Ecological Systems (in English)

Course Description
This course introduces students to the fundamentals of creating and managing entrepreneurial opportunities through both, a practical “hands on” and a theoretical approach. The course deals with entrepreneurship at every stage of the process by covering the following topics: evaluating new opportunities, formulating the business model, launching and growing startups, dealing with founding team/family dynamics, financing the entrepreneurial business, negotiating venture capital funding and exiting the venture. More specifically, the areas covered within the course are:
● Types of entrepreneurship
● Skills and characteristics found in entrepreneurs
● Types of opportunities and how to find them
● Improving the business idea: lean startup
● Business model generation
● Building a high powered team
● Entrepreneurial finance: funding the venture. Venture capitalists and business angels.
● Management of a high growth venture
● Exiting the successful venture

Course Goals and Methodology
The key objectives of the course are:
• Understand what an opportunity is and what traits do good opportunities share.
• Put together all the jigsaw pieces necessary for the foundation of a venture through deliberate thought on the fundamental aspects of launching and growing the business.
• Learn what the best sources for financing a venture are and how to tap them.
• Observe how successful entrepreneurs manage their ventures in the context of high sales growth.
These objectives will be achieved through both, general theory sessions and theory into practice sessions. During the general theory sessions, students will be provided with practical frameworks to analyze decision making in an entrepreneurial setting.
The theory into practice sessions are an arena in which students will work on solving
real-life problems and cases having to do with the concepts covered in the general theory sessions. In these sessions, the group will analyze and discuss cases of successful new ventures, watch videos of successful entrepreneurs and venture capitalists and will be able to expose their ideas during the sessions.

Learning Objectives
General Skills:
• Capacity for analysis & synthesis;
• Problem-solving skills;
• Decision-making skills;
• Capacity for critical thinking;
• Collaborative learning/Teamwork skills;
• Leadership skills;
• Interpersonal skills;
• Ability to put theory into practice;
• Capacity for learning and refreshing knowledge;
• Autonomous learning skills/Self-sufficiency.
Instrumental Skills:
• Analysis and synthesis skills
• Organization and planning skills
• Oral and written communication in a foreign language
• Skills to obtain and analyze information from different sources
• Decision making and problem-solving skills
Personal Skills:
• Team work and interpersonal relations skills
• Personal relations skills
• Ethical compromise within the work place
Systemic skills:
• Autonomous learning skills
• Creativity
• Leadership
• Initiative and entrepreneurship

Course contents
PART 1: ENTREPRENEURING: PERSON AND PROCESS
UNIT 1: What is entrepreneurship? The macro perspective.
UNIT 2: The entrepreneur, entrepreneurial traits and the entrepreneurial process. How and where to spot good opportunities
UNIT 3: The founding team. “Dos” and “Don´ts” of forming a team for the founding entrepreneur.
PART 2: DEVELOPING SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS IDEAS
UNIT 4: Acing the design and development of an effective business model. The venture strategy going forward.
UNIT 5: Sources of financing available from the venture foundation to the company listing.
UNIT 6: Surviving venture capital. Their role in helping you succeed as an entrepreneur and how to effectively negotiate with them.
UNIT 7: Why is growth important. How to prompt and manage venture growth.
PART 3: OTHER FORMS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
UNIT 8: Other forms of entrepreneurship