The Class Output at a Glance
Startups
About this course
MCS 4100 is a hands-on entrepreneurship course at Lang School of Business and Economics which aims to utilize an experiential learning method to teach entrepreneurship to students. Over the course of 12 weeks, students develop an idea and turn it into a functioning business.
Every week comprises a variety of educational material including lectures, crash courses and interactive games that help students develop key entrepreneurial skills.
The weekly content focuses on different aspects of a small business and aims to provide students with a comprehensive set of resources such as articles, online courses, videos, and templates.
Furthermore, successful entrepreneurs are invited to the class to share their experience and expertise with the students, offer mentorship and help the students navigate through the initial steps of starting a business.
The course is designed to challenge students to push their limits, develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and raise seed funding. For tech startups, app and website design trainings using no-code platforms like Cursor and Adalo is provided to facilitate MVP development. Additionally, bonus grades are awarded to teams who raise at least 10,000$ during the semester and invest the funds into their startup.
Syllabus
01
Team Buidling
In the first week, students learn the basics of team building, including common hurdles and challenges.
03
Idea Validation
In the third week, startup teams learn about lean idea validation tools and become familiar with market research concepts.
05
Cusotmer Persona and Journey
In week 5, startup teams develop their customer persona, learn about surveying customers and explore customer journey mapping.
07
Art of Pitching
In this week startup teams learn the art of pitching by analyzing various successful and unsuccessful pitches and learning from their strength and weaknesses.
09
Legal Consideration
In this week, startup teams learn about legal options for registering their businesses, understand the basics of risk and risk management, and become familiar with risk mitigation strategies.
02
Sustainability
In the second week the teams learn about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and how a startup can leverage their capabilities to address wicked world problems.
04
Business Model and Finance
In week 4, teams start working on their Lean Business Canvas and learn the basics of financial management for startups.
06
Marketing Plan and Brand
In this week, students learn how to write a compelling marketing plan, work on designing their logo, and prepare the necessary materials for brand development.
08
Sales Strategy
In this week, startup teams learn about sales and go-to-market strategies, and work on their sales pitches and sales plans
10-12
Final Pitch and Mentoring
The final three weeks are dedicated to mentoring sessions and the final pitch event.
Address
University of, Guelph, ON N1G 1M8
pselkgha[at]uoguelph.ca