The course combines theoretical knowledge and practical exercises in the verification of key assumptions about customers and growth potential for students own business cases. Students incorporate their findings from customer development activities in designing a business model for growing their start-up (including those with a social focus) or new business development projects.
The course is attractive for students who have completed entrepreneurship courses or innovation summer schools and have newly started a business and want to increase the customer base or a new product for an existing company.

The course combines key concepts of entrepreneurship and innovation to help students test and verify key assumptions about the business model of their start-up in an iterative approach to arrive at promising growth models for the business case. The course uses the business model as the main tool for designing a growth oriented structure for the business opportunity, with a focus on timing and prioritizing business activities. Students will also be able to use the Learning Plan method to navigate project uncertainty along the journey of business creation. En studerende, der fuldt ud har opfyldt kursets mål, vil kunne:

• Create either a minimum viable product (MVP) or outline the process and cost to get to the MVP.
• Contact and interact with the identified customer segments to test assumptions about the CVP and demand.
• Interpret information from customer contact drawing meaning relevant to the business case
• Make decisions and formulate new assumptions using findings
• Create improved business model components based on findings
• Formulate resource requirements
• Assemble and manage team activities to realize goals at each stage
• Craft a compelling narrative to convince stakeholders to participate in the pre and start-up activities
• Collaborate with stakeholders to move the business case closer to implementation
• Master the timing and prioritizing of business actions
• Navigate uncertainty along the journey of business creation

1. The business model (timing and prioritization)
2. Customer and key stakeholder identification - Designing business experiments
3. Assessing opportunities and defining the Customer Value Proposition – Value creation; Minimum Viable Product
4. Customer Relationship – Creating demand for the product
5. Customer segmentation and market approach for each - Market type, competition
6. Distribution Channels - channel requirements/norms, channel partners and value distribution
7. Partnerships & Deal Structuring – Who, when and with what consequence
8. Resource leveraging – Customer development team use of -IP, Financing, HR
9. Key activities and International networks
10. Assessing revenue streams –Pricing models Required:
Blank, S. G., & Dorf, B. (2012). The startup owner's manual: the step-by-step guide for building a great company. K&S Ranch, Incorporated.

Mullins, J. (2012). The new business road test: What entrepreneurs and executives should do before writing a business plan. Pearson UK.

Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business model generation: a handbook for visionaries, game changers, and challengers. John Wiley & Sons.

Haynie, J.M., Shepherd, D.A. and McMullen, J.S. (2009) . An opportunity for Me? The Role of Resources in Opportunity Evaluation Decisions. Journal of Management Studies 46(3).

Christensen, C. M., T. Bartman, T and D. Van Bever, 2016. The hard truth about business model innovation”. MIT Sloan Management Review, 58(1): 31.

Rice et al., (2008). Implementing a learning plan to counter project uncertainty. MIT Sloan Man-agement Review, 49(2): 54-62. 25. marts, 2019