Course coordinator
Mr Cameron Turner
Course overview
- Study period
- Semester 2, 2024 (22/07/2024 - 18/11/2024)
- Study level
- Postgraduate Coursework
- Location
- Brisbane City
- Attendance mode
- In Person
- Units
- 2
- Administrative campus
- St Lucia
- Coordinating unit
- Business School
This capstone course is designed to enable students to integrate all of the capabilities that they have built in the MBA program to execute an entrepreneurship project. Lean startup techniques are in widespread use for developing the business models that all new ideas need to succeed. This approach originated in the technology startup sector, but it is now in widespread use not just there, but in research commercialisation, social enterprise and corporate innovation programs. Students with interests in all of these areas can use this course to build a validated business model to support an innovative new idea. The course content is based on the Lean LaunchPad approach developed for use by the National Science Foundation in the US. Students will use in-depth customer development interviews, rapid prototyping, and agile development to develop their business models.
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 work on a project throughout the course which 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 over the semester. 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 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 observations and running experiments to gain data, evidence and confidence they are solving the right problem or creating an opportunity people will love. The insights from the qualitative and quantitative data and experiments will gradually help students build up a Business Model Canvas (BMC). Assessment will be based on the student’s 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 Cameron on cameront@uq.edu.auﾠor 0437448773.
Course requirements
Prerequisites
You'll need to complete the following courses before enrolling in this one:
MBA accelerated mode: 14 units completed; MBA part-time and streamlined modes: 16 units completed
Restrictions
GCBA, GDipBA, MBA
Course contact
Course staff
Lecturer
Mr Cameron Turner
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 Entrepreneurship Capstone has been designed to give business professionals a unique experience in the best practice process of how to unlock or create value from an idea and or how to solve the right problem. Using a bespoke integrated curriculum incorporating design thinking, ethnography, customer discovery, lean start-up and agile tools to develop a validated Business Model which can be executed through a start-up, existing organisation or a not for profit pathway or partnership. ﾠ
ﾠ
Learning outcomes
After successfully completing this course you should be able to:
LO1.
Develop a scalable, desirable, viable and feasible Business Model that solves unresolved problems and/or satisfies unrealised aspirations
LO2.
Co-create and or unlock value with and for customers, beneficiaries and the wider community
LO3.
Develop a business model and execution strategy that engages and attracts investors, customers and stakeholders.
LO4.
Build empathy with a broad range of stakeholders through qualitative interviews, asking the right questions, using ethnographic observation techniques and testing assumptions with experiments.
Assessment
Assessment summary
| Category | Assessment task | Weight | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Presentation | Humble Enquiry and Business Model innovation | 40% individual |
9/09/2024 3:00 pm |
| Presentation, Reflection |
Assignment 2 - Stakeholder Journey and Reflection Presentation
|
20% Individual |
21/10/2024 3:00 pm |
| Paper/ Report/ Annotation, Project |
MVP’s, The Customer and Business Model Journey
|
40% |
6/11/2024 3:00 pm |
Assessment details
Humble Enquiry and Business Model innovation
- Mode
- Oral
- Category
- Presentation
- Weight
- 40% individual
- Due date
9/09/2024 3:00 pm
- Learning outcomes
- L02, L04
Task description
Assignment 1 – Humble Discovery - Big and Thick Data (Presentation)
Each student will be required to submit a pre-recorded personally presented slide deck including:
- External Discovery – Situational analysis of context, trends, research, innovations and challenges
- Humble Discovery – Qualitative interviews and observations of stakeholders
- Experiments – In person and online experiments to identify and engage stakeholders to gain and test assumptions and insights.
- 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.
2. 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.
3. 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 submit a copy of their slides and a pre-recorded Presentation of their slides as an MP4.
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.
Assignment 2 - Stakeholder Journey and Reflection Presentation
- In-person
- Mode
- Oral, Product/ Artefact/ Multimedia
- Category
- Presentation, Reflection
- Weight
- 20% Individual
- Due date
21/10/2024 3:00 pm
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L03, L04
Task description
Assignment 2 - Stakeholder Journey and Reflection Presentation
Each student will present a pre-recorded audio visual enabled presentation including:
Final customer foothold personas and empathy maps for your final:
1. consumer/user/beneficiary
2. customer/economic buyer
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?
Please Note: The presentation will be recorded for marking purposes.
Presentations should go for 5-7 minutes
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 present in class and also submit a pre-recorded version of their presentation to BB.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
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.
MVP’s, The Customer and Business Model Journey
- Team or group-based
- Mode
- Product/ Artefact/ Multimedia
- Category
- Paper/ Report/ Annotation, Project
- Weight
- 40%
- Due date
6/11/2024 3:00 pm
- Other conditions
- Peer assessed.
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02, L03, L04
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 External analysis, customer interviews, observations and experiments. 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
- Consumer/user/beneficiary
- 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.
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 assignment through the Blackboard Assessment 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.
Filter activity type by
Please select
| 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 and do. 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: L01 |
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: L02, L04 |
Week 3 |
Seminar |
How to 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: L01, L02 |
Week 4 |
Seminar |
Identifying Insights, Testing Assumptions and Finding Stakeholders Perhaps the most important discovery we’ve made about challenging status quo is that we need to test every assumption and do not process until we have validated or invalidated our hypothesis. People are complex so this task is difficult. However, a number of methods, tools and tactics have been developed to enable innovators to test if their understanding of their stakeholders and associated problems and solutions are validate or not. This session is going to introduce you to a series of tools and tactics to increase the scale and extent of your capacity to discovery real problems needing solutions and strategies to exploit new opportunities. Learning outcomes: L04 |
Week 5 |
Seminar |
Students present an update of their Humble Discovery Insights Students will provide the class a summary of where they are at with their Humble Discovery process. Learning outcomes: L02, L04 |
Week 6 |
Excursion |
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: L02 |
Week 7 |
Seminar |
Past Student Presentations and Guest speakers Learning outcomes: L01, L03 |
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, L03 |
Week 9 |
Seminar |
Assignment 1 Extract 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, L04 |
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, L03 |
Week 11 |
Seminar |
Consultations with Lecturers - NO CLASS There is no Class this week. Students are encouraged to make an appointment with the Lecturers to discuss their project. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L04 |
Week 12 |
Seminar |
Grow your company Funding, Pitching, Execution Viability, Scalability and Communicating (Seminar):
Learning outcomes: L01, L03 |
Week 13 |
Seminar |
Final Project reflection Students will present to the class a short reflection of their project and personal journey through this course. Learning outcomes: L01, L03 |
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:
- Student Code of Conduct Policy
- Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
- Assessment Procedure
- Examinations Procedure
- Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy and Procedure
Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.