Course Syllabus

Prerequisites

Fall 2019 matchmaking

Course Description

In this course you will get an opportunity to work closely with a Danish Start-up, and to experience firsthand what challenges young companies are struggling with in getting their products and services to market. The practicum will not only focus on the specific challenges faced by your assigned start-up, and its competitors in their respective spaces, but also very much on your own personal journey into the entrepreneurial lifestyle. 

Over the past several years, starting your own company has increasingly become a legitimate and viable career option available to college students. In most universities and business schools, entrepreneurship courses are being developed and student engagement in the community is being encouraged. This course should be seen as an extension of this global trend. 

The appeal of the entrepreneurial lifestyle is often based on preconceived notions derived from success stories and dreams about the free and creative life. People long for the freedom from self-serving bosses, corporate politics, formal dress codes, constraining cubicles and repetitive tasks. Who wouldn’t want to be the next Mark Zuckerberg? 

The truth is, however, that the likelihood of success with a new start-up is small, the working hours are long, the pay is limited, and the insecurity is very tangible. Moreover, though start-up culture is generally contrasted with the constraints of cooperate culture, it is not nearly as easy as it may seem. Virtually everything about the start-up environment is different than the corporate environment. Where the corporate model is about efficiencies and execution, the entrepreneurial model is about establishing identity, constant iteration, creative problem-solving, and “managed chaos”. One requires a certain kind of skill set to excel in this environment. This is an important part of what this practicum will allow the students to experience. 

Learning objectives of the course

By the end of this course you will:

• Gain hands-on entrepreneurial experience with a local Danish start-up in Copenhagen
• Experience the practical challenges of working in a start-up environment
• Learn how to leverage your academic strengths, your personality, and your personal network to add value to your assigned start-up
• Have experiences with real-life cases stemming from local Danish start-ups and entrepreneurs
• Have a well-rounded view of the pros and cons of working in a start-up environment
• Have an understanding of the structure of the industry that your start-up is operating in, its competitive landscape, and changing dynamics
• Have gained experience working in a start-up environment characterized by fluid job descriptions, changing priorities, flat hierarchies, and high requirements on flexibility and engagement
• Have gained experience with the difficulties in managing time and expectations, negotiating tradeoffs, and prioritizing tasks in an ever-changing environment
• Be able to reflect on your personal abilities, and your self-efficacy as an entrepreneur

Required texts

Read, Stuart, et.al. : Effectual Entrepreneurship, 2010 (to be picked up from the library during arrivals week)

Godin, Seth: The dip: a little book that teaches you when to quit (and when to stick), 2007 (to be picked up from the library during arrivals week) + Various articles, which will be posted on Canvas. 

Faculty

Morten King-Grubert. Master (International Business, Aarhus University, 2006), credits from Vienna University of Economics and University of California, Los Angeles. Danish born globalist, who has studied, lived and worked abroad for more than 7 years. Previous: Senior Export Advisor to the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Teamleader and Head of Innovation & Business Development at Copenhagen Capacity, Managing Director Creamfinance Denmark. Currently: Senior Strategic Advisor at Stockholm based start-up Future Place Leadership. With DIS since Fall 2014.

Email:kinggrubert@gmail.com

Approach to teaching & expectations of the students

As its name indicates, this is a practicum, meaning that the majority of your learning will take place in your work with your assigned start-up. The sessions in class will primarily be to incorporate the real-life experiences you will gain from your assigned start-up into entrepreneurial theory and practical case studies. This will be done on two levels: (1) framing the content of your experience through an introduction to the different start-ups, their competitive landscape and challenges, and (2) framing your personal journey through an introduction to the concepts of “effectual entrepreneurship” and “entrepreneurial selfefficacy”. Throughout the semester there will be status reports and peer-to-peer workshops where you can share your experiences and give each other advice.  

The start-ups with which we will be partnering fall in many different categories and are both tech and nontech. Prior to the semester start, you will be asked to submit a cover letter and prioritize which fields you are interested in working with. You will be matched based on your interests and your cover letter.  There will typically be one or two students assigned to each start-up. You will be required to contribute 5 hours per week to the start-up, and to manage this time efficiently. Your exact function will be determined on a case by case basis, and in dialogue with the start-up. It is important that you are proactive, and take part in determining your tasks, setting expectations, and deciding on the tangible output to be expected at the end of the semester. These elements/negotiations are expected to be clearly accounted for in your weekly blog posts including a time log. Since start-ups are not (yet) corporations, you should not expect a set schedule and guided supervision. These functions are, simply put, not available at this early stage of company growth. HR departments and industrial working hours are NOT what characterize start-ups. In other words, it will be up to you and your inter-personal skills to carve out a place for yourself in the start-up, and to make yourself useful to the best of your abilities. The engagement with the start-up will be a combination of physical presence at their office facilities (if applicable), remote collaboration, and possible participation at networking events and sales meetings. 

Grading

To be eligible for a passing grade in this class you must complete all of the assigned work.

Academic Regulations

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:

• Course Enrollment and Grading
• Attendance
• Coursework, Exams, and Final Grade Reports

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