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Creating and Developing a Tech Startup
  • Level Foundation
  • Duration 11 hours
  • Course by École Polytechnique
  • Offered by

About

This course will allow you to identify and evaluate opportunities for creating a tech business, and to better understand its principal issues on a human, technical, commercial, environmental and financial level. As such, you will obtain solid foundations either for building your own tech business, or for joining one. Deciding to create or to join a tech business in these early years is an out-of-the-ordinary adventure, and it certainly won’t be straightforward: you need to be ready to accept that not all "good" ideas will lead to success, and that only a very small number of projects lead to great success. You must learn to overhaul your relationship with failure, which is a valuable source of experience and should be managed according to the logic of “acceptable loss”: the entrepreneur loves uncertainty, not excessive risk. The creation of tech businesses gives you a genuine opportunity to change the world, but requires you to adopt a particular state of mind and to be able to acquire knowledge, know-how and interpersonal skills. You will have the chance to work alongside passionate and exciting people from a whole multitude of backgrounds. From a technological point of view, these women and men have constructed numerous companies of a global scale. The development trajectory of a tech business is full of mishaps which require you to be both agile and greatly prepared to build on a strong idea, choose your market, develop your proposal, assemble a team worthy of the task in hand, and finding financing. The course is made up of methodological sessions as well as first-hand accounts from entrepreneurs and people who have succeeded in creating tech businesses themselves. You will thus be able to get to know the essential dilemmas with which high-tech business creators are confronted with, beginning with the initial decision to set up your very own structure, which itself represents a significant life decision. You will also see that the creation of a tech business is much more a collective adventure than an individual one. In the English version, all of the reading content, quizzes and assesments will be in English, whilst the videos will have French audio and English subtitles.

Modules

Module 1: From laboratory invention to formulation of an innovative concept

    • 5 Videos
    • 2 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
Show info about module content

1 Assignment

  • Week 1

5 Videos

  • 1.1 Introduction
  • 1.2 From laboratory research to the decision to create an innovative company: the experience of a researcher-entrepreneur.
  • 1.3 Innovative design, a mix of methods and practices stemming from “sciences of the artificial”.
  • 1.4 Creating an innovative company with several associates: what are the selection criteria?
  • 1.5 Methods and recommendations for defining and assessing an opportunity to create a tech company.

2 Readings

  • Syllabus
  • Biography Week 1

Module 2: Fostering the development of your concept

    • 7 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
Show info about module content

1 Assignment

  • Week 2

7 Videos

  • 2.1 Introduction
  • 2.2 The key steps to bringing an innovative project to fruition.
  • 2.3 The fundamentals of the company’s strategy.
  • 2.4 Innovative strategies: the typology and value perceived by the  customer.
  • 2.5.1 The challenges of intellectual property to exploit an innovation 1/3
  • 2.5.2 The challenges of intellectual property to exploit an innovation 2/3
  • 2.5.3 The challenges of intellectual property to exploit an innovation 3/3

1 Readings

  • Biography Week 2

Module 3: Identifying the actors of technological innovation

    • 5 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Week 3

5 Videos

  • 3.1 Introduction
  • 3.2 From science to industry: the purpose of a technology transfer service.
  • 3.3 From PhD to a navigation startup: the case of Sysnav.
  • 3.4 Building a team, the key to success for a startup.
  • 3.5 The outlook in social sciences research for entrepreneurs.

1 Readings

  • Biography Week 3

Peer Reviewed Assessment

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 PeerReview
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1 Peer Review

  • « Sounds Good » Project

1 Videos

  • Teaser Sounds Good

Module 4: How to calculate your financial needs and to find funding

    • 9 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
Show info about module content

1 Assignment

  • Week 4

9 Videos

  • 4.1 Introduction
  • 4.2.1 An overview of your financing needs and financial sources for innovation 1/4
  • 4.2.2 An overview of your financing needs and financial sources for innovation 2/4
  • 4.2.3 An overview of your financing needs and financial sources for innovation 3/4
  • 4.2.4 An overview of your financing needs and financial sources for innovation 4/4
  • 4.3.1 What leads an individual to fund a tech startup? 1/2
  • 4.3.2 What leads an individual to fund a tech startup? 2/2
  • 4.4 From wavelet theory to the “Let It Wave” startup: financing the launch.
  • 4.5 How does a venture capital fund decide to finance a breakthrough technology?

1 Readings

  • Biography Week 4

Module 5: Defining your business model

    • 6 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
Show info about module content

1 Assignment

  • Week 5

6 Videos

  • 5.1 Introduction
  • 5.2 Making the leap from the academic to the business world: a researcher/entrepreneur explains.
  • 5.3 From the technology to the value proposition and business model.
  • 5.4 The business plan: its importance and limitations for the creators of an innovative company.
  • 5.5.1 From the creation of a startup to the IPO: the example of Cellectis 1/2
  • 5.5.2 From the creation of a startup to the IPO: the example of Cellectis 2/2

1 Readings

  • Biography Week 5

Module 6 and 7: End of the course and final exam

    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Final exam

Auto Summary

Dive into the world of tech entrepreneurship with "Creating and Developing a Tech Startup," a foundational course in Business & Management. Led by Coursera, this 660-minute course equips you with the skills to identify and evaluate opportunities for tech ventures, covering human, technical, commercial, environmental, and financial aspects. Ideal for aspiring entrepreneurs or those looking to join a tech startup, the course features methodological sessions and insights from successful tech founders. Available with Starter and Professional subscriptions, it includes English content and quizzes, with French audio and English subtitles for videos. Join and transform your tech startup dreams into reality!

Romain Beaume
Instructors

Romain Beaume

Etienne Krieger
Instructors

Etienne Krieger