Each summer semester, the second module from the competence field will be offered starting in 2022. In the lecture "Entrepreneurial Finance", the challenges with regard to the financing of new businesses and start-ups will be presented and discussed. In addition, students have the option to choose between two different exercises. The aim is for students to work on and understand the start-up process from a market-driven perspective ("Market-driven Entrepreneurship") or from a technological perspective ("Technology-driven Entrepreneurship").
The lecture offers students the opportunity to take an in-depth look at the financial challenges faced by new businesses.
The main topics covered are:
- Finance and accounting in the context of start-ups,
- Funding sources: from early stage to market-ready projects,
- Investor profiles and negotiation,
- Current issues in entrepreneurial finance (e.g. crowdfunding) among others.
The exercises are organized in two different courses in which the participants develop initial business ideas in teams of 3 to 4 people and elaborate them using different methods. Through expert inputs and lectures, they learn the principles of business model generation and iterative validation.
The aim is for students to work out and understand the start-up process from a market-oriented perspective or from a technological perspective. Students can choose from the following courses:
- Market Pull - Market driven Entrepreneurship (German): Participants identify and analyze problems in the market, develop a prototype of their product or service, present it(s) and create a business plan.
- Technology push - technology driven entrepreneurship (English): The participants scout and understand promising technologies, adapt the technologies to market-relevant products in a team, develop business models and prepare a "pitch deck" to convince stakeholders.