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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "BUS 305-2"
COURSE NAME: "Early Stage Entrepreneurship"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall 2025
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Silvia Pulino
EMAIL: [email protected]
 HOURS: TTH 11:30 AM 12:45 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisite: Sophomore Standing
OFFICE HOURS: By appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course examines the entrepreneurial process, from recognizing opportunity to planning, organizing and growing a new venture. We will highlight innovation and its methods and applications on business opportunity analysis. Topics covered also include significance, status, problems, and requirements of entrepreneurial businesses. Students will have the opportunity to identify a business opportunity and develop the idea to the point of being start-up ready. This course will serve as a foundation for students who might want to own a business, and it is meant to be accessible also for non-business majors.
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

This course emphasizes a hands-on approach, involving students in their learning through a variety of methods. Lectures are used only when necessary, for less than a third of the class encounters. In addition, some of the classes are dedicated to guest speakers, and several classes will require the use of computers to develop a full set of budgeted financial statements.

Highlight of the course: a strong emphasis is placed on learning through doing. Throughout the course students will work in groups on their own business ideas, starting with the creative process and going through each step of idea validation and business plan preparation; this will include the design of a survey and administration thereof to 50-200 potential customers, research potential suppliers, design a prototype and conduct market and industry research in order to determine a strategy. The completed project will be presented by each team to an audience representing investors, using the elevator pitch format. 

Topics Covered:

Thinking entrepreneurially: mindset, motivation and behavior. Creativity, Opportunity, and Feasibility. Research and Validation. Value Proposition. Business Model. Marketing Strategy. Testing Key Assumptions. Funding the Venture. Pitching the Idea. Building and Growing the Company.

Course content will include materials related to identifying and analyzing market opportunities, evaluating resources required to exploit market opportunities, and launching a new venture. This process will be assessed mainly from the perspective of an individual entrepreneur.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

 

At macro level, after successful completion of the course the student will be able to identify new business opportunities and take the first steps towards implementing a business idea.

Specifically, students will apply their learning through a variety of activities designed to test their ability to:

·         Generate innovative business ideas

·         Systematically evaluate business ideas and feasibility studies

·         Understand key elements of a successful strategy

·         Conduct an industry analysis

·         Conduct a PEST analysis

·         Perform a competitive analysis

·         Recognize the importance of business plans and learn what the key building blocks are

·         Define a working business model

·         Strategically position a new venture

·         Formulate and deliver a persuasive elevator pitch

·         Understand the pillars of a good marketing strategy

·         Forecast sales

·         Preparing budgeted financial statements for the first three years of the venture

·         Identify the key legal aspects of starting a new business

·         Understand key aspects of human resource management in new ventures
TEXTBOOK:
NONE
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
EngagementThe engagement grade will reflect preparation as well as quality and frequency of participation. Class preparation will require students to read all the assigned material and explore the guiding questions provided in Moodle. Class participation will help students understand the material better and build confidence in public speaking. 15%
Elevator Pitch CompetitionAll students will participate in the university-wide Elevator Pitch Competition. The pitch will be assessed on innovation, thoroughness, presentation, and persuasiveness. 5%
Building BlocksThe Building Blocks are stepping stones towards the final project. Through the building blocks students apply the material learned to their own project. This work will underpin the final deliverables. For each assignment, students will work as a group to research, analyze and present their findings in the form of slides. The assignments in this category include: 1. Problem / Solution 2. Customer 3. Market 4. Financial projections 30%
Investor PitchStudents will present their business idea to a hypothetical group of potential investors. Performance will be judged on content, visual support, delivery, fielding of questions, and the questions asked of the other teams. Excellent work will exhibit all or most of the following characteristics: - Impeccably presented work - Viable business idea supported by a consistent business model - Evidence of thorough research and engagement with the field (talking to customers/suppliers/industry experts and development of prototype or minimum viable product) - Demonstrated ability to test assumptions, accept feedback, and adapt or amend the project accordingly - Strong team work 30%
Process PitchStudents will submit a reflection on the course and the learning process, in video format. They will be evaluated on the extent to which they have been able to learn a process for finding successful business models. To this end, students will walk through the iterations of their business model canvases throughout the course, telling the story of: - Assumptions they made along the way - How they tested those assumptions - What they changed in their business model as a result - What assumptions they want to test next - How well they understand their customers’ emotions - How much they have learned about their business model through experimentation - How well they understand the business model validation process This part of the assessment emphasizes skill development, valuing testing activities taking place “outside the building” as well as student engagement. How teams leverage the results of experiments is more important than whether the experiment succeeded.20%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.
-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:

Attendance is not graded, but an attendance bonus of up to 3 points will be given to students with 2 unexcused absences or less.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.
STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.
SCHEDULE

COURSE SCHEDULE AND ASSIGNMENTS

NOTE: This table is merely indicative. The definitive schedule is the one on MOODLE.

 

Date

Type

Content

 

 

Part I: Discovery & Team Formation

You are not starting with a product — you're starting with purpose, empathy, and real problems.

1

C

Introduction to the course

 

2

S

Self-Reflection: Internal resources, personal purpose, identifying whom they want to help

 

3

S

Team Formation: Speed dating, "hiring each other" mindset + Sam Altman

 

4

C

Problem Discovery: Framing needs, internal vs. external resources, starting with the problem

 

5

C

Opportunity Recognition

 

 

6

S

Teamwork & Project Management: Role clarity, expectations, team charters

 

 

 

Part II: Framing the Problem

Fall in love with the problem, not the solution

7

C

Problem Exploration: Tosca framework, 5 Whys

 

8

P

Presentation #1 – Team Problem Statements + Peer Feedback

 

9

C

Lean Startup Introduction + Business Model Canvas overview

 

 

 

Part III: Customer Discovery

Before building anything, understand the user and the system. The idea doesn’t start in your head — it starts in their lives.

10

C

Validating the problem

Observation and Interview Techniques

 

11

C

Jobs to Be Done

 

12

C

Brainstorming Session: Idea generation around validated problems

Solution brainstorming and value proposition

 

13

S

Advanced Teamwork: Pre-mortem, conflict resolution exercises

 

14

C

Elevator Pitch Competition

 

15

C

End user and DMU

 

16

C

No class – substituted by special lecture

 

17

C

Customer Journey

 

 

 

Part IV: Solution Development

Design with evidence. Iterate toward fit

18

C

Solution validation , MVP, Landing Page

 

19

C

Market Segmentation, beachhead market, TAM SAM SOM

 

20

C

Market Research and Competitor Analysis

 

21

P

Presentation #2 Need-solution-customer fit

 

22

C

Entrepreneurial Marketing and Selling

 

 

 

Part V – Designing the Business Model

 

23

C

Funding Sources: bootstrapping, grants, angels, VCs, crowdfunding

 

24

C

Revenue Model and Pricing Logic

 

25

C

Cost Structure

 

26

C

Preparing the Investor Pitch

 

27

P

Presentation #3 - Investor Pitch (teams 1 and 2)

 

28

P

Presentation #3 - Investor Pitch (teams 3 and 4)

 

 

 

FINAL EXAM