About this course: This course covers in the chronological order each defining step of an entrepreneurial project. It begins with very personal considerations related to getting to better know yourself better so as to decide if you are ready for the multiple challenges of entrepreneurship. It then deals with creativity in order to provide the right set of tools to find an idea with the right potential to disrupt an existing business. We then discuss how to gather a founding team, how to raise money to initiate the project, and how to deal with day to day cash management. Later in the course, we discuss the art of selling, focusing on business to business sales, and how to measure the product launch phase using cohort analysis. Later on, we discuss the challenges of HR in an entrepreneurial environment, and of recruiting at a point where nobody knows your company. We then describe very practical techniques to initiate the international development of a small company. Last, we cover the exit strategy topic.
Created by: HEC Paris
Taught by: Ambroise Huret, Partner at Eleven Strategy & Management
strategy and management
| Level | Beginner |
| Language | English, Subtitles: French |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Knowing who you are
Welcome to the module 1. In this week, we’re going to deal with knowing who you are, because knowing yourself is the key to shaping a project that will truly fulfill you. We will talk about your “intimate mechanics”, and take a closer look at your inner functioning. We will also discuss your intrinsic values to help you assess if they match the demanding reality of entrepreneurship. Finally, we will see how you can analyze and then consolidate your “belief system”, i.e. the set of values that are the pillars of your personal and professional life.
13 videos, 5 readings, 2 practice quizzes
- Video: Introduction to Entrepreneurship Strategy: from Ideation to Exit
- Video: Introduction to the guests entrepreneurs
- Reading: Objectives of the lesson 1
- Video: Identifying the intimate pillars of your entrepreneurial journey: your personal values Part 1
- Video: Interview: Personal values
- Video: Identifying the intimate pillars of your entrepreneurial journey: your personal values Part 2
- Reading: Additional Resources: Mastering your emotions
- Discussion Prompt: Your top five personal values:
- Practice Quiz: Practice Quiz Lesson 1
- Reading: Objectives of the lesson 2
- Video: The lines of code that define your inner functioning: your “intrinsic programs”
- Video: Choosing entrepreneurship compared to your other options: The Cash Flow Quadrant
- Video: Interview: Stories of choosing entrepreneurship over job
- Reading: Additional Resources: Robert T. Kiyosaki’s Cashflow Quadrant:
- Video: The life choice of entrepreneurship: identifying the trade-offs
- Video: Interview: The life choice of the entrepreneurs
- Discussion Prompt: Dissociating yourself from your project:
- Practice Quiz: Practice quiz Lesson 2
- Reading: Objectives of the lesson 3:
- Video: Understanding your belief system
- Video: Strengthening your beliefs using “the little lies of success"
- Video: Interview: Stories of belief system, as road to entrepreneurship
- Discussion Prompt: Discussion on empowering and limiting beliefs:
Graded: Graded Quiz Module 1
Graded: Writing a commercial proposition which follows your intrinsic program
WEEK 2
Securing the first key steps of your entrepreneurial project
Welcome to the module 2- this week, you will learn about some creativity techniques designed for entrepreneurship. You will also learn a step by step strategy to gather a founding team. Finally, you will be able to learn about the analysis of your financial strategy, so as to decide if you should raise money…or not…and how.
12 videos, 6 readings, 3 practice quizzes
- Reading: Objectives of the lesson 1
- Video: The key questions to ask when looking for an idea for your project
- Video: Interview: Stories of finding an idea of a project
- Video: Design thinking methodology to refine your product or service
- Video: Interview of Julien Ulrich, Co-founder of ITEKUBE
- Reading: Tips for happiness from Tal Ben Sahar from Harvard University:
- Discussion Prompt: What makes organizations more creatively competitive?
- Practice Quiz: Practice Quiz Lesson 1
- Reading: Learning objectives of lesson 2
- Video: The “S Curve” and the Singularity Concept part 1
- Discussion Prompt: Case of food delivery market
- Video: The "S Curve” and the Singularity Concept part 2
- Reading: Article: The Naïveté of "Exponential" Growth from Stanford Computer Science:
- Practice Quiz: Practice Quiz Lesson 2
- Reading: Lesson objectives
- Video: Gathering a founding team part 1
- Video: Gathering a founding team part 2
- Video: Gathering a founding team part 3
- Video: Interview of Charles Simpson: Founder of Senior Media
- Discussion Prompt: How to identify the co-founder of your entrepreneurial project?
- Video: Bootstrapping VS Raising Money
- Video: Interview: Stories of Bootstrapping VS Raising Money
- Reading: Pros and cons of raising money vs. bootstrapping
- Practice Quiz: Practice Quiz Lesson 3
Graded: Graded Quiz Module 2
Graded: Finding an idea for your company, product or service that corresponds to your values
WEEK 3
Igniting your project
In this module, you will learn the basics of day to day cash management as well as selecting and monitoring the right financial indicators. In the second part of this module, you will learn the importance of Selling: the great art of creating. We will also discuss about how to maintain rapport and how to launch a product by using the cohort analysis.
14 videos, 3 readings, 3 practice quizzes
- Reading: Objectives of the lesson 1
- Video: Understanding what is at stake with investors
- Video: Avoiding the traps when negotiating with investors
- Video: Interview: Stories of raising money
- Practice Quiz: Practice Quiz Lesson 1
- Reading: Lesson Objectives
- Video: Day to day cash management
- Video: Interview: Stories of day to day cash management
- Video: Structuring your Sales Strategy: Part 1
- Video: Structuring your Sales Strategy part 2
- Video: Interview: Structuring the sales strategy
- Discussion Prompt: Why should you be the first sales person in your company?
- Practice Quiz: Practice Quiz Lesson 2
- Reading: Lesson Objectives
- Video: Getting your First Meeting with your Prospect: Part 1
- Video: Getting your First Meeting with your Prospect: Part 2
- Video: Interview: Stories of first sales meetings
- Discussion Prompt: Share your experience of first sales meetings:
- Video: The Sales Meeting and the Art of Creating Rapport: Part 1
- Video: The Sales Meeting and the Art of Creating Rapport: Part 2
- Video: Interview: Stories of defining moments during sales meetings
- Practice Quiz: Practice Quiz Lesson 3
Graded: Graded Quiz Module 3
Graded: Describing the sales strategy of the company, product or service that you chose in the peer assessments of Module 2
WEEK 4
The path to maturity
In this module, you will explore the challenges of human resources i.e. recruiting when nobody knows you, training on constantly evolving processes, and managing on a perpetually changing scale.
Furthermore, a step by step strategy to international expansion. Finally, you will understand the importance of exit strategies.
12 videos, 5 readings, 3 practice quizzes
- Reading: Lesson Objectives
- Video: Monitoring your product launch
- Video: Story of JobFact and the Lessons from a Failure
- Discussion Prompt: What do we did wrong in JobFact?
- Video: Interview: Julien Recoing, Co-founder of JobFact
- Practice Quiz: Practice Quiz Lesson 1
- Reading: Lesson Objectives
- Video: Recruiting your first employees
- Video: Interview: Stories of recruiting first employees
- Reading: Forbes magazine: 7 keys to hiring your Startup's first employee
- Video: Managing your team
- Video: Interview: Stories of managing teams
- Discussion Prompt: Most important quality of a manager?
- Practice Quiz: Practice Quiz Lesson 2
- Reading: Lesson Objectives
- Video: Initiating International expansion
- Video: Interview: Augustin Paluel-Marmont - Co-founder Michel & Augustin
- Reading: How a French ‘kooky cookie’ brand cracked the US market?
- Video: Triggering the Exit strategy
- Video: Interview: Stories of Exit strategies
- Video: An advice from the successful entrepreneurs
- Practice Quiz: Practice Quiz Lesson 3
Graded: Graded Quiz
Graded: How would you prepare your exit strategy?
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HEC Paris
HEC Paris, founded in 1881 by the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is one of France’s oldest elite higher education Grandes Ecoles. Throughout its 130-year history, HEC Paris has consistently attracted individuals highly capable and talented, innovative and entrepreneurial, ambitious and open-minded, capable of becoming architects of a responsible world. What makes HEC unique is its conviction shared by the HEC community: knowledge determines the freedom and entrepreneurship required for a better world.
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