Pillar 3 - Entrepreneurial SkillsPractical Application

This module covers development and performance of a start-up. Students will go through the founding process here: They collect customer feedback on a business model, develop a sales and marketing concept, and compile a financial plan. Students also handle the internal and external communication of their start-ups and the associated personnel structure. Students acquire the theoretical legal principles required for a start-up. They collect direct customer feedback by presenting and testing a prototype and prepare a market entry.

The students expand their knowledge of entrepreneurship, learn about practical challenges of a founder, and can identify opportunities and risks. Practical applications enable them to apply and try out the basics previously learned right away. The students’ presentation skills are challenged, and critical questions are discussed in a plenary session with an (investor) pitch.

Students form interdisciplinary teams to develop solutions to real-world challenges from industry and academia. Each team has four weeks to compile a business model and a start-up pitch to be presented to a jury. They learn to apply innovation methods such as design thinking, rapid prototyping, and business model innovation to new and unknown challenges and processes.
In the course of this, the teams are offered comprehensive input from professional speakers, coaches, and mentors.