In the garage students from different universities have the opportunity to develop their own business idea and to learn how to form an idea/technology into a sound business concept. Thereby, students learn how to apply techniques and methods of how to build-up a successful start-up company in an early phase based on best-practices from leading entrepreneurs. Students will start out with an idea/technology and will merge into an interdisciplinary team. Once teams have been built, students are guided step-by-step through the process of developing a rough concept into an attractive business idea. Special emphasis lies on the iterative nature of developing a business.

!! The team with the most promising business model has the chance to participate in the 1-week long entrepreneurial event "Virginia Tech Global Entrepreneur Challenge" in the USA (http://www.vtkwglobal.com/2019/challenge) and win up to 45,000$. Due to great support of the TUW International Office and the Entrepreneurship Center Network, participation for the selected team is almost free of charge (based on eligibility criteria, limitations and  winning an internal competition)!!

*** Please check registration modalities for information on how to be admitted to the class ***

In this highly interactive course students learn what it takes to start a successful business in a "real life" scenario.

After completing the course, students will know how to:

from a content perspective:

•  ..search, recognize & assess business opportunities
•  ..enrich business ideas by applying appropriate tools & techniques
•  ..discover customers & their needs
•  ..evaluate the ecosystem around business ideas
•  ..create profitable & sustainable business models
•  ..apply creativity techniques in an appropriate way
•  ..deal with high-tech

from a project management perspective:

• ..structure a fuzzy project & to tackle uncertainty
• ..break down complex tasks into manageable modules
• ..deal with several stakeholders at once
• ..manage different ways to target & to arrive at a decision
• ..nail down the relevant project outcomes in a business proposal

 from a team management perspective:

• ..learn how to effectively handle interdisciplinarity
• ..work in teams efficiently by incorporating the strenghts of each team member into the process
• ..cope with different work styles, opinions & perspectives

from a communication perspective:

•  ..engage in vivid discussions & interactive group sessions
•  ..present project outcomes in different environments & for different target groups (e.g. expert jury, team members, etc.)

*** Please pay attention to the following administrative specifics ***

The website https://teamup.com/kstrg26xscni27xmd7 contains ALL DATES & DEADLINES of this course!

It is essential that you bookmark and/or subscribe to this website!

*** Please check registration modalities for information on how to be admitted to the class ***

Will be presented in class.

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY

In order to be admitted in this course, you need to (1) register to the course and (2) send a motivation letter in which you state:

• what is your reason for wanting to take the course

• what prior knowledge you have about business development models, idea generation techniques and other relevant knowledge (please include if you have done workshops, summer schools or similar on the subject)

• what prior practical experience you have had in the field of entrepreneurship and innovation (please list if you were a founder/co-founder of  other companies or you have worked in the start-up scene)

Please send your motivation letter by March 6th, 2019 3pm CET (in a short and concise form, maximum 1 page) via email to dragos.vasilescu@tuwien.ac.at with the email header [E&I Garage Application]. Late responses are NOT honored. The notifications for acceptance or rejection will be e-mailed to the same e-mail addresses.

The motivation letter will count as a part of the final grade for the class.

***Please announce IMMEDIATELY if you want to withdraw your application so you give a chance to others to join if you cannot.***

Course language is English -> switch language of this page to English (top of this page)