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Course profile

Lean Start up for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (EIBS7311)

Study period
Sem 2 2024
Location
St Lucia
Attendance mode
In Person

Course overview

Study period
Semester 2, 2024 (22/07/2024 - 18/11/2024)
Study level
Postgraduate Coursework
Location
St Lucia
Attendance mode
In Person
Units
4
Administrative campus
St Lucia
Coordinating unit
Business School

The Lean Start-up method provides a structured approach for developing new ideas into successful innovations that solve real customer problems. Failure to solve real problems is why 95% of start-ups and more than 80% percent of new products fail. As a result, not only start-ups but also organisations from small non-profits to large multinational enterprises are increasingly adopting the Lean Start-up method to test and refine their ideas.

In this capstone course, you will learn the Lean LaunchPad, a specific variation of the Lean Start-up, as a structured approach to minimise the risks of failure and increase the chances of success when transforming ideas into reality. You can work on your own idea or on ground-breaking technologies developed by partner organisations. You will create a business model based on in-depth customer interviews, rapid prototyping and agile development. You will also gain a holistic understanding of the Lean LaunchPad approach in different contexts by sharing learnings with your peers.

This Capstone course has been designed to give students a unique experience in the best practice process of how to unlock or create value either by solving an unresolved problem (Puzzle) or taking a new disruptive idea to market (Mystery). Using a bespoke UQ method called Humble Discovery, students will be trained in the logic and method and associated tactics and tools drawn from design thinking, lean start-up, ethnography, anthropology and behavioural science. Students will use Humble Discovery to develop an innovative Business Model which can be executed through a start-up, existing organisation or a not for profit pathway or partnership. ᅠ


Students will work on a project throughout the course that can either be based on a problem or opportunity the student identifies or a project presented by the lecturer. To excel at this course and the Humble Discovery method students should undertake 50+ interviews and conversations with stakeholders. If done correctly, this will facilitate the acquisition of empathy and understanding with stakeholder's unsatisfied aspirations, unresolved pain and/or unrealised gains. Once empathy is realised, students will design and develop a solution and integrated delivery business model that unlocks or creates value better than any other business model in the market.


Students spend the majority of the course undertaking stakeholder interviews and running experiments to gain data, evidence and confidence they are solving the right problem or discovering if the proposed solution is desirable. The results from these interviews and experiments will gradually help students build up a Business Model Canvas (BMC). Assessment will be based on the students engagement with the Humble Discovery process, the insights they discover and their ability to translate their empathy and insights into strategies to design, a desirable, feasible and viable business model. Students will present their insights in class every 2 weeks. Students will complete the semester with a detailed BMC with all the assumptions they have and have not yet tested, the insights they have collected and the rationale for their BMC assertions.


The course coordinator and Lecturer is the UQBS Entrepreneur in Residence and Industry Professor, Cameron Turner. See Bio below

Cameron is a serial entrepreneur and works with corporations, entrepreneurs, investors and research agencies to commercialise inventions and ideas via new business models. Cameron has extensive experience working with start-ups, innovators and researchers to take game-changing ideas to market. Cameron has founded four high-tech start-ups to commercialise world first innovations based on university research including:

  • Progel Pty Ltd, commercialising a food, supplement and pharmaceutical micro encapsulation technology;ᅠwww.progel.com.au
  • Aussie Colours Pty Ltd, releasing new drought proof, flowering ornamental plant varieties;ᅠwww.aussiecolours.com.au
  • Bioherbicides Australia Pty Ltd, taking a biological herbicide to market that controls woody weeds of national significance;ᅠhttp://www.bioherbicides.com.au
  • Perkii Pty Ltd, launching a range of scientifically advanced, patented probiotic drinks,ᅠwww.perkii.com.au

Feel free to contact me on cameront@uq.edu.auᅠor 0437448773.

Course requirements

Prerequisites

You'll need to complete the following courses before enrolling in this one:

8 units of level 7 Business School or relevant interdisciplinary courses

Incompatible

You can't enrol in this course if you've already completed the following:

EIBS7305 or 7307

Course contact

Course staff

Lecturer

Timetable

The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.

Additional timetable information

Please note: Teaching staff do not have access to the timetabling system to help with class allocation. Therefore, should you need help with your timetable and/or allocation of classes, please ensure you email business.mytimetable@uq.edu.au from your UQ student email account with the following details:

  • Full Name
  • Student ID
  • Course Code

Aims and outcomes

The aim of this course is for students to learn how to use the Lean start-up and Lean Launchpad tools and processes necessary to create a successful start-up company using a validated Business Model Canvas. The goal is for students to master these processes, thus the requisite skills and experience to form a start-up company with the best chance of success. Furthermore,ᅠstudents will gain problem-solving and customer development skills that will be useful in any field of endeavor.

Learning outcomes

After successfully completing this course you should be able to:

LO1.

Create a validated Business Model Canvas.

LO2.

Evaluate the potential for a new business opportunity.

LO3.

Create a compelling presentation to convince a wide range of customers, investors and stakeholder of the potential for a new business opportunity.

LO4.

Create and articulate a new business opportunity by exploiting unaddressed customer problems and opportunities.

LO5.

Evaluate and validate or invalidate assumptions and hypotheses with a diverse range of customers about a range of problems and solutions.

Assessment

Assessment summary

Category Assessment task Weight Due date
Paper/ Report/ Annotation, Presentation Humble Discovery Opportunity Presentation
  • Team or group-based
  • In-person
40%

9/09/2024 2:00 pm

Presentation, Reflection Insight and Empathy Reflection
  • In-person
20%

21/10/2024

Paper/ Report/ Annotation, Project Final Business Model Report
  • Team or group-based
40%

4/11/2024 2:00 pm

Assessment details

Humble Discovery Opportunity Presentation

  • Team or group-based
  • In-person
Mode
Oral, Product/ Artefact/ Multimedia
Category
Paper/ Report/ Annotation, Presentation
Weight
40%
Due date

9/09/2024 2:00 pm

Other conditions
Peer assessed.

See the conditions definitions

Learning outcomes
L02, L05

Task description

Students will be required to personally present a slide deck including:

  1. Business Model Environmental Map (BMEM) Analysis - an analysis of the external Trends and forces influencing the creation of the new Business Model
  2. External Discovery – Situational analysis of context, research, innovations and challenges
  3. Humble Discovery – Qualitative interviews and observations of stakeholders
  4. Experiments – In-person and online experiments to identify and engage stakeholders to gain and test assumptions and insights. 


Detailed Description

  • BMEM - Business Models exist and are relevant at a specific point in time. When developing a business model one must take into account the current context and environment the business model will exist in. This assessment will require students to complete a detailed Business Model Environment Map (BMEM) including an analysis of:
  1. Key Trends
  2. Industry Forces
  3. Market Forces; and
  4. Macroeconomic Forces
  5. Students should highlight the most relevant insights gained through this analysis and how they are relevant to their project.
  6. A detailed overview of the BMEM is available in class resources


  • External Discovery – New products, services and business models exist and are relevant at a specific point in time. When endeavouring to challenge the status quo one must consider the past, present and emerging context and environment.

 Students should assemble a cohesive analysis of the status quo context by:

a.  Identifying the top 5 organisations and the 5 fastest growing start-ups/social enterprises solving the relevant problem or exploiting a relevant opportunity.

b.  Analyse scholarly literature reviews to identify current and emerging challenges, trends and opportunities.

c.  Create an ecosystem map, identifying all the key stakeholders and the relationships between them

Students should summarise the most relevant insights and how they relate to their project.


  • Humble Discovery - Thick Data is the best method for mapping unknown territory as it provides something External (Big) Data explicitly does not — inspiration. The act of collecting and analysing stories produces insights. Thick Data uses qualitative, ethnographic methods to uncover people’s emotions, stories, and models of their world. It’s the sticky stuff that’s difficult to quantify. It only requires a small sample size which can deliver an depth of meanings and stories.

a)  Conduct a minimum of 20 in person interviews (not surveys) across at least three types of stakeholders including customers, users, beneficiaries, economic buyers, decision-makers and saboteurs to identify unsatisfied social, emotional and functional jobs and unrealised opportunities.

b)  Present 2 customer empathy maps. One for the primary consumer, user, beneficiary and one for the first best customer, economic buyer.

 

  • Experiments - Demonstrate how you have used experiments to identify and engage relevant stakeholders to test assumptions and gain insights. Examples of no cost experiments are found in Module 4 and include:

·      A very basic landing page

·      A simple LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok or Reddit post

·      Online or in-person seminars, webinars and focus groups

·      An Immersion experience (see IDEO’s Field Guide to Human Centred Design)

·      Stakeholders diary (see module 4)

·      Any tool described in the Stanford Pretotype table (see module 4)

·      Get potential users and customers to look at or try a low-fidelity MVP

·      Use your imagination


AI Statement

This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst students may use AI technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance.

A failure to reference generative AI use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

To pass this assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written (and or audio visual) submission independent of AI tools.

Students cannot have any audio visual (ie AI generated avatar) presenting any part of their assessment. 

Submission guidelines

Students will be required to

  1. Present an extract of their assignment in class
  2. Upload a copy of their slides and
  3. Upload an audio-visual recorded presentation of their slides
Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 7 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

Insight and Empathy Reflection

  • In-person
Mode
Oral, Product/ Artefact/ Multimedia
Category
Presentation, Reflection
Weight
20%
Due date

21/10/2024

Other conditions
Student specific.

See the conditions definitions

Learning outcomes
L03, L04

Task description

Assignment 2 - Stakeholder Journey and Reflection Presentation

Every student will present in class an extract of their pre-recorded audio visual enabled presentation including:

1. A contrast between the current Status Quo (BAU) Business Model of incumbents you will be disrupting or usurping and your proposed new Business Model.

NB: Use the below format

1.  Ways to present the business model canvas: avoiding mistakes and delivering a killer presentation (strategyzer.com)

2.  Strategyzer Webinar: Ways To Present The Business Model Canvas - YouTube

2. Final customer foothold personas and empathy maps for your final

1.  consumer/user/beneficiary

2.  customer/economic buyer

3. A Reflection on the three biggest insights you discovered about:

1.  Your project - Describe the most surprising insights you learned about your target customer(s) functional, social and emotional Jobs to be Done;

2.  You - How has the course changed your understanding of yourself,  your motivations, decisions and behaviours? How will this capstone experience impact your future work and life?

Presentations should go for 7-8 minutes

Please Note: The presentation will be recorded for marking purposes.

AI Statement

This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst students may use AI technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance.

A failure to reference generative AI use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

To pass this assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written (and or audio visual) submission independent of AI tools.

Students cannot have any audio visual (ie AI generated avatar) presenting any part of their assessment. 

Submission guidelines

Students need to:

  1. present a summary of this assignment in class
  2. upload a copy of their slides; and
  3. upload an audio-visual enabled presentation of their slides.


Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 7 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

Final Business Model Report

  • Team or group-based
Mode
Product/ Artefact/ Multimedia, Written
Category
Paper/ Report/ Annotation, Project
Weight
40%
Due date

4/11/2024 2:00 pm

Other conditions
Peer assessed.

See the conditions definitions

Learning outcomes
L01, L02, L03

Task description

Assignment 3 – Final Written Report

The submission must contain all the assumptions, evidence of validation and details of insights gained from data collection and synthesis and convergence of BMEM and customer interviews and observations. Essentially this final report is a compilation of the entire semester's work and should be able to stand alone with a prospective investor, partner or customer and offer a compelling rationale to act. 


The final report will include:

Humble Discovery insights - The journey from the start to the end including:

  • How your understanding of your stakeholders changed through the semester
  • Your final Foothold Persona for
  1. Consumer/user/beneficiary
  2. Customer/Economic Buyer/Decision maker; and
  • Evidence from interviews, observations and experiments validating Problem-Solution Fit.
  • Interview data - A table listing all the interviews undertaken and the associated insights gained.


Experiments and MVP’s - Outline all the experiments and MVP's used to identify target customers, test solutions, gain evidence of problem-solution fit, validate or invalidate assumptions and demonstrate your first best customers' and relevant stakeholders willingness to engage and act.


The Final Business Model including:

·      Detailed description of each of the 9 BMC segments which includes evidence your Business Model is desirable, feasible and viable;

·      An evaluation and justification of how your business model rates against the Strategyzer Innovative BMC Assessment Questions for Leaders; and

·      How your business model is different to the prevailing Business Model of competitors. 

 

All interview Data needs to be documented including:

  • the date, name and demographics of the interviewee
  • the insights gained from the interview


AI Statement

This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst students may use AI technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance.

A failure to reference generative AI use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

To pass this assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written (and or audio visual) submission independent of AI tools.

Students cannot have any audio visual (ie AI generated avatar) presenting any part of their assessment.

Submission guidelines

Upload the assignment through the Blackboard Turnitin link.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 7 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

Course grading

Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.

Grade Cut off Percent Description
1 (Low Fail) 0 - 29

Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes.

2 (Fail) 30 - 46

Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes.

3 (Marginal Fail) 47 - 49

Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes

4 (Pass) 50 - 64

Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes.

5 (Credit) 65 - 74

Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes.

6 (Distinction) 75 - 84

Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes.

7 (High Distinction) 85 - 100

Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes.

Additional course grading information

Grades will be allocated according to University-wide standards of criterion-based assessment.

Supplementary assessment

Supplementary assessment is available for this course.

Learning resources

You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.

Library resources

Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.

Learning activities

The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.

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Learning period Activity type Topic
Week 1
Seminar

Understanding and influencing human behaviour – For good

At the outset, we're going to dive straight into the main purpose of innovation. Spoiler alert – It’s not about making you rich. Innovation is the engine that drives the advancement of humanity, for better and worse to be honest. We’re going to dive into the different types of innovation, from small incremental to large and transformational. We will also learn that innovation requires influencing humans to change their behaviour, which is probably one of the hardest things you will ever try. But the best and only place to start is to acquire empathy and understanding with UQ's proprietary approach called Humble Discovery.


Students will present projects to the class outlining either a problem or a solution/idea they want to explore. Students can work on their own or in a team.

Learning outcomes: L02, L05

Week 2
Seminar

Discovering and Understanding your Who

This week we will explore the logic, methods, tactics and tools an innovator needs to be able to navigate through the ambiguity and uncertainty of the innovation process. We will introduce you to the field of ethnography; understanding people and their worlds and how you can use it to develop and deliver products and services that users, customers and stakeholders will use and love. In order to develop a new intervention that solves targeted stakeholders' problems or unlocks new value we need confidence and evidence we are solving the right problem or building something people will use. This week we will explore how to gather this evidence.

An overview of the requirements for Assignment 1 will be provided.

Learning outcomes: L01, L02

Week 3
Seminar

How do you discover problems worth solving and opportunities worth creating?

So how do we discover the right problems to solve and the best new opportunities, products and services to create that people will love? This is the most important question in the process of innovation and entrepreneurship and the hardest skill to develop. This week, we're going to learn how to interact with lots of people in such a way to “discover” their problems without asking them directly and “create” new opportunities they will love.

Learning outcomes: L03, L04, L05

Week 4
Seminar

Identifying Insights, Testing Assumptions and Finding Stakeholders

Perhaps the biggest discovery we’ve made about challenging the status quo is that we need to test every assumption and do not proceed until we have validated or invalidated our assumptions. People are complex so this task is difficult. However, many methods, tools and tactics have been developed to enable innovators to test whether their understanding of their stakeholders and associated problems, solutions and opportunities are valid. This session will introduce you to a series of tools and tactics to increase your capacity to discover real problems needing solutions and strategies to exploit new opportunities. 

Learning outcomes: L04, L05

Week 5
Seminar

Experiment workshop and Students present an update of their Humble Discovery Insights

  1. This session will be a hands-on workshop to build digital and analogue experiments including a landing page, apps, wireframes and physical artifacts which can be used to test assumptions and hypotheses and gain insights into your stakeholders' problems, latent aspirations, hopes, dreams, fears, driving and restraining forces.
  2. Students present an update of their Humble Discovery Insights

Learning outcomes: L02, L05

Week 6
Fieldwork

UQ Ventures Visit

At UQ Ventures St Lucia, students will hear about the extensive UQ Start-up support programs. Presentations will be made by UQ Ventures staff, the iLab start-up accelerator Entrepreneur in Residence and past iLab alumni. Students will have an opportunity to pitch their start-up project idea.

Learning outcomes: L04, L05

Week 7
Seminar

Past Student Presentations and Guest speakers

Past Lean Start-up students will present their final project summary and what they learned throughout the course.

Learning outcomes: L02, L04

Week 8
Seminar

A Desirable, Feasible and Viable Business Model

The Business Model Canvas (BMC) was developed as a tool to describe and prototype how new and established organisations can differentiate, design and describe their business model. While the term business model has been standard management vernacular for decades, if not longer, the advent of the BMC by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur and the subsequent incorporation of the BMC into Steve Blanks’ Lean Launchpad start-up methodology firmly entrenched the BMC as an enduring artifact in strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship teaching and practice. 

Learning outcomes: L01

Week 9
Seminar

Assignment 1 Summary Presentation

Students will be required to present a summary of:

1. Humble Discovery insights incl 2 x empathy maps and Customer Foothold Persona.

2. Their use of multiple MVP's and experiments to identify and engage relevant stakeholders.

Learning outcomes: L03, L05

Mid Sem break
No student involvement (Breaks, information)

In-Semester Break

No Class

Week 10
Seminar

Creating Disruptive Business Models

Guest Lecturer this week - details to be announced on Blackboard

Alex Osterwalder’s company Strategyzer has gradually been refining a series of tools that enable innovators, entrepreneurs and game changers to use the BMC to invent new business models. This culminated in their latest book “The Invincible Company”. While it’s primarily designed to help established organisations innovate to avoid disruption, chapter three is particularly relevant for game changers and innovators looking to invent new disruptive business models.

Learning outcomes: L01

Week 11
Seminar

Consultations with Lecturers - NO CLASS (Seminar):

There is no Class this week. Students are encouraged to make an appointment with the Lecturers to discuss their project.

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Learning outcomes: L01

Week 12
Seminar

Viability, Scalability and Communicating (Seminar):

  1. Fundraising via 3 F’s, Bootstrapping, Grantstrapping, Angel, VC and Strategic equity investment, Reverse ASX listing, Franchising, crowdfunding and philanthropy.
  2. Pricing strategies to increase customer lifetime value (CLV) and ensure profitability and therefore scalability and viability.
  3. Pitching and communicating for stakeholder engagement and funding support

Learning outcomes: L01

Week 13
Seminar

Final Project Reflection

Students will present to the class a summary of their project and personal reflection

The presentation must include:


A Reflection on the three biggest insights you discovered about:

1.  Your project - Describe the most surprising insights you learned about your target customer(s) functional, social and emotional Jobs to be Done;

2.  You - How has the course changed your understanding of yourself,  your motivations, decisions and behaviours? How will this capstone experience impact your future work and life?

Learning outcomes: L02, L04, L05

Policies and procedures

University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:

Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.