Curriculum

First two months

Why Not? Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Based on the book and ideas by the world-renowned Professor Barry Nalebuff of Yale University who went on to become a successful Entrepreneur who founded Honest Tea that was sold to Coca Cola. The approach provides insights for brainstorming and problem solving in order to solve new problems with existing solutions and to generate new solutions for existing problems.

AI, Machine Learning, Data Visualization and Data Analysis

This course introduces sampling and exploring data, as well as basic probability theory and Bayes' rule. We will examine various sampling methods, and discuss how such methods can impact inference. A variety of exploratory data analysis techniques will be covered, including numeric summary statistics and basic data visualisation. We will use Python with ChatGPT for exercises.

Accounting

This course teaches the technical skills needed to analyse financial statements and disclosures for use in financial analysis. We will learn how accounting standards and managerial incentives affect financial reporting. We will also learn how to read the three most common financial statements: the income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows.

Marketing

This course covers three core topics in customer loyalty.

Branding: Brand equity is one of the key elements of retaining customers in a dynamic world in which new startups are emerging constantly.

Customer centricity: Not synonymous with customer service, customer centricity starts with customer focus and need-gathering.

Go-to-market strategies: Understand the drivers that influence customers and see how these are implemented prior to making an investment.

Second two months

Make it Happen Entrepreneurship: The Lean Startup way

The main idea in this course is learning how to rapidly develop and test ideas by gathering massive amounts of customer and marketplace feedback. Many startups fail by not validating their ideas early on with real-life customers. In order to mitigate that, students will learn how to get out of the building and search for the real pain points and unmet needs of customers. Building a startup is not simply building an execution plan for a business model that the entrepreneur thinks will work, but rather, a search for the actual business model itself. These are principles of Design Thinking which involve:

Idea Cultivation: Learn new techniques to tap into your—and your team’s—creativity.

Rapid Prototyping: Develop quick and early experiments, so you (and others) can put your ideas to the test.

Strategic Iteration: Move quickly through the process to find the most feasible—and desirable—solution.

Finance

This course teaches the fundamentals of finance, emphasising their application to a wide variety of real-world situations spanning personal finance, corporate decision-making, and financial intermediation. Key concepts and applications include: time value of money, risk-return tradeoff, cost of capital, interest rates, retirement savings, mortgage financing, auto leasing, capital budgeting, asset valuation, discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis, net present value, internal rate of return, hurdle rate and payback period.

Negotiations

This course will help you become a better negotiator by developing a framework that will allow you to make principled arguments that persuade others. It will allow you to see beneath the surface of apparent conflicts to uncover the underlying interests. You will be better able to predict, interpret, and shape the behaviour of those you face in competitive situations. We will discuss a wide-ranging set of topics including preparing for a negotiation, making ultimatums, avoiding regret, expanding the pie, and dealing with someone who has a very different perspective on the world. Advanced topics include negotiating when you have no power, negotiating over email, and the role of gender differences in negotiation.

Supply Chain Management

Supply chain management integrates key processes like procurement, inventory management, production, and distribution. By optimising these, startups enhance overall efficiency and improve customer satisfaction. Keeping multiple sources for procurement, just-in-time delivery, demand-based inventory management are key ideas that will be covered.

Last two months

Idea and Team Building

Students are tasked with forming a team, driven by the pursuit of idea refinement and innovation, with dedicated support through mentoring sessions. Additionally, students will engage in comprehensive pitch preparation, aimed at maximising their readiness to seize funding opportunity and continue their venture building journey.

Suggestion

Course

Research