INNOVATION MASTERCLASS

In this innovation masterclass, you will learn how to become an entrepreneur and gain the management skills needed to make your venture successful. The course provides a basic introduction to the principles of entrepreneurial thinking that are essential to achieve excellence. the purpose of the course is not limited to training business entrepreneurs. Although the course is structured around the establishment of a business venture, its goal is to provide entrepreneurial thinking tools that are essential to excellence of the Technion graduates in industry, management and academia, and in initiating and participating in both commercial and non-commercial ventures.

Course Objectives:

• Understand the core principles and concepts of entrepreneurship.
• Develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills in an entrepreneurial context.
• Identify and evaluate potential business opportunities.
• Develop a basic understanding of the business model canvas and other entrepreneurial frameworks.
• Learn the fundamentals of pitching and presenting business ideas.
• Gain exposure to the resources available to aspiring entrepreneurs, including various funding options and team-building strategies.

Topics:

1. Become a startup founder: Acceptance of Risk and Uncertainty
2. social entrepreneurship:
3. BreezoMeter Case Study - the most significant Israeli Climate Tech Exit so far
4. Lean Startup Methodology
5. Navigating the Startup Funding Landscape
6. Growth Strategies: Marketing Channels and Creating Growth Flywheel
7. Co-founders growth - From zero entrepreneurship experience to hero
8. Building Team Culture and Co-founder Relationships
9. Business Model Canvas
10. Startup Pitch

Resources:  We will use the resources below in this course. Burns, P. (2018). New venture creation: a framework for entrepreneurial start-ups / Paul Burns. (Second edition.). Palgrave. Case studies: BreezoMeter

Recommended Reading:

• Startup Nation: the story of Israel’s economic miracle by Dan Senor and Saul Singer.
• The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
• Zero to One by Peter Thiel
• It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff
• Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love by Marty Cagan
• Good to Great by Jim Collins

Contact Hours per week: 2

Semester Start Date: November 3, 2024

Day & Time: TBD

By the end of this course, students will be able to explain the key characteristics of successful entrepreneurs.

• Identify and evaluate potential business opportunities.
• Develop a basic business model for a new venture.
• Create a compelling pitch deck to present their business idea.
• Access and utilize resources available to support their entrepreneurial endeavors, including understanding different funding options and team-building strategies

Course requirements & final grade:

1. Assignments - 20% (Individual)
2. Work Units -30% (Group)
3. Entrepreneurship Essentials (pre-recorded lectures) - 20% (Individual)
4. Teamwork & Group Final Presentation - 30% (Group) The course is an online course based on discussions with successful entrepreneurs. Each lesson will be followed by a task, an individual assignment:

Summary: Insights you gained from the lecture: Template for a task on Moodle. A week from the lesson to submit on Moodle, up to 10 summaries. Summary should be short and concise and should be related to the topics discussed during the lesson. The summaries should include up to three insights gained from the lecture. The task should be completed and submitted on Technion Moodle.

2. Work Units: 5 Work Units will be released for teamwork one by one: Questions about the Units will be answered by E-mail to dina.raphael@technion.ac.il or at reception hours for students: Monday 12:00-13:00 at T:HUB.

3. Entrepreneurship Essentials Pre-recorded lecturers: Individual assignments.

4. Final Presentation: Business Canvas model – last session. Each group should present their work, explaining the key assumptions, solutions, and strategies they have developed. All parameters of the canvas model must be addressed on one slide in the final presentation. It is recommended that students join a work group at the beginning of the course. 5 students in a group, preferably from different fields.

The tasks are designed to allow students to apply their knowledge in a real business situation. They will also reinforce the key points of the lectures. Finally, the tasks will give students an opportunity to evaluate their own progress.

Start your own startup! Become a founder of your own startup: Acceptance of Risk and Uncertainty

2. BreezoMeter’s Case Study - the most significant Israeli Climate Tech Exit so far Founded in 2014, BreezoMeter, a leading Israeli Climate Tech company's successful exit in 2022, offers valuable lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs. Throughout this course, we'll leverage the BreezoMeter case study to explore how they validated their business model and marketing channels.

We'll analyze to:

• Identify a market need and build a solution.
• Validating the business model for long-term success.
• Selecting and optimizing marketing channels.

By dissecting BreezoMeter's journey, you'll gain practical frameworks for validating your own ventures in the dynamic tech environment.

None

Understand the core principles and concepts of entrepreneurship