Entrepreneurial Strategy

Course Objective
Academic skills: Students are able to critically analyze the different core choices that entrepreneurs need to make in order to create and
capture value through a process of new venture design using insights from scientific knowledge. They can provide theoretically sound
recommendations for developing and implementing an entrepreneurial strategy focusing on the questions which customers to target, what
technologies and innovations to leverage, who to hire, and how to commercialize the core idea in the face of potential competition.

Research skills: Students are able to conduct a systematic assessment ofreal word cases revolving around existing startups trying to operate in today’s entrepreneurial economy. In their analyses, students apply tools learned in class, focusing on whether a focal startup can create a long-term competitive advantage, what are the critical choices that would allow it to do so, and how can the startup navigate these choices in the face of large irreducible uncertainty in a new market or industry. They can present their findings and recommendations in a systematic and structured way.

Knowledge: Students understand the core theories and concepts in the field of entrepreneurial strategy, and they are able to analyze, compare and apply these theories within a choice-centered framework. They understand the different choices that are central to the founding and scaling of a growth venture, their interrelatedness, and the sequence of choices a founding team needs to make to test specific value creation and capture hypotheses when entrepreneurial experimentation requires partial commitment.

Bridging theory and practice: Students are knowledgeable about the importance of a sound entrepreneurial strategy to create and capture
value through new venture creation when there are multiple alternative paths for a given idea, the entrepreneur cannot pursue all paths at the same time, positive feedback induces additional search, and commitment-free information is noisy. They are able to systematically
identify and implement solutions for founding and growth challenges faced by real world entrepreneurs.

Social skills: Students are able to work effectively in teams and to present solutions to assignments that require them to make a systematic
assessment of a real business case applying the theoretical frameworks seen in class and to offer practical recommendations regarding
entrepreneurial strategy-related problems.

Course Content
This course provides an integrated strategy framework for growth-oriented entrepreneurs. The course is structured to provide a
deep understanding of the core strategic choices facing startups, a framework for the development and implementation of entrepreneurial
strategy in dynamic environments, and the ability to scale those ventures over time.

The course identifies the key choices entrepreneurs make to take advantage of an opportunity and how particular strategic commitments and positions allow entrepreneurs to create a competitive advantage.

The course combines interactive lectures and case analyses focused on existing startups who are trying to operate in today’s entrepreneurial economy. The course draws on a rapidly emerging body of research in entrepreneurial strategy that moves beyond the “one size fits all” approach to start-ups and instead focuses on the key choices that founders face as they start and scale their business.

The cases and assignments offer an opportunity to integrate and apply the entrepreneurial strategy framework in a practical way, and draw from a diverse range of industries and settings.

Additional Information Teaching Methods
Instruction Lectures
Tutorials

Method of Assessment
Individual assignments
Team assignments

Entry Requirements
Foundations and Forms of Entrepreneurship

Literature
Textbook
Selection of articles and cases

Recommended background knowledge
This course builds on the knowledge provided in the Minor
Entrepreneurship during Period 3.1: Foundations and Forms of
Entrepreneurship.