Entrepreneurship

This course is designed to provide an introduction to economics, an introduction to entrepreneurship, and an understanding of the linkages between economics and entrepreneurship. Students will apply these concepts to the assessment of opportunities that might arise from participation in WPI projects. Students will engage in exploring how economics and entrepreneurship can inform opportunity assessment within an ambiguous and uncertain context. These decisions are always made with incomplete information and there is typically no single correct answer but rather multiple possible answers — each with pluses and minuses. Students may not earn credits for both ECON 2910/ETR 2910 and ECON 291X/ETR 29IX

In the modern competitive and global world confronting today’s engineers, innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) are increasingly important perspectives for every engineering career. Individuals proficient in I&E are likely to possess unique competitive advantage over those who do not. This course develops the foundation for developing such proficiency by examining the functional roles of the business/commercial aspects of engineering disciplines as well as establishing a basis for innovative thinking. Specific cases where I&E has led to new products innovation and new enterprise development will supplement course materials.

This course will introduce students to the concept of social entrepreneurship and the ways in which social entrepreneurs are addressing complex social problems with their entrepreneurial ventures. Students will be exposed to the challenges and rewards of running a social enterprise. They will learn valuable business and entrepreneurial tools that can be applied to the design of sustainable social business models. Topics include social opportunity recognition and evaluation, business models in the social sector, social impact assessment, the double-bottom line, scalability of solutions, organizational forms and structures, and social venture financing.
This course will be offered in 2021-22, and in alternating years thereafter.

Selling is a major part of business life, but it is especially important for those who are launching a new venture. They need to sell their business plan to potential investors. Later they need to sell their product or service to a customer. Ultimately they need to create an organization that is focused on meeting customer and other stakeholder needs through effective selling disciplines. This course will examine the elements of the sales cycle in terms of preparation, market research, prospecting, objection handling, closing, techniques for motivating the sales professional and formulation of strategy for the successful selling transaction. As part of the course students will be required to prepare individual sales presentations, one to secure investment for a new venture and one to sell a product or service to a customer. Guest speakers may be used on topics such as sales coaching, inside sales management, and to deliver sales effectiveness training.

This course is designed to foster an understanding of entrepreneurship in the context of innovation and the global economy. It also provides the theoretical and practical knowledge for the preparation of business models. The course includes opportunity identification, team formation, capital and other resource acquisition, exit strategies and other aspects of new venture creation.

One of the most troublesome aspects of entrepreneurship is running the business once it is started. This course focuses on techniques to grow the new venture and how to manage both the growth and operations. Considerable emphasis will be placed on expanding existing markets, finding new markets, anticipating the next generation of products, and managing cash flow.