Entrepreneurism and Free Enterprise

Understanding the basics of entrepreneurship will play a major role in almost every career path in the future. Enterprises and individuals today are engaged in intense competition to develop innovative products, services and business models. Creative acts of innovation and entrepreneurship take place relentlessly, independent of a firm’s size, business focus, or geographical location. This course is designed to help you develop an understanding of how entrepreneurs start, grow, and manage innovations and new ventures successfully. 

Entrepreneurship involves the application of many different disciplines in the specific context of a new venture, often in a rapidly evolving, high-growth, intense environment with many unknowns. In addition to covering essential information about new venture development, this course will address the skills of entrepreneurial management and strategic thinking. 

Learning Outcomes

• The entrepreneurial perspective and planning a new venture

• Analysis of new opportunity attractiveness 

• Real-time strategy & decision making

• Business planning

• Lean startup methodologies, including when and how they are best applied

• Market penetration strategy and tactics 

• Business model development and analysis 

• Building competitive barriers, including intellectual property

• Developing and managing resources to support early-stage growth 

• What free enterprise is and how it operates

• Managing in a chaotic and rapidly changing environment 

• Building strong teams quickly 

• Fundraising and presenting new opportunities, including collateral and “pitching”