Social Entrepreneurship

Course overview and objectives
Social entrepreneurs are a driving force for societal change and business innovation, creating compelling ventures that align both profit and impact. What do social entrepreneurs do that is unique and why do they succeed in addressing profound societal problems in areas where governments, markets and charities are failing? How are impact ventures built? This course will place you in the role of a social entrepreneur and help you learn in teams how to design and launch an impact venture. 
The course uses a hands-on step by step approach through which the teams will make progress each week in the design and piloting of their venture. This framework is built on research, cases, and tools developed by IES - Social Business School. This framework has been widely used worldwide by more than 8000 participants and is codified in the book “The Social 
Entrepreneurs´ Guide to Changing the World.” 
This course is designed to explore students’ ambitions and drive to explore the world of social entrepreneurship. It provides a toolkit for implementing an impact venture and allows participants to discuss, assess, and refine their ideas for value creation in society. In the course, students should expect to learn: 
• the distinctive features and elements of social entrepreneurs and impact ventures;
• how social entrepreneurship improves our economic system and society; 
• how to design and implement a novel business model to tackle societal problems; 
• how to measure the impact of an impact venture and make it sustainable; 
• how to finance and launch an impact venture; 
• how to pitch an impact venture and manage the expectations of investors and funders

Course Content
In 12 weeks, we will go from an initial concept to a complete design for an impact venture, following nine specific steps and tasks that culminate with a final pitch event. 
1. Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship 
2. Social Entrepreneur – The Impact Venture 
3. Societal Problem 
4. Value Proposition and Hypotheses Validation 
5. Solution Architecture 
7. Sustainable Model 
8. Impact Framework 
9. Pilot Design and Financing your venture 
10. Social Value Generator for Pitch 
11. Intensive feedback session 
12. Final Pitch Event – with a panel of guests

Grading:
The grading will be 50% based on the performance of your team (weekly tasks, pitch and final report), and 50% based on your individual performance - 20% based on the delivery of an interaction with a social entrepreneur or a social entrepreneurship initiative, and 30% based on your individual contributions to the class and attendance. 

Bibliography:
The Social Entrepreneur’s Guide to Changing the World: From Inspirational Vision to Successful Impact Venture.