Pre-incubation within the Master's programme in Entrepreneurship
Our students are advanced entrepreneurship students, taking the MSc Knowledge-based Entrepreneurship (KBE). They are trained to combine and develop advanced knowledge in a systemic manner, in order to develop ideas and projects. They work in entrepreneurial teams and in close contact with partners.
A year in the entrepreneurship programme
The students begin by taking the course Assessing Entrepreneurial Ideas from January until late March. Within this course, the students evaluate business potential of commercial ideas and how they generate and capture value. Depending on the status and need of the business idea, this can include methods such as:
- Intellectual property analysis
- Stakeholder analysis
- Market analysis
- Financial analysis
As part of the deliverables of this course, idea providers can expect an assessment in the form of a written report. Following the assessment, a number of business ideas will be selected for a continued analysis in the following course, Methods for Practical Entrepreneurship, starting late March.
In this course, the students take a business idea and work towards creating and/or revising a business model through a verification process combining academic rigour and a practical mind-set. The students focus on:
- Developing and verifying hypothesis regarding the business model
- Generating and testing new ideas about products and services in an iterative and interactive process
- Collecting and analyzing data about customer and stakeholder problems and issues
- Presenting the developed business model and outlining possible ways forward
At the end of the Spring term, students may choose to continue to work with the business idea in the Fall. Starting in September, the students continue with two courses on Methods for Practical Entrepreneurship. The focus of the first course is on formalizing the business, including:
- Forming an effective entrepreneurial team
- Building entrepreneurial networks
- New product adoption and sales
- Marketing on a shoe string
The next course that starts in November focuses on launching the business and covers the following topics:
- Entrepreneurial learning and self-awareness
- Growth and internationalization
- Scenario planning and alternative forms of business
- Transition from student to entrepreneur
Students have the possibility to write their MSc thesis on topics related to the business idea the following Spring.
Presented below are examples of projects within the courses as well as projects that have continued on to become existing companies, with support from GU Ventures.
Cooperation with GU Ventures
The entrepreneurship programme cooperates with GU Ventures in venture creation projects. Through this cooperation, we can provide our students with real commercial projects from initial idea development to scaling and growing the business.
The students work in teams in close contact with GU Ventures and its partners. GU Ventures’ role in the education is to support and coach in the venture creation process.
GU Ventures plays an important role as partner to the Master’s programme in Entrepreneurship at the School of Business, Economics and Law. After the education, it is possible for the students to develop the projects further, as a part of GU Ventures’ regular incubator. GU Venture can also invest in projects and businesses
Example of reality commercial projects
Here some of the project ideas that have been evaluated within the courses are presented.
| An APP that provides offers IRL to users who are interested in good offers |
| Digital solution to make free conference capacity available |
| New type of type av digital solution for businesses interested of financial information |
| Solution to make wireless networks considerably more efficient in terms of speed |
| New type of boat hulls saving fuel and requires less engine power |
| Solution for the Internet of Things where you can get help to find out when fluid boils IRL |
| How to develop a new type of highly potent fertilizer by patented milling technology |
| Digital platform for handling of DRM when it comes to knowledge intensive information |
| Language learning aid through APP |
| Digital knowledge tool for defining species in the world |
| Possibility to take care of mining waste in order to extract the metals through a patented mill |
| Ability to improve the ground in order to create more potent cultivation soil |
| Fluorescent imaging and analysis technology that enables multiple analysis for biochemical purposes |
| New kind of aid for dentists when performing surgery on dental implants |
| A solution to reduce fuel consumption in trucks through dynamic modification of the truck |