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The aim of this Tech Entrepreneurship programme is to encourage our students, alumni, and young professionals to pursue commercialization in parallel with their deep tech research projects. Ideally the Entrepreneurship coursework will be based on your Masters, Final Year or PhD project. This note is principally for Students taking COMP0039 for credit, providing details of the coursework. Your start- up idea should ideally involve technology rather than a (say) a simple website idea.
You will get additional marks for a really ‘credible’ commercial or social idea. The idea can be a) a start- up you are already pursuing; b) a start-up idea that is also the basis of your Masters or Final Year project; or c) simply astart-up idea for the COMP0039 coursework, but you won’t be pursuing. You can work with a team of classmates or friends.
As discussed, the assessment will be coursework-based comprising proposing, planning or even starting a proof-of-concept: pitch deck, business plan and marketing video. We would also like to encourage you to use Generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT) or equivalent creatively in undertaking your coursework. So additional marks will be awarded for the ‘creative’ use of Generative AI for your coursework, but you must state how you have used it. The Masters’ and Final Year coursework is to be submitted as PDF via Moodle. Presumably one PDF for each of the four courseworks. When naming your coursework files, please put your start-up brand and your name in the file name to help us link the four pieces of coursework.
COMP0039 coursework (for CREDIT) – submit via Moodle.
COMP0146 coursework (AUDITING) – email [email protected],[email protected](TA)
Below is a description of the four courseworks and what each should include.
Course Work – due in the first week of April.
Coursework 1 (25%) – Pitch Deck and one page Whitepaper.
Students prepare a Pitch Deck based on my PowerPoint, but also including a 1-2 page ‘marketing’ Whitepaper describing the vision of the start-up idea and proposed product. For Coursework 1:
1. Branding – a compelling name for your start-up idea, ideally with an available URL.
2. Pitch deck – using the PowerPoint provided prepare a pitch deck comprising of one slide for each of the following: branding, vision and mission statement, solution and product, opportunity (financial and/or non-financial), how your product or service works, market analysis, competitive advantage, roadmap, team ...
3. Marketing doc – a one page (A4 size) marketing document that can be given to clients, partners, investors and staff.
4. Web site – a draft web site outline (A4 size, two pages), but you don’t need to put it online e.g., home page, purpose, user requirements, website content (minimal: images and text), Site map.
Please submit PDF on Moodle for Pitch Deck and Whitepaper.
Coursework 2 (25%) - Proof-of-Concept
Students start to produce a ‘tech’ proof-of-concept design and possibly a POC product, which ideally will be the basis of your research project. For clarity, we don’t expect you to produce a POC; merely start the journey. The more you do, the more marks you will get.
1. POC – a design for a proof of concept of your product.
2. Progress – what you have completed; e.g., Proof of Value, Customer Journey.
Please submit a PDF on Moodle describing the design and progress (say 2-3 pages)
Coursework 3 (25%) - Business Plan
Students produce a 5–8-page business plan, including launch strategy and financials. Doing the financials is always a challenge. We suggest you use comparable business and remember to explain your assumptions.
Plenty of model business plans and business model canvas online. This should include:
1. Frontpage – start-up branding and ‘strapline’ or elevator pitch.
2. Exec summary – 1-page executive summary at the start e.g., Main points
3. Platform. diagram – system architecture of product.
4. Financials – 1-page financial projects for next 3-5 years,together with a short justification of the calculations.
5. Business model canvas - the strategic management template used for developing new business models.
Guidance: the Business Plan and Pitch Deck might include:
? executive summary (main points).
? Idea Generation: identify the problem or need that can be solved with your technology
? objectives (market share to obtain, forecasted: sales and profit; Three to five objectives only and make them measurable).
? Vision statement.
? Mission statement.
? Company details (Name, where what channels it sells through).
? Product/service description and objectives.
? Customer service.
? Government regulation.
? Sales and Marketing plan: sales objectives, strategy, pricing objectives (important: As to justify your prices for your product and service).
? Market analysis: Market size, target market, swot analysis, competitors’ analysis,
? Strategic management plan: two pages (A4), vision, mission statement, competencies, desired outcomes, frameworks to use, KPIs, responsibilities (RACI matrix).
? Financials: We can provide an excel spreadsheet template.
? Appendix: Business Model Canvas.
Please submit a PDF on Moodle (say 5-8 pages).
Presentation 4 (25%) - Video
You should prepare a 3–5-minute video start-up presentation. One video per start-up not per student, but each team member should submit a copy. I believe if you use Microsoft STREAM it will produce a PDF containing a link to the video.
1. Video - a 3–5-minute video start-up presentation describing your concept.
2. Ingenuity – how you plan to use the video e.g., website, YouTube ...
Please submit a PDF on Moodle.