Overview of Course

Are you up to the challenge of starting a new business? Drawing from the latest applied theory in startup practice--Effectual Entrepreneurship--the emphasis will be on the nuts and bolts activities needed for start-up success. Case studies, articles, videos and examples will help illustrate successful techniques in bringing startups to life.

Specifically, we will focus on developing the mindset, tools, and skills necessary for starting a new venture. To develop a proper mindset we will explore topics such as taking initiative, and problem solving, as well as developing tenacity, and curiosity as essential characteristics of the entrepreneur. Specific tools and skills development will address such areas as fostering idea generation, assessing opportunities, encouraging creativity, enabling customer discovery, business model creation, bootstrapping, gathering resources, partnership formation, creating venture identity, and conducting idea viability tests.

Particular focus will be placed on comparative entrepreneurship. Given the unique positioning of this course with shipboard learning, entrepreneurial contexts, practices and characteristics will be analyzed from one country to the next on the voyage.