PřF:XV004 From Ideas to Business - Course Information

XV004 From Ideas to Business

Extent and Intensity

2/2/0. 4 credit(s) (plus extra credits for completion). Type of Completion: z (credit).

Teacher(s)

RNDr. Eva Janouškovcová, Ph.D., LL.M. (lecturer)
Mgr. Markéta Vlasáková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. et Mgr. Matěj Búřil (lecturer)
Ing. Radoslav Trautmann, Ph.D., MBA (lecturer)
Mgr. Zuzana Uhlárová (lecturer)

Guaranteed by

prof. RNDr. Jan Slovák, DrSc.
Faculty of Science
Contact Person: RNDr. Eva Janouškovcová, Ph.D., LL.M.
Supplier department: Faculty of Science

Prerequisites

The course is intended primarily for students of masters study programs, but it is also suitable for bachelor and doctoral students accross the whole Masaryk University.

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is offered to students of any study field.
The capacity limit for the course is 60 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/60, only registered: 0/60, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/60

Course objectives

The aim of the course is to introduce students to modern methods of working with ideas. By applying the Design Thinking method, students will come up with their own business idea and learn practical information in the areas of law, financing and marketing. In a safe environment, they will experience the first steps of developing a business idea and learn the entrepreneurial way of thinking. Participants in the course include MendelU students, allowing MUNI students to expand their network of contacts to include students from a wide range of disciplines. It also includes presentation of principles of research plan realization, protection of intellectual property and methods of transfer of technologies and knowledge out from the university environment. The whole course is taught by experienced business consultants with many years of experience, there is also an inspirational part in the form of discussions with Brno entrepreneurs.

Learning outcomes

Students will get a real insight into the business as an optional career choice and will discover the broader context related to business. Upon completion of the course, students will be able to come up with their own sustainable business idea and develop the basis for its primary validation. They will be able to apply this knowledge to start their own projects. The moment they want to start their own business, they will know the necessary first steps that need to be fulfilled. The output will be specific assignments developed using the methods and tools learned.

Syllabus

• Session 1: Entrepreneurship as a career choice - 1. basic information about the course 2. Setting an entrepreneurial mindset, comparing business and employment 3. Talents and strengths, how to build a successful team 4. Discussion with entrepreneur
• Session 2: Design thinking - 1. Introduction to the Design thinking method and practical exam 2. Creating teams and your own business idea by problem generation
• Session 3: Customer, Problem, Value - 1. Who is my customer and my target group 2. Market research and preparation for in-depth interviews 4. Customer journey to the product
• Session 4: Creating a Solution - 1. Creating a solution to a selected problem 2. Prototyping, MVP and creating your own prototype
• Session 5: Action Plan - 1. Prototype testing 2. Action plan and goal creation, KPIs 3. Business models 4. Discussion with entrepreneur
• Session 6: How to make it financially sound - 1. Cashflow 2. Vision, goals, strategy 3. Sources of funding
• Session 7: Legal minimum for startups - 1. Individual legal entities 2. How to start a company 3. Discussion on the law topics
• Session 8: Intellectual property, technology transfer, care of research results - 1. Intellectual property in the university environment - basic overview, link to research results, protection of intellectual property 2. Technology and knowledge transfer - forms, conditions of implementation, examples 3. Discussion with entrepreneur
• Session 9: How to sell an idea - 1. Marketing, how to reach customers, sales channels 2. Action steps for further development of the idea

Literature

• RIES, Eric. The lean startup: How today's entrepreneurs use continuous innovation to create radically successful businesses. United States of America: Crown Books, 2011. ISBN 978-0-307-88789-4. info
• ŠVEJDA, Pavel. Inovační podnikání. 1st ed. Praha: Asociace inovačního podnikání, 2007, 348 pp. ISBN 978-80-903153-6-5. info
• Business Model Generation (Alexander Osterwalder, ISBN 0470876417)
• Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide for Building a Great Company (Steve Blank, Bob Dorf, ISBN 0984999302)
• Business Model Navigator: 55 Models That Will Revolutionise Your Business, (Oliver Gassmann, Karolin Frankenberger, Michaela Csik, ISBN 978-1-292-06581)
• Running Lean (Ash Maurya, ISBN 1449305172)

Teaching methods

Lectures will be combined with practical workshope during the whole course. Students will work in teams to complete assignments from each unit that will advance their business idea, and they will work practically on the methods and procedures presented. An important aspect of the lectures will be an introduction of entrepreneurs from different fields (e.g. IT, services, social business, production, etc.)

Assessment methods

The course is based upon the attendance of lectures and consequential seminars by students within 9 blocks. During the semester students will also receive 3 assignments for team work. Graded credit is required to the completion of a course. Obtaining the graded credit depends on the active participation in the class and submission of the outputs from the team work. All 9 workshops will take place on Wednesday afternoons (between 2 pm and 5 pm) at JIC INTECH, U Vodárny 2.

Language of instruction

Czech

Further comments (probably available only in Czech)

The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every other week.

• Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2024, recent)
  
• Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/sci/autumn2024/XV004