ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND BUSINESS MODELS

The course is part of those courses within clusters of the degree program in International Management, and aims to provide the fundamental knowledge on entrepreneurship and on the business models of start-up companies. The main topics covered concern the development of the business idea, the financing cycle, the building blocks of the business model, the analysis of competitors' business models.

After completing the course, students will be able to design a new business idea, they will know the main sources of funding that a start-up can make use of, they will understand which are the main building blocks of a business model, and how they must be implemented to make the business model successful.

More specifically, attendance and active participation in the training activities offered by the course (lectures, group work presentations, and company testimonials) and individual study will enable students to learn how to:
- Develop and finance a new business idea
- Analyze the business models of competitors
- Understand what a business model is and how to structure it: how value is created, what is the profit model and what is the logic of the business.
- Build and present a business model for a start-up
- Understand the underlying economy and the "flywheel" that leads a business model to success.
- Know the concepts of network effect and sharing economy, which are the basis of the logic of many business models in the technology market.

No formal prerequisite.
BOTH STUDENTS IN THE FIRST AND SECOND YEAR CAN ENROLL.

This course is dedicated to deepening the theoretical and operational aspects that characterize the creation of a company and its business model:
1. the entrepreneur
2. the business idea
3. the financing cycle
4. the business model

The course intends to be a moment of collective and collaborative experimentation: the students will be engaged for the entire duration of the module in the design and development of business ideas. At the end of the course students will have to present an innovative business idea and its business model.

The classroom meetings will be mainly devoted to the discussion of problems and solutions to the main obstacles encountered by start-ups in the development of their business model.

The relevant readings for the course are the following:

A. Textbooks:
1. Osterwalder A., Pigneur Y. (2010). Business Model Generation. Wiley.
2. Giachetti C. (2018). Smartphone Start-ups. Navigating the iPhone Revolution. Palgrave Macmillan / Springer.

B. Academic articles:
1. Peprah A., Giachetti C., Laursen M., Rajwani T. (2022). How Business Models Evolve in Weak Institutional Environments: The Case of Jumia, the Amazon.Com of Africa. Organization Science, 33, pp. 431-463 (ISSN 1047-7039).
2. Van Alstyne, M. W., Parker, G. G., & Choudary, S. P. (2016). Pipelines, platforms, and the new rules of strategy. Harvard Business Review, 94(4), 54–62.

C. Slides made available by the teacher on Moodle.

The final evaluation of the course will be based on two outputs that the students will have to produce:
1. Group presentation of the business project (ppt slide). Group work presentations will be held within the last classes of the course;
2. Written exam at the end of the course.

A positive (minimum) grade in both outputs is mandatory for the completion of the course.

Lecture, discussion of business cases, presentation of company testimonials (mainly start-up entrepreneurs and managers).

English

Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion
Accommodation and Support Services for students with disabilities or specific learning disabilities

Ca’ Foscari applies the Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) for support and accommodation services available to students with disabilities or specific learning disabilities. If you have a motor, visual, hearing or other disability (Law 17/1999) or a specific learning disability (Law 170/2010) and request support (assistance in the classroom, technological aids for conducting exams or exams individualized, accessible format material, recovery notes, specialist tutoring to support the study, interpreters or other) contact the Disability and DSA office disabled@unive.it.

written

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Circular economy, innovation, work" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development