Entrepreneurs’ Wisdom: Classic Writings by Legendary Entrepreneurs. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Ries, E. (2011). The Lean Start-Up. New York: Crowd Publishing Group.
Sahlman, W. et al. (1999). The Entrepreneurial Venture. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press.
Stevenson, H., Roberts, M. & Grousbeck, H. (1998). New Business Ventures and the Entrepreneur. Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill.
Timmons, J.A. (2004). New Venture Creation: Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century. Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill.
Timmons, J.A., Zacharakis, A. & Spinelli, S. (2004). Business Plans that work: A Guide for Small Business. Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill.
Von Pierer, H. & Von Oetinger, B. (ed.). (2002). A Passion for Ideas: How Innovators Create the New and Shape our World. Indiana: Purdue University Press.
