Collected Through A Research Project At Chalmers In Entrepreneurial Education

Description
In this outline with regards to collected through a research project at chalmers in entrepreneurial education.

VENTURE
CREATION
PROGRAMS
14 CASE DESCRIPTIONS
COLLECTED THROUGH A RESEARCH PROJECT AT
CHALMERS IN ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATION
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING FORUM 2012
United States:
Babson College
Colorado State University
North Carolina State University
University of Oregon
University of Texas at Austin
United Kingdom:
Coventry University
University of Buckingham
University of Huddersfield
Nordics:
Aalto University
Chalmers University of Technology
Lund University
University of Gothenburg
University of Tromsö
Central Europe:
Université Catholique de Louvain
BACKGROUND
Venture creation programs are advanced
examples of entrepreneurial learning pro-
cesses from which business, educational
and other institutions can learn substantial-
ly. Numerous students of these programs
have transformed their entrepreneurial
mindset. Insights gained from champion-
ing this kind of transformative pedagogy
go beyond educational purposes, and can
help increase our understanding of entre-
preneurship in general. However, venture
creation programs have had to learn entre-
preneurially themselves while pioneering
a field that only recently is starting to be
systematically understood. The questions
and issues are still numerous and related
research is in an early stage. We are still
determining main characteristics and iden-
tifying practice that is common across in-
stitutional and geographical borders.
OPPORTUNITIES
Venture creation programs could be re-
garded as a crucial bridge between a
knowledge producing academia and value
creation processes in society at large,
thus blurring the line between formal and
non-formal learning environments. An
increased understanding of the underly-
ing mechanisms of these programs can
give new insights into how and why indi-
viduals become more entrepreneurial, and
what we can do to increase the scope,
frequency and efficiency of these mecha-
nisms. This has potential implications on
numerous areas, such as entrepreneurial
teaching, entrepreneurial learning, under-
standing of entrepreneurial competency
and its development, teaching practice
in general, educational policy and per-
haps even learning in general. Keeping in
mind the compexity and contextual nature
of these issues, it could still be possible
to give some guidance in aspects such
as what theoretical foundations might be
valuable in entrepreneurial teaching, how
action-based pedagogy can be delivered
in a more cost-effective and still efficient
manner, and how formal learning environ-
ments could be more involved in society’s
value creation processes. Some claim
that venture creation programs represent
an important step in the ongoing paradig-
matic change towards a society where
more emphasis is placed upon innovative
value creation than administration of exist-
ing value.
CASE CO-ORDINATOR
Martin Lackéus, PhD Candidate
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.chalmers.se/vcplist
Twitter: @mlackeus
VENTURE CREATION
PROGRAMS
Entrepreneurship programs in which students create real-life ventures as an important part of their
education are still uncommon at universities around the world. Nevertheless, there is evidence
around the effectiveness of these action-based programs in developing both entrepreneurial com-
petence and creating new economic value. This folder contains a number of short case descriptions
of typical venture creation programs from different parts of the world, outlining main characteristics,
background, main achievements and key challenges. This material is supplied in connection with the
inaugural Entrepreneurial Learning Forum, hosted by Chalmers University of Technology in Gothen-
burg in June 2012. We hope that these short case descriptions will facilitate discussion, information
sharing and sense-making processes among participants during and after the forum.
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING FORUM 2012
“In terms of impact, the MBA
reached its zenith in the last century;
Focused business masters, such as
the MSTC, will offer the most value
add in this century.”
Dr Gary M. Cadenhead
Director MSTC Program
University of Texas at Austin
PAGE 2
CONTENTS
THE VENTURE PROCESS
COURSE SERIES
ENTREPRENEURSHIP INTENSITY
TRACK
CHALMERS SCHOOL OF
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
GLOBAL SOCIAL SUSTAINABLE
ENTERPRISE MBA
BA ENTERPRISE AND
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
MASTER PROGRAMME IN
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
THE HiTEC PROGRAM
FORMATION INTERDISCIPLINAIRE EN
CRÉATION D’ENTREPRISES
BSC BUSINESS ENTERPRISE
BUSINESS CREATION AND
ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN BIOMEDICINE
BA ENTERPRISE
DEVELOPMENT (BAED)
VENTURE LAUNCH PATHWAY (VLP)
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN TECHNOLOGY
COMMERCIALIZATION (MSTC)
BUSINESS CREATION AND
ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM
THE IC² INSTITUTE
2009
1999
1997
2007
2007
2006
1995
1997
2006
2008
2009
2001
1996
2008
1977
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
19
AALTO UNIVERSITY
BABSON COLLEGE
CHALMERS UNIVERSITY
OF TECHNOLOGY
COLORADO STATE
UNIVERSITY
COVENTRY UNIVERSITY
LUND UNIVERSITY
NORTH CAROLINA
STATE UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITÉ CATHOLIQUE
DE LOUVAIN
UNIVERSITY OF
BUCKINGHAM
UNIVERSITY OF
GOTHENBURG
UNIVERSITY OF
HUDDERSFIELD
UNIVERSITY OF
OREGON
UNIVERSITY OF
TEXAS AT AUSTIN
UNIVERSITY OF TROMSØ
UNIVERSITY OF
TEXAS AT AUSTIN
PARTICIPANTS ON
ENTREPRENEURIAL
LEARNING FORUM
REFERENCES ON VENTURE
CREATION PROGRAMS
INSTITUTION PROGRAM NAME START YEAR PAGE
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING FORUM 2012 PAGE 3
These programs represent a majority of the venture creation programs found so far. For a complete
list of programs identified so far, see www.chalmers.se/vcplist
AIMS AND METHODS
The aim of the course series is to develop
student’s entrepreneurial competencies,
not just skills, to be able to contribute re-
sponsibly to a changing environment. It
intends to build on social challenges and
to work with high-growth ideas. The ven-
ture process at Aalto University School of
Economics takes an action-based learn-
ing approach. It goes beyond acquiring
knowledge about entrepreneurship and
the venture process, and knowledge for
the practice of venture creation, towards
building up entrepreneurial capabilities
through a series of three different courses.
The idea is that students move from a stu-
dent identity to an entrepreneurial identity
that results in entrepreneurial action. Stu-
dents work on their own ventures all the
time. A cohort consists of 40 students
coming from various disciplines – mainly
business, arts and technology – who expe-
rience the venture process over 1.5 years.
It is administrated by the Entrepreneurship
Unit, part of the International Business De-
partment.
BACKGROUND
Since 1994, entrepreneurship is a na-
tional principle and part of the national
curriculum. Entrepreneurship education
at all ages has started at that time. Based
on knowledge of 20 years of entrepre-
neurial learning research, Paula Kyrö has
designed the venture process master. The
existing entrepreneurship master has been
adapted three years ago to integrate the
findings from research. No additional fund-
ing was necessary.
KEY PARTNERS
The key partners for the students are
within the university environment – the
Aalto Center for Entrepreneurship (ACE),
the Venture Garage, the Design Factory.
The latter two are key to have an action-
based pedagogy. ACE extensive network
connects students to successful entre-
preneurs and venture capitalist. The Stan-
ford Ventures Program is a key partner in
actively running parts of the courses and
integrating the Silicon Valley eco-system.
ACHIEVEMENTS
In two years, we have seen 60 students
from over 30 nations, resulting in truly in-
ternational student teams. The long term
success cannot yet be judged, though,
several groups have managed to become
profitable. In less than two years, TAEL has
generated a turnover of more than EUR
1 mill and opened three offices abroad.
Several students are directing the activi-
ties of the Aalto Entrepreneurship Society,
e.g. the current president, which runs the
Startup Sauna – the biggest seed accel-
erator in Finland and the Baltics.
KEY CHALLENGES
Challenges are related to the new struc-
ture of the university which is a 2010
merger of three specialized universities.
While the master program at the School of
Economics has a long history, Aalto level
entrepreneurship courses are offered ad-
ditionally. The task is to connect our offer
with the university’s venture program – a
separate initiative.
FUNDING
The venture process is funded by the
university as any other master degree
program. The funding instrument has
not changed when the degree structure
changed, and no external funding is trig-
gered.
CONTACT
Paula Kyrö, Program Director
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:http://management.aalto.fi/en/
disciplines/entrepreneurship/
THE VENTURE PROCESS
COURSE SERIES
AALTO UNIVERSITY, FINLAND:
Twenty years of research on entrepreneurship education resulted in the launch of a two year ‘venture
process master’ program in 2010. At the heart is a course series of three venture creation courses
during which multidisciplinary student teams create own ventures and integrate them into the busi-
ness world. It is Aalto’s philosophy to be an entrepreneurial university. In our first two years we
experienced students from over 30 nations and at least five disciplines from Biomedicine to Entre-
preneurship.
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING FORUM 2012 PAGE 4
AIMS AND METHODS
The aims of this course are to “provide
an intense experience for personal explo-
ration of a defined opportunity as well as
discovery of entrepreneurial zeal and to
launch new ventures”. The course ad-
mits only students who come in with a
well-developed business concept and a
deep commitment to starting a company
immediately following graduation, if not
sooner. Another critical requirement is to
be able to attract a mentor in an audition
and students who do not succeed are not
admitted to the course. The semester-
long course focuses on action rather than
theory. Deliverables and activities include:
developing a timeline for launching the
business; developing an expanded ex-
ecutive summary; identifying and meeting
with customers; working with mentors;
interacting with guest speakers; individ-
ual meetings with professors; discussions
with fellow students; and identifying, at-
tending, reporting back on networking
events relevant to the business.
BACKGROUND
Named by U.S. News & World Report, as
the leading school of entrepreneurship for
19 consecutive years starting in 1993,
Babson has long been a leader in entre-
preneurial education. This distinction rec-
ognizes the pioneering research of Bab-
son entrepreneurship scholars as well as
the curricular and teaching innovations of
the larger faculty. It also acknowledges the
College’s evolving focus on entrepreneur-
ship, which became an explicit emphasis
in 1977 and was reaffirmed as a primary
driver of College strategy in 2007-08. In
1999, the entrepreneurship faculty recog-
nized the opportunity and need presented
by the dotcom boom to develop a course
to guide students working on launching
new ventures while still in school. Initially,
the elective course attracted a large group
of students enamored of the idea of be-
ing an entrepreneur, but in some cases
without the passion and perseverance to
weather the inevitable lows of the entre-
preneurial process. Over time, a process
for admitting students to the course was
developed to better identify students who
were truly serious about launching their
ventures as soon as possible. Additional
Babson resources, such as the Venture
Accelerator, were developed to meet
the needs of students for whom the EIT
course was not appropriate.
KEY PARTNERS
This course has no formal partners. This is
deliberate to avoid having any goals other
than educating the students to launch new
ventures. However, critical to its success
are 15-20 volunteers who serve each year
as mentors and guest speakers, recruited
by the two course faculty from their ex-
tensive network of fellow entrepreneurs,
investors, advisors and business leaders.
The entrepreneurship faculty also plays a
central role in the course by interviewing
applicants for this program and they also
recommend mentors and guest speak-
ers, as do Babson alumni and leadership.
This critical collaborative set is informally
known as the “Babson Brain Trust.”
ACHIEVEMENTS
At Babson, 100% of our students take
entrepreneurship courses. Alumni re-
cords suggest that about 14% of students
(MBA) start businesses at graduation
(this is twice the average for most other
schools) but after 5 years, more than 50%
are working in entrepreneurial or small
firms. The 14 % doesn’t capture those
who buy a business, or franchise, or start
a business in a family firm or corporate
start ups.
KEY CHALLENGES
The key challenge is to constantly reinvent
the course to adapt to the kinds of busi-
nesses the students are starting as the
economic and technological environment
changes. Related challenges come from
the Intensity of engagement required by
new venture creation, on the part of stu-
dents and faculty. Although not a prob-
lem at Babson, this course also requires
unique faculty who have substantial en-
trepreneurial experience and networks, as
well as teaching and research expertise.
FUNDING
There is no funding for this course. A
team of two faculty teach it, and recently
the course has averaged 15 students. In
an institution where the typical class ratio
is 1:42, this represents an investment on
the part of the college. Mentors and guest
speakers get no stipend or expense cov-
erage. Administrative assistance for this
course is primarily for managing the logis-
tics of admission.
CONTACT
Julian Lange
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:http://www.babson.edu/Academics/
divisions/entrepreneurship/curriculum
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
INTENSITY TRACK
BABSON COLLEGE, USA:
The Entrepreneurship Intensity Track course at Babson College was offered for the first time in 2000,
in response to the dotcom boom that was causing many business students to forgo education to
start new companies. The faculty recognized the opportunity and responsibility to help students
launch new businesses while they were learning the skills they would need to start and run these
companies. Designed and taught by a team of leading entrepreneurial scholars who were also entre-
preneurs, this MBA course has evolved as a key element in Babson’s constellation of curricular and
extra-curricular resources for fostering new venture creation, in both the graduate and undergraduate
programs.
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING FORUM 2012 PAGE 5
AIMS AND METHODS
The aim of the program is to develop
entrepreneurial individuals prepared for
sustainable business development in the
knowledge economy. The program utilizes
an action-based pedagogy where innova-
tion and entrepreneurship is experienced
hands-on and not only taught in class-
rooms. The education combines a distin-
guished academic Master’s program with
real-life innovation management and ven-
ture creation of technology and bioscience
innovations. The program is an integrated
part of Chalmers’ strategy of being an en-
trepreneurial university. In 2009 an inter-
national peer review commissioned by the
Swedish government gave the program
the highest ranking in Sweden. Teams of
two or three students are matched with
a scientist or innovator to take forward a
business idea into a business. At the end
of the process, business ideas have the
potential to be incorporated, with both
students and the scientist/innovator tak-
ing ownership through shares in the newly
formed business.
BACKGROUND
In 1995, Mats Lundqvist and Sören Sjö-
lander, at the department of innovation
management at Chalmers, initiated devel-
opment of an entrepreneurship masters
program based on reflection that there
was a human resource gap between uni-
versity research and the marketplace. This
gap could be filled by individuals willing to
take viable ideas, develop business strate-
gies and take them to the market. The pro-
gram was launched in January 1997 as a
one-year masters-level program. In 2001,
substantial developmental steps were tak-
en, such as opening the program to stu-
dents outside of Chalmers and setting up
a separate legal entity called “Encubator”,
gradually taking over the responsibility for
many of the interactions with the outside
market and society. In 2007, the program
became a two-year international master’s
program in line with the Bologna process.
KEY PARTNERS
The primary partner is Encubator, an in-
tegrated incubator that works in synergy
with the program, but with a business pri-
oritization. Encubator was created and
co-founded by Chalmersinvest, a wholly
owned daughter company of the Chalmers
Foundation, providing seed-investment.
Public actors such as Västra Götaland-
sregionen, Business Region Göteborg
and Vinnova are key partners external to
the university environment. University of
Gothenburg has been an important col-
laborator in facilitating an interdisciplinary
setting. The program also builds upon a
large network of external business actors
and organizations, as well as program and
university alumni, to contribute content,
coaching and other resources to the ac-
tion-based pedagogy.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Since its establishment in 1997, CSE has
educated around 300 students. Around
50 ventures are still up and running, hav-
ing been incorporated as a result of the
student venture projects. These ventures
have a total market value today of around
€50m with an annual turnover of around
€35m. The most successful ventures so
far are Vehco, Avinode and Oxeon, em-
ploying around 250 people. Vehco sup-
plies mobile IT for the transportation sec-
tor. Avinode is a global aviation broker for
private jets. Oxeon is an advanced materi-
als company. CSE has a very active alumni
network where around 100 people meet
every year at a conference focusing on
various kinds of new value creation.
KEY CHALLENGES
The main challenge has always been about
financing the program. Most financial re-
sources have been in the form of project
funding, although there has been a minor
endowment given to the school. Another
key challenge has been to develop en-
trepreneurial faculty. The career paths for
academics simultaneously engaging in ac-
tion learning and research are challenging.
A key challenge has also been the inability
of traditional incentive structures and or-
ganizational leadership to adapt.
FUNDING
CSE receives funding for each enrolled
student. However, this amount does not
cover the cost of running the program
and there is a need for additional fund-
ing from other sources. Additional funding
has come from various sources. Funding
organizations have included the public ac-
tors Västra Götalandsregionen, Business
Region Göteborg and Högskoleverket.
Each student ventures receives €20.000
each, majority of which requires matching
with private money. This money is supplied
by public venture capital entities.
CONTACT
Mats Lundqvist, Program Director
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.entrepreneur.chalmers.se
CHALMERS SCHOOL OF
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SWEDEN:
A two-year master program started in 1997 by two faculty members, Chalmers School of Entrepre-
neurship (CSE) today has three different tracks – technology, bioscience and intellectual property –
accepting a total of around 50 students each year. The program has a strong venture creation track
record with 50 ventures still up and running, employing some 400 people and with a total turnover
of €40m. A key success factor has been the establishment of a separate legal entity named Encuba-
tor, handling idea providers, equity issues, business coaching and acting as a holding company for
incorporated ventures. Key challenges have been financial sustainability and development of entre-
preneurial faculty.
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING FORUM 2012 PAGE 6
AIMS AND METHODS
The aim of CASE is to educate entrepre-
neurs and incubate their ideas and ven-
tures. The GSSE MBA program integrates
an 18-month venture development practi-
cum into social entrepreneurial course-
work. We incubate ideas and ventures
through the New Economy Venture Ac-
celerator (NEVA) which offers resources,
mentoring and funding to promising start-
up ventures developed by GSSE-MBA
entrepreneurs. GSSE’s method of educa-
tion is based on the concept of address-
ing social and environmental concerns
with an entrepreneurial approach and fully
integrates social entrepreneurship and
sustainable venturing into all coursework.
GSSE includes an applied venture devel-
opment practicum in which student teams
develop a social venture throughout the
18-month program including travelling to
the field for 2-3 months during the summer
session. The GSSE program is unique in
having designed each course to support
actual ventures that students build while
in the program.
BACKGROUND
GSSE’s first student cohort was in 2007.
GSSE was established as a Master of
Science in Business Administration to of-
fer entrepreneurial education that focused
on building ventures that have a social and
environmental impact; it changed to an
MBA in 2010. In 2009, we created CASE
and NEVA to offer more support to GSSE
students, establish a venture accelerator,
and build a network of experts and access
knowledge from across the university and
other organizations.
KEY PARTNERS
Our most important partners are other
departments, labs, and centers from Colo-
rado State University (CSU) with which
our GSSE students partner to develop
CSU research and innovation into busi-
ness ideas and ventures as well as access
for technical expertise as needed. Other
key partners are Bohemian Foundation,
International Development Enterprises,
National Collegiate Inventors & Innovators
Alliance, Philanthropiece, Rocky Mountain
Innosphere, Nature Conservancy, New
Belgium Brewery, and United States In-
ternational University in Kenya. External
partners are critical to the success of the
GSSE venture development practicum
component and to building long-term suc-
cessful ventures from NEVA.
ACHIEVEMENTS
We have educated over 100 students and
nine ventures are still up and running. The
most successful ventures from GSSE are
AYZH, PowerMundo, and SEED:
- AYZH develops products to address
women’s health issues such as a birthkit
to provide a sterile birth environment and a
ceramic water filter.
- PowerMundo develops supply and dis-
tribution networks to increase accessibil-
ity to solar lighting technologies for rural
developing markets.
- SEED created a small, efficient irrigation
pump which addresses agricultural water
needs for small-holder farmers in the In-
dian sub-continent.
The GSSE-MBA is ranked #9 in Small
Programs in Aspen Institute’s Beyond
Grey Pinstripes Global 100 MBAs.

KEY CHALLENGES
Challenges include finding ongoing, sus-
tainable funding sources for international
students needing funding to be in the
GSSE program and for ventures in NEVA
needing financial support. Marketing to
students is also a challenge regarding dif-
ferentiating ourselves from the plethora of
programs that are selling sustainability and
entrepreneurship.
FUNDING
In addition to tuition and fees received
from each GSSE student, we receive
support from foundations and private do-
nors. Travel and field work is funded by
private donations as well as funds raised
by students and their venture teams. The
National Collegiate Inventors & Innovators
Alliance has been an instrumental donor
for NEVA and provided funding for pro-
totyping, entrepreneur stipends, faculty
stipends for mentoring, and materials for
enterprise development.
CONTACT
Carl Hammerdorfer, GSSE Director
E-mail: carl.hammerdorfer@
business.colostate.edu
Website: www.csugsse.org
GLOBAL SOCIAL
SUSTAINABLE
ENTERPRISE MBA
COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY, USA:
The Center for Advancement of Sustainable Enterprise (CASE) educates entrepreneurs and incu-
bates ventures. Faculty, labs, and research generated at Colorado State University provide the “idea-
capital” for ventures. In our Global Social Sustainable Enterprise (GSSE) MBA, students build ven-
tures while they complete MBA courses designed around sustainability & entrepreneurship. CASE
incubates ventures in our New Economy Venture Accelerator (NEVA). In five years, GSSE has
educated 100+ students and produced nine ongoing ventures that address issues such as health,
irrigation and education. CASE will launch GSSE and NEVA in Kenya via the Sustainable Enterprise
MBAs for Africa program (SEMBAA).
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING FORUM 2012 PAGE 7
AIMS AND METHODS
The course is aimed at university students
with a keen interest in business start-up
and innovation. The modules follow an ap-
plied learning style with a strong empha-
sis on experiential learning, with personal
business activities incorporated within the
modules themselves. The course is de-
signed to help and support aspiring entre-
preneurs to develop and implement their
business ideas. It is delivered entirely by
‘entrepreneurial’ academics, that is, peo-
ple who are currently (or who have previ-
ously) run their own businesses in addition
to their academic credentials. In the first
year we work on idea generation and on
developing the entrepreneurial mindset
(PED). We also look at venture evalua-
tion and creation. In year 2 the focus is
more heavily on business start-up and
business management. The final year we
look the practical aspects and the experi-
ence of running and growing a business.
Personal entrepreneurial development
is an ongoing theme throughout the pro-
gramme. We try to have a very open mind
about the students we take, but some are
more entrepreneurially challenged than
other. We try to expose our students as
much as possible to experts and practic-
ing entrepreneurs. We have increased
student autonomy, allowing more choice
in projects. The current structure allows
us to work with individual students and to
support their personal entrepreneurial de-
velopment as well as their academic de-
velopment. We have taken the material out
of subject specific silos.
BACKGROUND
The programme was established in 2007
as a BA in Business Enterprise (BA BE).
In 2008 it became the BA Enterprise and
Entrepreneurship (BA EE). The Faculty
home for both programmes was the Busi-
ness School but in 2009/10, when the In-
stitute of Applied Entrepreneurship (IAE)
was formed, the ‘Faculty’ home moved to
the School of Lifelong Learning. A number
of incremental revisions were made to the
BA EE until a major review in 2010/11
resulted in a shift away from Business
School modules as outlined above. The
degree now primarily aims to support stu-
dent’s aspirations for a career as entrepre-
neurs. The BA EE gives students every op-
portunity to test their skills and aspirations
and supports their ambitions, whilst at the
same time ensuring that their activities
are underpinned with sound and relevant
knowledge. Whilst this programme has
been pioneering in many ways, having a
large section of its delivery under the con-
trol of others placed major restriction on
the range and type of changes possible.
KEY PARTNERS
Student Enterprise Fund - A fund to help
support entrepreneurs has been initiated
by the University’s Chancellor who want-
ed to do something to encourage entre-
preneurship by giving financial support to
fledgling student businesses. Investments
are in the range of £3k - £5k and as much
as £30k for an outstanding proposition.
The development of a student-led enter-
prise fund is a unique proposition in the
UK. SPEED - Students and graduates
accepted on the SPEED programme will
get financial and support assistance tai-
lored to suit their particular need, as well
as provision of training days and work-
shops. Mentoring – we have used the
NCEE mentoring website ‘Make It Hap-
pen’ and encourage all our students look-
ing for business support or mentoring to
use this site to document their ideas and
their needs.
ACHIEVEMENTS
The number of students starting on the
programme is such that it is now viable as
a standalone programme, i.e. not depend-
ent on the Business School. We have
been able to recruit new staff to support
the delivery of the programme and to dif-
ferentiate it within the university’s offer.
We offer a range of modules to support
entrepreneurship across the university and
this year we have taught over 1000 stu-
dents from across all Faculties. We are the
Times Higher Education Entrepreneurial
University of the Year.
KEY CHALLENGES
The range and variety of students the pro-
gramme attracts presents challenges. We
are capped at around 30 students and try
to hit that number which means that we
sometimes attract students more suited
to a straight business management pro-
gramme. Given the above, some students
don’t settle into the programme and leave,
others are discontented with the approach
and the expectations placed on them.
Keeping the balance between students
that are more academically driven and
those that prefer a more applied approach
can be problematic.
FUNDING
Students generally enter the programme
in the ‘normal’ way and are funded through
student loans.
CONTACT
Dr. Joan Lockyer
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.coventry.ac.uk/IAE
BA ENTERPRISE AND
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
COVENTRY UNIVERSITY, UNITED KINGDOM:
The focus of our strategy is to create a lifestyle of entrepreneurship which is achieved by focusing on
personal development, entrepreneurial skills and business skills to exploit and implement new ideas.
We feel that all three areas should be in equilibrium to create sustainable success and improved
socio-economic growth. Our approach acknowledges the fact that no two businesses are the same
and therefore support is tailored to the specific needs of a person and the business. We are moving
away from a short-term orientation towards a medium and long term approach which focuses more
on the potential and real impact of entrepreneurs(ship) on the environment not just on how many
businesses were created.
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING FORUM 2012 PAGE 8
AIMS AND METHODS
The programme is focused on letting the
student learn from their own actions by
reflection and by relating action and prac-
tice to theory. By emphasizing action, we
have reoriented our education towards
developing the students’ functional entre-
preneurial knowledge. Similar to labs in
natural sciences, by taking real entrepre-
neurial actions, students gain a functional
knowledge. While improving students’
functional knowledge as such, it also pro-
vides memorable events that could be
used to relate to entrepreneurship theo-
ries. The programme includes two tracks:
(1) New Venture Creation, which focuses
on the creation of new ventures, and (2)
Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innova-
tion, which focuses on entrepreneurship
and innovation in established businesses.
The corporate entrepreneurship track is
new from 2011. Within the New Venture
track students are to develop their own
businesses during one year. Each student
is assigned a mentor with genuine busi-
ness experience from the local business
community, office space, pedagogies
clearly in line with effectual learning and
start up, and the support of a dedicated
teaching staff.
BACKGROUND
In 2007 an international Master’s pro-
gramme in Entrepreneurship was
launched at the Lund University School of
Economics and Management, as part of a
university-wide strategy to concentrate on
entrepreneurship and innovation. The pro-
gramme was founded by professor Hans
Landström and Dr Marie Löwegren. In June
2009, the Swedish government appointed
the programme as one of two cutting-edge
programmes in entrepreneurship and in-
novation in Sweden and funds were allo-
cated for further development of the en-
trepreneurship activities. The government
funds have allowed us to strengthen our
educational and research portfolio in ac-
cordance with the announced ambitions.
The time limitation of the governmental
allocation of resources has required a fo-
cus on creating long-term funding. In the
spring of 2011 the donation from Sten K
Johnson enabled long-term investments
and allowed us to continue building a last-
ing entrepreneurial arena formed as a cen-
tre for entrepreneurship.
KEY PARTNERS
Key parters to the program includes: (1)
The mentorship programme with expe-
rienced entrepreneurs, matched to stu-
dents on a 1-1 basis i.e. 30 mentors for
30 students, (2) The innovation network at
Lund, including Ideon innovation, venture
lab, LU innovation systems, Technopol,
Mobile Heights, Almi, Connect Syd, Ven-
ture Cup Syd, FENA (a national entrepre-
neurship student association) etc.
ACHIEVEMENTS
In total approximately 200 students have
gone through the programme. About
40% of them are currently running their
own ventures, in all types of industries in-
cluding e.g. professional services, IT and
biochemistry. The programme is now the
most sought after Master Programme in
entrepreneurship in Sweden. On average
approximately 600 students are applying
each year to the programme. They are
carefully selected on basis of their entre-
preneurial experience, their work experi-
ence, their educational background, pres-
entation skills and level of English. The
programme strives to find a diverse mix of
students who benefit from learning from
each other. We have students from more
than 20 countries all over the world and
with backgrounds ranging from computer
science, to peace and conflict studies.
Successful start ups from the programme
include Red Apple Apartment working
with short term apartment rental all over
the world, Desmo working with a virtual
donation box and Logos 3D working with
3D digital landscaping and gaming.
KEY CHALLENGES
There are several challenges in the pro-
gramme. The most central challenge at
the moment is that the Swedish Board
for Higher Education evaluation of busi-
ness administration has clear conservative
and standardizing elements. As the mas-
ters programme has been designed from
research in entrepreneurship education
and down to pedagogies, the pedago-
gies we use are quite different from the
“normal” entrepreneurship education. The
masters programme in entrepreneurship is
uniquely designed to have examinations
that corresponds to the development of
functional skills in entrepreneurship, while
the board of higher education is narrowly
concentrated on analytical skills. Another
challenge is in evaluation of the quality of
the education. We are still struggling to
establish proper evaluation of skills, per-
ception of skills, and venture performance.
FUNDING
The programme has significant and stable
funding from e.g. the Swedish board of
higher education and the generous dona-
tion from Sten K Johnsson. Students are
not provided funding for their start-ups
and we demand no equity or royalty from
the start-ups.
CONTACT
Professor Hans Landström
E-mail: hans.landströ[email protected]
Website:http://www.youtube.com/
entrepreneurshipLU
MASTER PROGRAMME IN
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
LUND UNIVERSITY, SWEDEN:
The Master Programme in Entrepreneurship at Lund University is a highly sought after and acclaimed
education that aims to provide students with the latest knowledge in entrepreneurship, and to help
them convey that knowledge into action. All of our students are expected to create a real business
project as well developing theoretical and practical skills in entrepreneurship
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING FORUM 2012 PAGE 9
AIMS AND METHODS
Our goal is to develop the next generation
of entrepreneurs while building the high
growth companies of tomorrow. MBAs
are teamed with graduate science and
engineering students to build and launch
– whenever possible – real high growth,
technology-based ventures. Each team is
provided a portfolio of available IP and has
at least two outside business advisors or
“Executives-in-Residence,” including serial
entrepreneurs, CEOs, lawyers, account-
ants, and consultants. The mapped pro-
cess at the heart of the HiTEC experience
is called the ‘Algorithm.’ This is the tool
that separates HiTEC from other High-
Tech Entrepreneurship courses. The Algo-
rithm provides a process based framework
for building viable startup companies from
technological innovations. Issues that are
both knowable and discerning at each
phase in the development cycle are re-
vealed and addressed in a rational man-
ner. This detailed methodology permits
the inexperienced entrepreneur to develop
a compelling business case for his/her
technology.
BACKGROUND
In 1994, Angus Kingon, a world-class
Materials Scientist from the College of
Engineering, and Steve Markham, a se-
rial entrepreneur from the Poole College
of Management, won almost a million dol-
lars in grants from the National Science
Foundation and the Kenan Institute of
Technology, Science and Engineering to
study technology commercialization and
develop tools to teach scientists and engi-
neers how to commercialize their discov-
eries. The HiTEC Program began teaching
courses based on their research in 1995
to graduate students from both colleges. It
was apparent from the beginning that the
best way to develop the knowledge, skills
and abilities needed to be successful, was
to provide an intense experiential learning
opportunity for the students. The resulting
pedagogy offers not only a rich context
to their studies, but also provides the po-
tential to participate in a real high growth
startup company.
KEY PARTNERS
HiTEC would not be possible without
support from both the College of Engi-
neering and the Poole College of Man-
agement. The intellectual property used
in the course comes from the offices of
technology transfer at NC State University,
Eastern Carolina University, Universities of
North Carolina at Charlotte and Chapel
Hill. Over the years, we have also used IP
from more than a dozen local R&D facili-
ties located in the Research Triangle Park
and beyond. Finally, and perhaps most im-
portantly, we would not be able to deliver
the quality educational experience and
maintain the expectations of continuing
success without our Executives-in-Resi-
dence. Since 1995, more than 80 serial
entrepreneurs, service providers and pro-
fessionals have volunteered thousands of
hours to help mentor the HiTEC teams.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Since its inception, the TEC Program
has taught over 450 graduate students,
been primarily responsible for the crea-
tion of new high tech ventures and lines
of business employing over 400 people,
and assisted more than forty companies
that have attracted over $200,000,000
in capital. The HiTEC program is regularly
benchmarked as a leader in technology
commercialization education by universi-
ties around the world. Our international
efforts were recognized by the Round-
table on Entrepreneurship Education at
Stanford when they bestowed the 2006
Price Foundation award on us for our work
in Portugal.
KEY CHALLENGES
We have three areas of ongoing chal-
lenges. First, though we have an extensive
network of executives and service provid-
ers in the local entrepreneurial community,
finding seasoned leaders for the new ven-
tures we generate every year is a daunt-
ing task. Second, seed stage funding is
always a challenge. Finally, our department
within the College of Management has un-
dergone several changes over the past 5
years and the result has left us fewer facul-
ty and we are therefore behind in research
output.
FUNDING
All our activities are self-funded. We share
in the royalties from one of the companies
we launched. The remaining resources
we have are the result of a combination
of grants and gifts. The faculty have also
shared consulting fees with the HiTEC
program.
CONTACT
Roger Debo. Director TEC Initiative,
Email: [email protected]
Website: tec.poole.ncsu.edu
THE HiTEC PROGRAM
(HIGH TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURSHIP
AND COMMERCIALIZATION PROGRAM)
NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY, USA:
Since 1995, the HiTEC program has been teaching scientists, engineers and managers how to
translate science and technology into goods and services. Using the HiTEC Algorithm, a process
developed from a National Science Foundation/Kenan Institute research grant, HiTEC has been
building new high-tech, high growth companies while training the entrepreneurs of tomorrow. In aca-
demia, our process and pedagogy have been benchmarked and exported to the UK, Portugal, Slove-
nia, South Korea, South Africa as well as Brown, Ohio State and Cal Poly universities in the U.S. In
the business world, HiTEC is credited with supporting the formation of over 50% of the companies
arising from North Carolina State University (NCSU).
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING FORUM 2012 PAGE 10
AIMS AND METHODS
The original aim of the CPME program
was to stimulate new business crea-
tion and entrepreneurship. This was later
broadened to include entrepreneurial
skills and activities in their widest sense,
i.e intrapreneurship, working for SMEs,
not-for-profit creation, spin-offs, business
buyouts and related aspects. The program
is not in itself a separate master degree
but consists of a set of dedicated elective
courses that are integrated into the corre-
sponding master degrees from the eight
different schools at Université Catholique
de Louvain (UCL). The CPME program is
managed in close collaborations with the
faculty managing the parent degrees, and
is spread across the last two years of its
parent degrees, where the second year
master thesis project revolves around cre-
ating a new business based on students’
own or external business idea. Around
30 students are admitted each year, and
the classes are given in the evening. The
program has a dedicated building and
students have 24-hour access to these fa-
cilities, including computers, team rooms
and other facilities. This creates a bonding
effect among students, promoting knowl-
edge exchange and collaboration across
cohorts and disciplinary affiliations.
BACKGROUND
In 1996 Fortis Bank CEO Jean-Jacques
Verdickt teamed up with Marcel Crochet,
rector of UCL and former entrepreneur, to
launch the idea of the CPME program. The
aim was to remedy the lack in Belgium of
entrepreneurship programs outside busi-
ness schools and to counter poor entre-
preneurial spirit of the southern region of
Belgium. This top level initiative was able
to secure substantial financial support,
and also managed to bypass the exist-
ing academic structures needed in order
to create a visionary, interdisciplinary and
truly action-based program structure. The
core team consisted of faculty from the
law, engineering and business schools of
UCL, and included the current program
director Frank Janssen. The first cohort
started in 1997. In 2007 the program was
shortened from three to two years accord-
ing to the Bologna process. It was also
opened to all schools at UCL, welcom-
ing students from agronomy, psychology,
physiotherapy, sciences, theology, etc.
KEY PARTNERS
The most important partners are the differ-
ent schools at UCL, allowing the interdis-
ciplinary nature of the program. Other im-
portant partners include UCL’s technology
transfer office LLTTO, incubators, the stu-
dent entrepreneurship club Crealouv and
the Federation of Enterprises in Belgium
(FEB). The stock listed investment com-
pany Brederode supports the program
financially. A network of entrepreneurs,
bankers, capitalists and program alumni
also supports the program through various
interventions in the program.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Around 350 students have graduated from
the program. A survey shows that 11%
of the students who graduated between
2000 and 2005 have created a firm, and
that 64% of former students think that
the CPME program has had an impact
on their entrepreneurial intention. Many
alumni have however made more tradi-
tional careers, in line with their disciplinary
origin. Three example ventures originating
directly from the program are Greenwatt,
Creacorner and Mnemotique. Greenwatt
is a cleantech company in biogas. Crea-
corner is a chain of leisure stores. Mnemo-
tique offers digital storage of archival data.
KEY CHALLENGES
Challenges are mainly related to the inter-
disciplinary nature of the program, such as
convincing colleagues in different schools
at UCL of the importance of entrepreneur-
ship and adhering to the varying assess-
ment rules of each disciplinary framework.
Difficulties in accepting a master thesis in
the form of a business plan is an example
issue within assessment. Other challenges
include the limited track record in terms of
number of directly created ventures, and
the Bologna reform forcing a shortening of
the program from three to two years.
FUNDING
Substantial financial resources were
raised upon creation of the program from
various private companies, such as Bel-
gian glass manufacturer Glaverbel. So far
financials have not restricted the operation
of the program. The student ventures do
not receive any funding from UCL, except
if they arise from university research.
CONTACT
Frank Janssen, program director
[email protected]
Website: www.uclouvain.be/cpme
FORMATION INTERDISCIPLINAIRE
EN CRÉATION D’ENTREPRISE (CPME)
UNIVERSITÉ CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, BELGIUM:
Initiated in 1997 by a university rector and a major bank CEO and equipped with substantial sup-
port from private companies, the innovative CPME program is a truly interdisciplinary initiative where
students from almost all schools at the comprehensive Université Catholique de Louvain are brought
together in cross-disciplinary teams to create businesses. Teams consist of students coming from
different disciplines, i.e. business, law, engineering, physiotherapy, psychology, sciences , agronomy
and liberal arts. Business ideas are supplied by students themselves and from university research.
Key challenges have been convincing colleagues, adhering to varying assessment regulations and
complying with the Bologna reform.
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING FORUM 2012 PAGE 11
AIMS AND METHODS
The BBE Programme is aimed at under-
graduate students who want to:
• Start and develop their own business, at
the same time as studying for a degree.
• Make a positive contribution to the stra-
tegic development of a family business or
other small or medium enterprise.
• Develop an entrepreneurial or “can-do”
approach to business to enhance their fu-
ture career in any size of company.
Within 4 months of starting the pro-
gramme, students must prepare and
“pitch” their business plan to “Bucking-
ham Angels” VC panel. If successful the
students are awarded up to GBP 5000
funding, which is written-off. Provided the
students pass their first exams, their new
business is launched during the third term
and they continue studying and running
the business for the next five terms. The
students study “normal” Business School
subjects, plus some additional subjects. In
addition to academic assessment, they are
also assessed on the way in which they
plan and operate the business, not on its
success.
BACKGROUND
In 2004 Phil Dover, the new Dean of
the Business School proposed that the
School should develop an innovative pro-
gramme during which undergraduate stu-
dents had to start and run their own busi-
nesses as part of their honours degree.
Jane Tapsell and other faculty worked with
Phil to develop the BSc Business Enter-
prise programme. They discussed the
pros & cons of offering it at undergraduate
or post-graduate level. It was decided that
undergraduate level would be unique and
more attractive to students. The university
is small and entrepreneurial, as at that time
it was the UK’s only independent univer-
sity. This meant that such a non-traditional
programme could gain internal and exter-
nal academic approval quickly and it was
launched in January 2006. Nigel Adams
was appointed Programme Director in
January 2008 and he had to promote the
programme extensively to ensure its sur-
vival, due to low numbers of applicants. He
also introduced several changes in 2009
& 2010 as a result of experience operating
the programme.
KEY PARTNERS
The funding of the working capital for the
students’ businesses was donated by Le-
gal & General insurance company and a
private donor, the late Mr. John Desbor-
ough. An “Enterprise Hub” was estab-
lished on the university’s campus, with
financial support of SEEDA (UK South
East Economic Development Agency).
This has been used as the offices for the
majority of the students’ businesses since
2006. Some of the office accommodation
was offered to start-up businesses in the
area, on low cost basis. In addition to aca-
demic lectures, tutorials and support, ex-
ternal entrepreneurs and business people
have been invited to mentor and support
the students throughout the programme.
BBE students have also been encouraged
to join several local business networking
groups.
ACHIEVEMENTS
• The survival and success of the pro-
gramme. As a result, from 2013 we must
restrict numbers of students accepted.
• Full employment of all 26 BBE gradu-
ates. Two businesses developed directly
from the BBE programme, three other
businesses were started by BBE gradu-
ates, four returned to family businesses,
14 gained employment, the remaining
three continued in higher education.
Other positive results include personal de-
velopment of the BBE students, support
of all colleagues throughout the university,
involvement with the business community.
KEY CHALLENGES
These have been: Time taken and cost of
promoting the programme, mainly through
“word of mouth” and the Internet. Attract-
ing the appropriate students. Sufficient
students attracted only after 5 years. Stu-
dent workload & drop-out rate. So all ap-
plicants are made aware of workload to re-
duce this problem. Costs/time involved in
administration of the students’ companies
with Companies House & UK Tax Authori-
ties. So businesses now operate under
one limited liability company.
FUNDING
The finding for the businesses started by
BBE students has been provided by Legal
& General insurance company and a pri-
vate donor, the late Mr. John Desborough.
BBE Students are charged the same aca-
demic fees as other undergraduate stu-
dents at Buckingham, i.e. GBP 22,500 for
the two year programme for Home/EU stu-
dents. This compares with GBP 27,000
for most UK state universities.
CONTACT
Nigel Adams, Programme Director
E-mail: [email protected]
www.buckingham.ac.uk/business/bbe/
BSC BUSINESS
ENTERPRISE
UNIVERSITY OF BUCKINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM:
The BSc Business Enterprise (BBE) programme enables undergraduate students to start and run
their own real business, as an integral part of their honours degree. BBE was the idea of a new
Dean in Buckingham Business School, who had previously been a faculty member at Babson Col-
lege, USA. He worked with the current Dean of the Business School and other faculty members to
develop and obtain approval for the BBE Programme in 2004 and 2005. The first cohort of students
started in January 2006 and as Buckingham offers two-year undergraduate programmes, with four
9 week terms each year, the first successful students completed the BBE programme in December
2007. A total of five cohorts have graduated and two cohorts are currently studying.
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING FORUM 2012 PAGE 12
AIMS AND METHODS
The aim of the program is to develop
entrepreneurial individuals prepared for
sustainable business development in the
knowledge economy. The program utilizes
an action-based pedagogy where innova-
tion and entrepreneurship is experienced
hands-on as vocational and tacit knowl-
edge The education combines a distin-
guished academic Master’s program with
real-life innovation management and ven-
ture creation of technology and biomedical
innovations. The program is an integrated
part of the efforts from the Sahlgrenska
Academy to take a leading role in the
biomedical and health care ecosystem. In
2009 an international peer review com-
missioned by the Swedish government
gave the program the highest ranking in
Sweden. Teams of two or three students
are matched with a scientist or innovator
to take forward an idea into a venture or
to further evaluate and develop a research
platform. At the end of the process, busi-
ness ideas have the potential to continue
as project or to be incorporated.
BACKGROUND
The initiatives for the present platform has
been taken by Professors Thomas Hedner,
Ulf Petrusson and Boo Edgar, merging a
program in law with a program in biomedi-
cine. The Masters programme “Business
Creation and Entrepreneurship in Biomed-
icine” (BCEB) thereby provides two pro-
files Entrepreneurship in Life Science (ELS
formerly GIBBS) and Intellectual Capital
Management (ICM), focusing on different
aspects of innovation and entrepreneur-
ship in life science. From a background In
industrial knowledge, a strong theoretical
knowledge base and vocational training in
business or project management related
activities this becomes a hands-on educa-
tion. The education, research platform and
participation in the eco-system have cre-
ated the possibilities for this programme
with new pedagogical activities with clear
benefit for the more traditional educations
in health science. All in the faculty are
practical entrepreneurs and involved in
research, and at present the unit includes
five senior researchers and five younger
teachers/researchers.
KEY PARTNERS
The major collaboration partners are the In-
stitute for Innovation and Societal Change
(IIS) at the Faculty of Business and Law at
the University of Gothenburg and the de-
partment of Management, Organizational
Renewal and Entrepreneurship (MORE)
at Chalmers University of Technology and
Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
at University of Linköping. Internationally
the university partners are with the Uni-
versities in Lyon, Cardiff, Budapest, Berlin
(Charité), Steinbeiss (Rostock) Gdansk,
Vilnius, Turku, Tromsö, Oslo, and the bio-
clusters in Berlin, Nantes, Madrid, Char-
lois, Milan, Uppsala, Tartu, Ålborg/Århus,
Vilnius and the regional health care organi-
sation.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Among the achievements are a pool of
elective courses, such as business plan-
ning, entrepreneurship, project manage-
ment and clinical trials applicable for
students as well as professionals. As
these courses are based on non-campus
methods, e-learning, distant mentoring
they are in the forefront with pedagogical
methods. In the business-planning course
we collaborate with the business plan
competition Venture Cup as an excellent
feedback and networking platform for the
students. The unit is today part of four EU
programmes and additionally four national
programmes supporting the extension of
entrepreneurship. A SCOPUS analysis
of the publications from I&E at SA dem-
onstrates that our researchers contribute
largely to the Academy output, with more
than 12000 citations.
KEY CHALLENGES
Key challenges have been to find a finan-
cial sustainability and development of an
entrepreneurial faculty, based on basic en-
trepreneurial knowledge and experience
and research in innovation and entrepre-
neurship and research, development and
management in the field. The Health Care
Sector is a huge driver for a competitive
and knowledge based health economy. To
stimulate entrepreneurial activities in this
field there is a need for further knowledge
and understanding, skills and experience,
entrepreneurial intent and opportunity rec-
ognition as well as an increased number
of active individuals in life science. These
activities have to be combined with tradi-
tional academic research at the Sahlgren-
ska Academy. Such a platform is now be-
ing established focused around research
in life science together with several of the
partners.
FUNDING
Funding is received for each enrolled
student. However, this amount does not
cover the cost of running the platform,
some additional funding is provided from
the Academy. Special project funding has
been received from international EU appli-
cations, and national programmes as well
as from public actors such as Västra Göta-
landsregionen, the Swedish Government,
VINNOVA, Tillväxtveket and the Swedish
Patent and Registration Office. The incor-
poration work is today done together with
Chalmers and Encubator, while project
handling is via University bodies.
CONTACT
Boo Edgar
E-mail: [email protected]
BUSINESS CREATION AND
ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN
BIOMEDICINE
UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN:
The two-year master program in Business Creation and Entrepreneurship in Biomedicine started for-
mally at the Faculty of Health Science of University of Gothenburg, at the Sahlgrenska Academy, in
2008. Building on the collaboration with Chalmers School of Entrepreneurship and their courses in
bioscience this globally rare program contains specialization in biomedical research, innovation and
entrepreneurship. The programme contains two different profiles – entrepreneurship in life science
and intellectual capital management, recruiting 20 students per year.
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING FORUM 2012 PAGE 13
AIMS AND METHODS
The degree is ideal for someone who is
interested in start up but feels that he or
she lacks something critical – knowledge,
confidence, wherewithal – or a really good
opportunity to pursue. We take people
through a measured process – first, they
identify, screen and test out a growth op-
portunity (basically the first year of the
three) – second they plan and start the
business – and then, finally, they start
to grow it. Inevitably some students get
ahead of our intentions! In the first year
we concentrate on giving students a wide
understanding of entrepreneurship, on de-
veloping relevant skills and developing a
positive mindset. Finance and marketing
are introduced. The second year focuses
more on the knowledge and expertise to
start a business and develops the func-
tional expertise; the third year deals with
the knowledge and expertise to grow that
business. At the end of Year One we ask
for a conceptual business pitch; at the
end of Year Two a business plan. Both of
these are evaluated by external judges.
The focus is always on learning by doing
and learning from doing. Reflective prac-
tice and action learning are at the heart of
this degree; the classes are all designed
to support what students are doing. From
the outset we encourage students to build
a reflective portfolio. Their work-based
learning is credit bearing.
BACKGROUND
Businesses start – and businesses close
– all the time. The success rate over-
all continues to disappoint. Sometimes
the problem is the idea was never good
enough in the first place; sometimes it is
a lack of competitiveness; on other occa-
sions it is poor decisions through inexperi-
ence and misjudgement. We want to help
increase the success rate amongst busi-
ness start-ups. The degree was conceived
by Professor John Thompson who had al-
ready started two small business incuba-
tors; and it builds on our research interests
in identifying entrepreneurial potential and
in enabling, coaching and mentoring.
KEY PARTNERS
The degree is supported by successful
and self-made entrepreneur Theo Paphitis
who is a regular contributor to the UK TV
programme ‘Dragons’ Den. He provides
Masterclasses, brings along businesses
he supports and also acts as an Ambas-
sador to promote the course. He has com-
mented that had it been available this is
a degree he would have taken rather than
rely on the ‘University of Life’.
ACHIEVEMENTS
The degree recruited its first cohort in
2009 and the first graduates will be
awarded their degrees in 2012. The de-
gree has generated several news stories
for the University website and in the local
press. The businesses range from those
with real growth potential to more modest
self employment opportunities. Whichever,
we require that there is genuine trading,
that supplies are obtained, that custom-
ers are found, that sound records are kept
and that businesses behave ethically. A
number of the student businesses have
won local and even national awards and
appeared on television. For example a first
year student recently came second in the
Virgin Media Pioneers new business com-
petition and he has received financial sup-
port from Sir Richard Branson.
KEY CHALLENGES
We are a long way from a situation where
schools and students believe that young
people should be as serious about cre-
ating their own job as about finding one
once they have a good degree. Conse-
quently undergraduate courses like this
are likely to remain niche rather than main-
stream; and attracting interest on a wide
geographical scale is tricky. In the context
of the University as a whole this is a very
small course – but one that ‘punches well
above its weight’ in terms of visibility. Se-
lection is critical; students have to be inter-
viewed to make sure they are right for the
programme and the programme is right
for them. International recruitment is con-
strained by a need that the students must
be in a position to register and run a real
business in the UK. Finance and risk are
important issues. Classes are timetabled
to make it easy for students to work part-
time to earn money. We encourage stu-
dents to take personal risks and get out-
side their comfort zones; but we strive to
make sure their businesses do not involve
a financial risk that cannot be dealt with.
FUNDING
The student fees are in alignment with
those charged by the University for all
undergraduate programmes. We do not
assume that students either come with or
will need particular levels of financial re-
sources.
CONTACT
John Thompson, Professor
E-mail: [email protected]
Janine Day, Course Leader
E-mail: [email protected]
BA ENTERPRISE
DEVELOPMENT (BAED)
UNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD, UNITED KINGDOM:
BAED is a three year undergraduate degree where students must start and run a real business if they
are to graduate. The degree was conceived to deal with three transformations – an idea into a prod-
uct (or service) that is a genuine opportunity; a would-be entrepreneur into a competent practitioner;
a University hot desk into a real organisation. Students work independently but share the experience;
occasionally they form partnerships. There are fall-back opportunities if their business does not get
off the ground. Recognising the power of networks, the support of real entrepreneurs was sought
and obtained; these entrepreneurs, together with relevant professionals, routinely provide guest lec-
tures and mentoring.
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING FORUM 2012 PAGE 14
AIMS AND METHODS
The VLP program aims at creating interdis-
ciplinary educational experiences by im-
mersing students in authentic technology
commercialization processes, resulting in
a rich learning environment and increased
entrepreneurial activity on campus. Each
year around 50 students are admitted to
the interdisciplinary one-year program,
with applications coming from students in
business, law and science. The program
starts in May each year with evaluation of
technologies stemming mainly from Pacif-
ic Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
and University of Oregon’s office of tech-
nology transfer. Selected technologies are
explored, market potential in relevant seg-
ments is assessed, a business plan is pro-
duced and finally some of the teams par-
ticipate in a number of major international
business plan competitions. Insights from
the program have led to a proposed divi-
sion of the classical ‘valley of death’ be-
tween scientific discovery and market into
three distinct gaps – technology discov-
ery, commercialization and venture launch.
BACKGROUND
The idea of establishing the VLP program
came at a breakfast meeting in 2001
between Randy Swangard, managing
director of Lundquist Center for Entre-
preneurship at University of Oregon, and
Erik Stenehjem, business development
director at PNNL. The rationale for this
idea came from the need to overcome
the barriers to university commercializa-
tion and the desire to realize the idea of
the entrepreneurial university. The first trial
consisted of two teams formed in the sum-
mer of 2002, which produced an encour-
aging outcome, spurring the institutionali-
zation of the program in 2003. In 2005 an
internal evaluation showed excellent edu-
cational outcomes but low venture crea-
tion frequency, raising questions about
the high cost of running the program. The
program was rescued by new legislation
giving tax deductions and other incentives
for donors to initiatives in university tech-
nology commercialization. This made the
VLP program the centrepiece of the uni-
versity’s new strategy for raising and de-
ploying venture fund donations, attracting
substantial donations in 2007.
KEY PARTNERS
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and
University of Oregon’s technology transfer
office have been the most important part-
ners supplying technology based ideas for
the students to evaluate and commercial-
ize. More recently, the National Energy
Technology Laboratory and the Hewlett-
Packard Corporation have become tech-
nology partners. Important university part-
ners are the Law School and the Graduate
College at University of Oregon, as well
as Oregon State University and Portland
State University supplying engineering
students to the program since 2009. Im-
portant financial partners include National
Science Foundation and Oregon Nanosci-
ence and Microtechnology Institute. Busi-
ness professionals from the local entre-
preneurial community regularly contribute
to the program with mentorship, feedback
and inspiration.
ACHIEVEMENTS
A total of around 400 students have
graduated from the program so far. Each
year some students reach a ‘tipping point’
when they go from managing a ‘school
project’ to taking full ownership of their
project, which becomes very exciting for
faculty as well as the students. Example
ventures from the program include Perpet-
ua producing renewable energy solutions
for wireless sensors, Floragenex providing
genetic research services for clients in ag-
riculture and Innovative Sports Strategies
supplying planning software for the sports
industry.
KEY CHALLENGES
A major challenge has been the amount of
time and resources needed to manage a
growing program. Difficulties in persuad-
ing licensing professionals to license
intellectual property to students with lim-
ited industry experience has previously
kept down the amount of ventures being
launched by students after graduation, but
is now a resolved issue. The interdisci-
plinary nature of the program has been a
challenge when confronted with the tradi-
tional university silo structures emphasiz-
ing departmental borders.
FUNDING
In addition to internal university resources,
the main external funding for the program
has been supplied by federal grants from
National Science Foundation and Oregon
Nanoscience and Microtechnology Insti-
tute. However, the program does not yet
have a long-term financing solution match-
ing the high levels of resources and labor
needed to maintain the program.
CONTACT
Donald Upson, Program Manager
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: bizlaw.uoregon.edu/tep
VENTURE LAUNCH
PATHWAY (VLP)
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON, USA:
A creative breakfast in 2001 with an entrepreneurship center director and a national research labora-
tory director resulted in a napkin sketch and the idea to create the Venture Launch Pathway, which
later became University of Oregon’s centre piece in their strategy to become an entrepreneurial
university. The program today has a solid track record on the international business plan competition
circuit and has also resulted in valuable insights into the art of crossing the ‘valley of death’. However
the absence of engineering students has also become apparent at University of Oregon.
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING FORUM 2012 PAGE 15
AIMS AND METHODS
The Master of Science in Technology
Commercialization (MSTC) Program
aims to create trained professionals who
can identify emerging technologies with
market potential and take them to market
through either entrepreneurial ventures or
established corporations. In the process
they will create wealth for their companies,
communities, and themselves. During this
one-year graduate program, students de-
velop commercialization strategies for
transferring their product concepts into
marketable solutions. They become the en-
trepreneurs who foster innovation and cre-
ate new value and new markets. A back-
ground in technology is not required as
this program focuses on the commerciali-
zation of technologies, not their creation.
The ten-course curriculum emphasizes
action-based learning as students assess
actual technologies. Students apply a pro-
prietary methodology called Quicklooks™
to determine the market potential of new
technologies and assess if they are worthy
of commercializing. In teams, candidates
collaboratively develop marketing strate-
gies and business plans. The program
culminates with each team formally pre-
senting its final technology commercializa-
tion plan to a panel of entrepreneurs and
investors. The MSTC Program is offered
in class at the McCombs School of Busi-
ness and online wherever an Internet con-
nection is available. Bringing the online
students into the classroom via telecon-
ferencing technology represents a major
evolution in pedagogy for distant learning.
This approach opens the Austin classroom
to all of the Americas and Europe.
BACKGROUND
In the global economy, rapid technology
commercialization becomes essential for
mature economies like in the USA to main-
tain its ability to generate wealth. Rec-
ognizing the need to meet demands for
accelerated commercialization of emerg-
ing technologies, the former Dean of the
McCombs Business School created the
MSTC Degree Program in 1996. The
MSTC Program was designed to fill the
need for commercialization professionals
who could take technologies emerging
from university research activities, federal
laboratories, and corporate research cent-
ers to market. Since then, MSTC gradu-
ates have played a growing role in the
technology commercialization process not
only in Austin but around the world.
KEY PARTNERS
The Houston based oil field equipment
company, National Oilwell Varco, sends
teams of employees to the MSTC degree
program as well as to a certificate program
designed specifically for NOV engineers.
NOV employees who completed these
programs have launched multi-million dol-
lar technologies as a result of the skill set
learned. Advanced Micro Devices, Apple,
Cisco, Dell and IBM send employees to
the Program each year to create cadres
of professionals capable of commercializ-
ing new technologies. IBM alone employs
some 60 MSTC graduates.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Over 800 students have graduated from
the Texas MSTC Program. Each year
MSTC students participate in a business
plan competition within the class, and go
on to compete in business plan competi-
tions throughout the country. Recently,
Athena Laboratories won the international
competition at the University of Manitoba;
the venture has a cure for cellulite. The
class of 2011 had six out of ten teams
compete in business plan competitions,
with two competing in the world-renown
“Texas Venture Labs Investment Competi-
tion” (formerly Moot Corp). Many MSTC
graduates have launched entrepreneurial
ventures based on new technologies. Sev-
eral of these are on trajectories to have
significant exits within the next two years.
Other graduates are involved in new prod-
uct development at major corporations. UT
Austin has “cloned” the MSTC Program in
Poland, Australia, and Mexico; and dis-
cussions are underway to train faculties
to teach the MSTC curriculum in Russia,
Bulgaria, Scotland and Norway.
KEY CHALLENGES
A major challenge has been getting Cor-
porate America to resume sending em-
ployees into the Program. Tuition funding
has been cut back or reduced by Corpo-
rate America since the beginning of the
Great Recession. We are starting to see
this change a little, as some companies
are starting to once again sponsor some
employees for the Program. Another chal-
lenge has been the lack of “Career Re-
sources”. This had not been an issue up
until this year, as most of the students in
the past had been sponsored by their em-
ployers and continued to work with those
companies after graduation. With more
twenty-something students entering the
Program, we need to provide them with
career advice and employment assistance.
Approval to hire a “Career Resources”
expert has been granted for the Class of
2013.
FUNDING
The Texas MSTC Program does not re-
ceive any funding from the State of Texas,
grants or corporate donations. The Pro-
gram is 100% funded by student tuition.
CONTACT
Dr. Gary M. Cadenhead, MSTC Director
[email protected]
Website: www.texasmstc.org
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN TECH-
NOLOGY COMMERCIALIZATION
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, USA:
Launched in 1996, the Master of Science in Technology Commercialization (MSTC) Program offers
a one year, 30-hour business master’s degree including ten highly integrated and interdisciplinary
courses focused on (1) identifying technologies with market potential, (2) writing fundable business
plans, and (3) developing launch plans for taking technologies to market either through new ventures
or existing businesses, all with the goal of creating wealth in the process. Students include both as-
piring entrepreneurs and corporate employees wanting to take technologies to market through their
employer’s company.
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING FORUM 2012 PAGE 16
AIMS AND METHODS
The first term on the BCE program is
called the Business Creation Lab. The
Lab´s main objective is to create a founda-
tion for innovative project development in
the second year, and to explain how to take
knowledge-based ideas to the market. The
first semester involves role play and group
work, as students from day one work on
an idea. The University of Tromsø uses real
ideas, real investors, and real idea provid-
ers as parts of the role play. Students tran-
sition in the second term from the BCE lab
to idea generation where one of three op-
tions is pursued: (1) Developing their own
idea. In developing their idea, the student
can use UiT campus and all the faculties
as a “laboratory”. They can also search for
input in other milieus. The students who
choose this option will require the most
entrepreneurial skills. If appropriate, an
advisory team will be set up. (2) Working
on potential entrepreneurial ideas from the
idea bank. Ideas in the bank come from
scientific environments in the Tromsø re-
gion, primarily from the University, but also
from the University Hospital, NORUT and
other affiliated researched facilities. Stu-
dents choosing this option will learn how
to work with scientific inventors. (3) Col-
laborating with an established company
in Norway on creativity and innovation
projects. Students will work side-by-side
with BCE staff and industrial managers to
devise innovative, human-centered solu-
tions to real business problems using the
design-thinking methodology. They will do
in-depth field research, brainstorm, pro-
totype, and eventually test their solutions
in a team setting. The students apply the
knowledge from their courses in the sec-
ond and third term on the chosen entre-
preneurial idea or company innovation pro-
ject. The fourth term is devoted to writing
the Master thesis. During this term, much
effort is also put in enhancing students´
presentation techniques and presenting
their work to external stakeholders. While
writing the Master´s Thesis, students are
given close supervision by the professors.
Regardless of the option chosen, the the-
sis uses theory and analysis to develop the
student´s projects.
BACKGROUND
Professor Lene Foss spearheaded the
creation of the BCE program in 2008.
The main impetus for doing so was to
bridge the gap between academic inven-
tors with research-based ideas and entre-
preneurship students with the motivation
to found thriving startups.
KEY PARTNERS
Norinnova Technology Transfer contributes
in the commercialization of technology and
research-based innovations. Their main
means are competence, a contact net-
work, creative environments and capital.
Northern Research Institute has research
activities within technology, innovation and
social science research and carries out re-
search commissions for industry, business
and the public sector. BioTech North is an
emerging biotechnology cluster of enter-
prises and R&D organizations, which co-
operate closely with regional funding and
development actors (triple helix).
ACHIEVEMENTS
The program has graduated approximately
20 students and two research-based firms
have been launched: D’Liver and Globe-
sar. D’Liver offers services based on 30
years of research done by Professor Bård
Smedsrød. Norinnova Technology Trans-
fer examined the commercial potential
of D’Liver AS in collaboration with three
students at BCE. A BCE graduate now
leads the firm. Globesar AS is a Norwe-
gian Earth Observation company with its
head offices located in Tromsø, Norway.
The company is a spin-off from the North-
ern Research Institute Tromsø (Norut) and
was formed in June 2010.
KEY CHALLENGES
We face three main challenges: (1) The
limited availability of research-based ideas
in the Tromsø area, which fit the criteria for
our BCE program. (2) The incentive struc-
ture for academic inventors potentially
limits their involvement in the collaboration
process with the BCE program. (3) It is
at times difficult for international students
(50% of the most recent cohort) to be-
come integrated into the professional en-
vironment in Norway post graduation, due
to language and cultural barriers.
FUNDING
The BCE program, like many other educa-
tional programs in Norway, is state-funded.
CONTACT
Professor Lene Foss,
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:http://bit.ly/JPjGLH
BUSINESS CREATION AND
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
PROGRAM
UNIVERSITY OF TROMSØ, NORWAY:
The Business Creation and Entrepreneurship (BCE) program at the University of Tromsø is a busi-
ness-oriented, group-based master’s program within an international learning environment in North-
ern Norway. The program offers a divers group of students the tools to become entrepreneurs,
innovators, and creative thinkers through an action-based curriculum involving real-life projects. Our
students aim to found firms right after graduation or become intrapreneurs within well-established
firms.
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING FORUM 2012 PAGE 17
THE ECOSYSTEM
Successful venture creation programs almost always seem to be part of a larger entrepreneurial eco-
system. It is outside of the scope of this folder to describe the multitude of types of actors here, but
below is a good example of an important kind of ecosystem actor.
AIMS AND METHODS
The IC² Institute is a research unit of The
University of Texas at Austin, that investi-
gates the processes for wealth creation
and tests best practices in real-world con-
text. The Institute examines how regions
enrich entrepreneurial ecosystems, ac-
celerate high tech development, and enter
global markets. Local champions across
business, academia, and industry sectors
are brought together to help develop a re-
gional vision and determine “next steps”
to leverage their assets to overcome chal-
lenges. Training programs help mentor
individuals and “teach the teachers” so
that a widespread sustainable economic
impact can be realized. Particular focus is
placed on moving technologies from the
laboratory to the market, moving technol-
ogy companies into the global market, and
helping communities reach critical mass
for regional wealth creation. Key goals of
the Institute include: developing human
capital, growing sustainable civil societies,
catalyzing global economic networks, and
accelerating wealth creation.
BACKGROUND
Dr. George Kozmetsky, co-founder of Tele-
dyne, former Dean of the McCombs Busi-
ness School, and winner of the National
Medal of Technology, established the IC²
Institute in 1977 with the vision that sci-
ence and technology provide the basis for
enterprise growth and economic develop-
ment. In the 1980’s, the Institute was an
important catalyst across academia, gov-
ernment, and business, in Austin’s eco-
nomic transformation from a government-
oil-agricultural model to that of a globally
recognized high technology center. Les-
sons learned were articulated in the Aus-
tin Model, which continues to provide a
research base for much of the Institute’s
work.
KEY PARTNERS
Technology innovation is often the result
of interdisciplinary research, and IC² helps
support Endowed Fellows across the UT
Austin campus. IC² also works with more
than 160 Global Fellows who, with the
IC² Institute staff, provide a wide variety
of in-depth expertise. The Austin Technol-
ogy Incubator provides sector-specific
assistance for member companies in the
areas of IT, Clean Energy, Wireless, and
Biotechnology. Master’s degree programs
in Technology Commercialization are cur-
rently offered in Austin, Mexico, Poland,
Russia and Australia. Research programs
to improve regional economies are cur-
rently underway in Mexico, India, Colom-
bia, Portugal, Russia, South Korea and
Norway.
ACHIEVEMENTS
IC² Institute regional programs help accel-
erate high technology growth and create
high quality jobs. The Austin Technology
Incubator has worked with more than 200
companies to secure more than $750 mil-
lion in venture capital. Hundreds of stu-
dent interns have worked in this “labora-
tory” for venture creation. The Institute has
provided technology commercialization
training in Mexico, Brazil, Russia, the Ca-
nary Islands, Portugal, Poland, Hungary,
Kazakhstan, India, China, Australia, and
many regions across the United States.
KEY CHALLENGES
“The challenge of technology innovation in
the globally competitive era is: How can
each region and nation individually and in
concert with others, manage technology
creatively and innovatively to reap the ben-
efits of sustained economic growth.” – Dr.
George Kozmetsky, Founding Director,
IC2 Institute
FUNDING
The IC² Institute is a non-profit organiza-
tion. IC² projects are funded by govern-
ment, academic and business partners.
Some of the Institute’s core functions are
funded by IC² endowments. The Austin
Technology Incubator works closely with
city, state, and national organizations that
help supplement programmatic expenses;
only the Bureau of Business Research re-
ceives state educational funds. Efforts are
underway to increase endowments to ex-
pand research efforts.
CONTACT
Dr. David V. Gibson, Associate Director
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.ic2.utexas.edu
THE IC² INSTITUTE
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, USA:
Innovation, Creativity & Capital: A research unit at The University of Texas at Austin, the IC² Institute
investigates the processes of wealth creation. Emphasis is placed on moving technologies from the
laboratory to the market, moving technology companies into the global market, and helping regions
establish critical mass for high-technology cluster development. The Institute takes lessons learned
worldwide and leverages best practices against emerging and developing economies. Major pro-
grams include the Austin Technology Incubator, the Bureau of Business Research, the Global Com-
mercialization Group, and Central Research with Endowed & Global Fellows, Visiting Scholars, and
Publications.
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING FORUM 2012 PAGE 18
ELF PARTICIPANTS
Representatives from all of the described programs in this folder met in Gothenburg in June 2012 at
the inaugural Entrepreneurial Learning Forum, hosted by Chalmers University of Technology. The aim
was to establish a community for the pioneers of this kind of programs, in order to discuss, share and
make more sense of experiences, knowledge and expertise. Below is a list of participants, and also
some relevant literature on venture creation programs written by the participants and others.
STEFFEN FARNY AALTO UNIVERSITY
FABIAN SEPULVEDA AALTO UNIVERSITY
ANNE DONNELLON BABSON COLLEGE
DAVID ANDERSSON CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
VIKTOR BRUNNEGÅRD CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
KRISTINA HENRICSON CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
MARTIN LACKÉUS CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
MATS LUNDQVIST CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
KARL PALMÅS CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
KAREN WILLIAMS MIDDLETON CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
GREGORY GRAFF COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY
CARL HAMMERDORFER COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY
JOAN LOCKYER COVENTRY UNIVERSITY
TOMAS KARLSSON LUND UNIVERSITY
HANS LANDSTRÖM LUND UNIVERSITY
MARIE LÖWEGREN LUND UNIVERSITY
JOAKIM WINBORG LUND UNIVERSITY
STEVE H BARR NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY
ROGER DEBO NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY
PASCAL RENARD PROGRAMME WALLON ESPRIT D’ENTREPRENDRE
FRANK JANSSEN UNIVERSITÉ CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN
NIGEL ADAMS UNIVERSITY OF BUCKINGHAM
BOO EDGAR UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG
KARL MAACK UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG
PAMELA NOWELL UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG
JOHN THOMPSON UNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD
DAVID GIBSON UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
LENE FOSS UNIVERSITY OF TROMSÖ
FEDERICO LOZANO UNIVERSITY OF TROMSÖ
ELIN OFTEDAL UNIVERSITY OF TROMSÖ
Barr, S. H., Baker, T., & Markham, S. K. (2009).
Bridging the Valley of Death: Lessons Learned
From 14 Years of Commercialization of Tech-
nology Education. Academy of Management
Learning & Education, 8(3), 370-388.
Boocock, G., Frank, R., & Warren, L. (2009).
Technology-based entrepreneurship education:
meeting educational and business objectives.
The International Journal of Entrepreneurship
and Innovation, 10(1), 43-53.
Hedner T, Edgar B, Maack K, Abouzeedan A;
Innovation and entrepreneurship curricula in a
Swedish university setting - Theoretical, tacit
and narrative learning aspects, In innovation
and entrepreurship in Universities; ed M-L
Neuvonen-Rauhala Proceedings of the 3rd in-
ternational FINPIN 2010 Conference Joensuu,
Finland, April 25-27. 2010 pp 150-162
Janssen, F., Eeckhout, V., & Gailly, B. (2007).
Interdisciplinary approaches in entrepreneur-
ship education programs. In A. Fayolle (Ed.),
Handbook of Research in Entrepreneurship
Education, Volume 2 (pp. 148-165). North-
ampton: Edward Elgar.
Kingon, A. I., Thomas, R., Markham, S. K.,
Aiman-Smith, L., & Debo, R. (2001). An inte-
grated approach to teaching high technology
entrepreneurship at the graduate level.
Lackéus, M., & Williams-Middleton, K. (2011).
Venture Creation Programs: entrepreneurial
education through real-life content. Paper
presented at the Babson College Entrepre-
neurship Research Conference (BCERC)
2011 Syracuse.
Meyer, A. D., Aten, K., Krause, A. J., & Metzger,
M. L. (2011). Creating a university technology
commercialisation programme: confronting
conflicts between learning, discovery and
commercialisation goals. International Journal
of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Manage-
ment, 13(2).
Ollila, S., & Williams-Middleton, K. (2011).
The venture creation approach: integrating
entrepreneurial education and incubation at the
university. Int. J. Entrepreneurship and Innova-
tion Management.
Rasmussen, E. A., & Sørheim, R. (2006).
Action-based entrepreneurship education.
Technovation, 26(2), 185-194.
Thursby, M. C., Fuller, A. W., & Thursby, J.
(2009). An Integrated Approach to Educating
Professionals for Careers in Innovation. Acad-
emy of Management Learning & Education,
8(3), 389-405.
SOME REFERENCES ON VENTURE CREATION PROGRAMS
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING FORUM 2012 PAGE 19
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING FORUM 2012
In this folder, venture creation programs are
defined as follows: “An entrepreneurship
or business education program at a higher
education institution with a pedagogy
firmly based on the creation of a real-life
venture as their primary learning vessel,
with intention to incorporate or in some
other way indicate future operative status”.
VENTURE CREATION PROGRAMS

doc_832586306.pdf