Startup entrepreneurship
training in and for academia
Your guide to effective entrepreneurship
training for researchers
European Entrepreneurship Competence Framework
The European Commission has developed EntreComp: the European Entrepreneurship Competence Framework as a reference framework to explain what is meant by an entrepreneurial mindset.
EntreComp offers a comprehensive description of the knowledge, skills and attitudes that people need to be entrepreneurial and create financial, cultural or social value for others.
EntreComp is a common reference framework that identifies 15 competences in three key areas that describe what it means to be entrepreneurial.
At its very simplest level, EntreComp is made up of 3 competence areas: Ideas & Opportunities, Resources, and Into Action. Each area contains 5 competences, and together these make up the 15 competences that individuals use to discover and act upon opportunities and ideas:
- Ideas & Opportunities: Spotting opportunities, Creativity, Vision, Valuing ideas, Ethical & sustainable thinking
- Resources: Self-awareness & self-efficacy, Motivation & perseverance, Mobilising resources, Financial & economic literacy, Mobilising others
- Into Action: Taking the initiative, Planning & management, Coping with ambiguity, uncertainty & risk, Working with others, Learning through experience.
Managing engineering skills and careers with the Engineering Ladders framework
Engineering Ladders is a practical framework for setting up the levels of skills of each position in an engineering team and for managing career advancements in tech companies and startups. It considers different perspectives and roles of the positions in the context of the following dimensions:
- technology (knowledge of the tech stack and tools),
- system (level of ownership of the system),
- people (relationship with the team),
- process (level of engagement with the development process) and
- influence (scope of influence of the position).
The framework uses radar charts to distinguish between 4 different ladders: developer, tech lead, technical programme manager and engineering manager.
The ladders are defined by the qualitative levels in each dimension. For example, one can adopt, specialise, evangelise, master or create a technology; a position can assume one of the following capabilities regarding the system concept: to enhance, to design, to own, to evolve and to lead. Other different levels/skills are assigned to the dimensions of people, process and influence.
More Entrepreneurial Life at European Schools - providing resources for entrepreneurship education at universities
The More Entrepreneurial Life at European Schools (MELES) project was implemented from 2014 to 2017 within the ERASMUS+ framework to provide effective tools to improve the entrepreneurial skills of students in the fields of science and engineering at European universities. Five universities within the EU contributed to it. The project’s main objective was to prepare a comprehensive and coherent educational product which would introduce entrepreneurial-skills oriented courses to the curricula of the institutions that had no or small experience with entrepreneurship teaching. The MELES entrepreneurship course shared through an e-book allows students and teachers alike to develop skills neglected in the curriculum. It introduces unconventional and innovative methods of teaching to shape hard business skills such as recognising the market, preparing a business model, product design and services based on customer strategy development, attracting investors or protecting intellectual property. Besides, it shapes soft skills necessary for every entrepreneurial graduate, namely: cooperation in multi-disciplinary teams, leadership and presentation techniques.
Once basic entrepreneurship skills are acquired, students who want to move forward with creating a venture are likely to expect more than a simple evaluation of a business model or plan by a supervisor. They will rather expect actual support to get access to the resources they need. This observation by the MELES project partners led to the development of the “Academic Business Coach Handbook” in a subsequent project. It provides guidelines on how to structure a tailor-made process to embark on with the team, guiding aspiring entrepreneurs with management tools towards a position where they can start their business.
Currently the MELES partners are involved in a 34-month project with the goal to develop an educational chatbot ready to deliver an entrepreneurship course for Generation Z students.
Academic programmes for startup entrepreneurs
Students often complain that their universities do not offer practical, (hands-on, action-based, experiential, applied) courses in entrepreneurship, and that many courses are still taught in the traditional way of lectures and business cases. Should universities provide more practical kinds of training? Increasingly, the answer given by students (and their families) to this question is positive.
The belief is that entrepreneurship should not be taught in the conventional way.
Some of the example bachelor, master and PhD programmes nurturing startup and entrepreneurship careers are listed below.
- European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) - Budapest, Hungary
- EIT Digital Doctoral School - work on concrete cases and industries, with top researchers, gain knowledge to develop new disruptive methods and technologies;
- EIT Food PhD Education - gain essential business creation skills and knowledge with Training Bootcamps, Mentoring, Corporate Site Visits, Global Networking Events and Pitch Competitions;
- EIT Health PhD Education - develop skills and gain knowledge in the medical, engineering and entrepreneurship fields;
- EuroTech University Alliance - a coalition of 6 European universities (Technical University of Denmark (DTU), École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), École Polytechnique (l’X), Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), and Technical University of Munich (TUM)) which strives to build and scale new venture programmes in the high tech field;
- Prague University of Economics and Business - enrol in the Ph.D. Programme Management and Managerial Economics (MMEE) to do research concerning entrepreneurship, SME, supply chains, organisational behaviour, etc. The university cooperates with a number of business ecosystem organisations, including venture capital funds, banks, law firms, and marketing agencies and thus brings real-life experience to complement the theoretical knowledge;
- Master in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (University of Luxembourg) - Four semester programme for BA students with professional experience and MA students . Its aim is to provide graduates, among others, with the ability to expand entrepreneurial and innovative skills, acquire inter-organisational skills and the ability to access resources as well as networks in Luxembourg to start a venture. The last semester is dedicated to creating an individual business plan.
List of startup courses and mentorship programmes in academia for master studies:
- EU Business School - Barcelona, Spain; Geneva, Switzerland; Montreux, Switzerland; Munich, Germany - The course lasts for 1 year and all classes are in English. Once the course is completed, the student gets the university master’s degree accredited by Universidad Católica de Murcia (UCAM);
- ESCP Business School – Paris, France; Berlin, Germany - The course lasts for 1 year, and classes are held in English and French and the minimum requirement for acceptance is a Bachelor's degree (240 ECTS) without professional experience, but only 30% of applicants without any experience get accepted. The programme focuses on students’ project development with the help of an incubator to get the project off the ground;
- MS Start-up management and E-commerce at Digital College - Paris, France; Lyon, France; Pérols, France - The course lasts from 1 to 2 years and classes are held in French, partly online and partly onsite. The specific work-study programme is set up in order to offer everyone the choice to set off on their own with the newly accumulated knowledge. At the end of the programme, one gets an MBA degree;
- Masters in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Vlerick Business School – Ghent; Leuven; Brussels, Belgium - The course lasts for 2 semesters (September – June) and classes are held in English, including practical courses, electives, workshops, bootcamps and a startup accelerator. Over two months, students apply everything they have learned in a real innovation consultancy project of their choice in a startup or scaleup – or by launching their own startup;
- High-Tech Entrepreneurship programme at Harbour Space University – Barcelona, Spain - The course lasts for 1 year and classes are held in English and include startup accelerators, venture builders, and real-world experience;
- Trinity College Dublin - Business School – Dublin, Ireland - The course lasts for 1 year and classes are held in English. The skills that this programme develops are in the realm of how to better start a new venture, finance new startups, support new enterprise development or scale and grow existing businesses;
List of startup courses and mentorship programmes in academia for bachelor students:
- Modul University (Specialisation: Entrepreneurship & Leadership) – Vienna, Austria - The course lasts for 3 years and classes are held in English for international students. This university has a specialised startup hub (incubator and accelerator program) in the food and beverage, hospitality and service industries;
- Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences – Amsterdam, Netherland - The university campus has its own startup centre where students can develop ideas and exchange valuable experience in an international environment;
- Ducere Global Business School - Swansea, United Kingdom - The course lasts for 2-3 years and all classes are held online in English. Through classes of Applied Entrepreneurship, Capital Raising and Business Model Development, students can get basic knowledge and skills on what it takes to start a new venture;
- IFM Business School – Geneva, Switzerland - The course lasts for 3 years and classes are held in English. Graduates of this programme are ready to create a startup, transform a business, and develop an SME or a family business;
- University of Southern Denmark - Sønderborg, Denmark - BSc students of the Engineering, Innovation and Business programme place emphasis on developing complementary sides of engineering and entrepreneurship with a wide variety of classes in stem fields and specialised ones;
- Estonian Entrepreneurship University Of Applied Sciences (EUAS) – Talin, Estonia - has an English language curriculum named Software Development and Entrepreneurship which lasts for 3 years. The combination of software development and new venture building is supported by the most successful Estonian software companies such as Columbus Estonia, Ericsson Estonia, and Playtech.
Management courses and engineering curriculums
When it comes to management knowledge for bachelor studies in engineering and stem fields, options are very limited. But as early as one gets a bachelor’s degree, one can enroll in various curriculums that specialize in management in engineering. Those programmes are aimed at synergising the previously stored knowledge of an engineer with practical and theoretical experiences in management. The programmes which are at students' disposal are diverse and have the goal to prepare students for the future position in big corporations as well as in new venture projects where multi-disciplinary and wide-angle approaches are of utmost importance.
Those programmes usually consist of a 1 year period of theory studies in accounting, logistics, knowledge concerned with HR and overall building the leadership skills essential for the position of an “idea and new value creator”.
Some of the examples of outlooks of relevant curriculums that combine engineering with entrepreneurship are listed below.
- University College London (UCL): Engineering with Innovation and Entrepreneurship. This degree programme is designed to give graduates technical, managerial and entrepreneurial skills and knowledge and equip students to develop innovative engineering products and solutions. It combines excellent engineering education in areas that are key to developing new technologies with modules in project management and entrepreneurship. These are combined to equip students with the fundamentals and skills required to manage innovation.
- University of Dundee: Industrial Engineering and Entrepreneurship. The School of Science and Engineering and the School of Business offer the programme for the development of skills, knowledge and understanding of specialized industry focused engineering and fundamental management subjects. On the engineering side, there are many subjects, including advanced robotics, where multi-modal sensor integration and human-robot interactions are learned, and advanced manufacturing, where modern and smart manufacturing technologies are investigated. On the management side, project management processes, leadership and decision making are practiced, giving a key understanding of the roles and responsibilities of leadership. The University of Dundee has also a partnership with CERN, creating opportunities for industrial placements, PhDs and graduate positions.
Business experience is a key training component
One of the most important external factors that can affect the number of startup activities as well as the number of startup successes is the experience gained through education in academia.
Academia and startup worlds are not that different, and academics can have great success in the world of startup, but they need to be given access to scientific capital and resources, to the social capital of the research team and to business experience.
Business experience gained through collaboration with industry, contracted research, and engagement in industry-oriented research projects can achieve far better results than the classical methods of educating students, because it is easier to learn through the “learning-by-doing” method.
By familiarising Ph.D. students with the real-world business environment, it is more likely that they will be encouraged to start their own businesses and startups after their studies.
Scientific capital of academia such as: availability of physical and financial resources, capacity to purchase equipment and material, skills of the research supervisor as well as their ability to make the education process interesting and engaging for students, can make students more interested to engage in startup activities, or turn them away from those ideas.
Academic social capital is defined as the ability of a university to engage in collaborative activities with external research teams. Social capital can facilitate Ph.D. entrepreneurship because students can get access to a wider audience if the research is presented to the broader network, they can widen their network of people and relations, which may help them with startup activities, they will grow their open-mindedness, and develop broader research perspectives.
Research shows that Ph.D. students engage in startup and entrepreneurial activities when they have access to quality business experience. The explanation is that students’ engagement in real-world scenarios and the application of their research in a business context have a positive impact on their choice to become entrepreneurs, therefore industry collaboration increases the probability of startups. On the other hand, if the access to the scientific capital is vast, startup activities of Ph.D. students decrease, because the progress of academic careers in those kinds of universities is facilitated and almost guaranteed.
Scientific and social capital have positive effects on the startup activities of Ph.D. students, only when combined with quality business experience, which enhances their role and brings positive results.
Although the startup world is very interesting to younger Ph.D. students, as the majority of entrepreneurs are young people, studies show that the success of a startup is conditioned by knowledge, prudence and experience of the founders and employees, with between 75-90% of failures of startups attributed to lack of experience.
Double star of a successful academic programme - mentee-mentor relationship
The joint learning experience by mentor and mentee is a new challenge for academia, industry and society, reflecting the importance and recent emphasis on innovation and entrepreneurship as drivers of economic growth.
Empirical findings on the mentee-mentor relationship reveal several insightful results. For example, data suggests that while the age and gender of mentees and their mentors appear to have no effect on mentoring outcomes, implicit beliefs about personality and the malleability of entrepreneurial skills between the mentee and the mentor is shown to matter.
In particular, a growth mindset (the belief that people can learn most abilities) is found to be a predictor of satisfaction with the programme and with the mentor relationship.
Further, university and non-university programmes have several noteworthy differences regarding the formal procedures around setting up and managing the mentee-mentor relationship. The vast majority of university programmes list “giving back” as motivation for mentors to participate (80% of respondents). In every context, the most sought-after qualities in a mentor are: being trustworthy, empathetic, a good listener and an effective communicator. Most programme administrators name mentor availability as the biggest challenge in the university programmes (56% of respondents). The next most critical challenge is effectively managing the mentor/mentee relationship. Programmes with the most effective mentors have a strong culture of mentoring and learning that is created by programme leaders and mentors. There is a strong commitment to invest in mentors who participate because they want to give back, learn and teach (mentees and other mentors). There is a sense of community built around shared values. Mentees with a growth mindset (i.e., those who believe that successful entrepreneurs have skills that can be developed and learned) are more satisfied with the mentoring and with the entrepreneurial programme more broadly.
Entrepreneurial programmes are therefore advised to seek a growth mindset as a marker of desirable personality in mentees, and to instil the growth mindset, e.g. through introductory mentoring training and regular programme reminders and tips.
Which academic programmes produce the most startups?
Only a few EU countries use more than 2% of GDP on research and development (R&D). One of the significant consequences is that the number of open positions available in academia is quite low.
The talent pipeline is now evolving towards academia-industry backbone, with entrepreneurship being an important career choice. This is why more and more universities cherish the entrepreneurship and startup culture in their study programmes.
The list below shows the top 5 university undergraduate programmes producing most startups (based on the data in the period from 2006 to mid-2020, published by PitchBook (financial data and software company) (full list can be found here).
- Stanford University, California, US (1258 companies founded, 47.8 billion dollars raised);
- University of California, Berkeley, US (1225 companies founded, 36.3 billion dollars raised);
- MIT, Massachusetts, US (985 companies founded, 33.4 billion dollars raised);
- Harvard University, Massachusetts, US (988 companies founded, 41.2 billion dollars raised);
- University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, US (932 companies founded, 22.6 billion dollars raised);
All of them are from the United States. Here are some of the universities that are not from the US, and were found on the rankings of PitchBook:
- Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel (673 companies founded, 16.1 billion dollars raised)
- Technion – Israel Institution of Technology, Haifa, Israel (509 companies founded, 12.4 billion dollars raised);
- University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada (375 companies founded, 12.9 billion dollars raised);
- McGill University, Quebec, Canada (373 companies founded, 10.7 billion dollars raised);
- Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel (353 companies founded, 7.9 billion dollars raised);
- Tsinghua University, Beijing, China (263 companies founded, 24.3 billion dollars raised);
- Ben Gurion University, Beersheba, Israel (251 companies founded, 4.5 billion dollars raised);
- Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland (254 companies founded, 4.8 billion dollars raised);
If we look at MBA (Master of Business Administration) programmes, some competitive European schools are:
- INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France (569 companies founded, 14.1 billion dollars raised);
- London Business School, London, UK (285 companies founded, 4.7 billion dollars raised);
- University of Oxford, Oxford, England (118 companies founded, 1.5 billion dollars raised);
- ESADE Business School, Barcelona, Spain (13 companies founded, 20 million dollars raised);
The following European institutions are among the top 10 business schools in the Global MBA Rankings 2021: HEC Paris, Jouy-en-Josas, France; INSEAD Paris; Singapore, France; London Business School, UK; IE Business School, Madrid Spain.
Successful academic programmes engage entrepreneurs as mentors and teachers
Universities must be in contact with experienced and successful entrepreneurs. This can be done by inviting experienced entrepreneurs to work with universities on establishing a good startup support system as well as to work and help startups directly.
This concept is often called an “Entrepreneur-in-Residence Program” (EIR), where even entrepreneurs see it as the opportunity to learn and grow themselves, as well as network and meet other well-established entrepreneurs and prominent scientists.
For universities, EIR can be structured in a way that every experienced entrepreneur has a few weeks, or several months to work with a startup, after which the next experienced entrepreneur comes in. This is done because each entrepreneur has different ideas, and strategies, and different ways of doing business. By giving students different experiences, through work with different experts, the possibility for students to find what works for them is maximised (read more).
Digital libraries as a tool for open science and open knowledge for better training
Accessibility and transparency of information and data crucially support research and researchers. The importance and relevance of Digital libraries (DL) and accompanying activities for researchers is presented in the publication “Digital Libraries: Supporting Open Science”; it highlights that public investments in the DL field are one of the core drivers of research.
LIBER Europe - Association of European Research Libraries connects and represents research libraries in Europe by engaging stakeholders throughout research at the European and local levels.
LIBER's mission is to enable world-class research not only through webinars and events but also through different programmes that help researchers to deal with whatever new challenges are on their way, whether digital, financial, or societal.
In addition, LIBER works with academic communities on metrics and incentives to support more open, transparent, and fulfilling research and scholarly practices, which really makes it a good practice. The significance of free access to information, as well as to events and webinars, is displayed by LIBER through free access to recordings on a wide range of topics, from Artificial Intelligence to Copyright, Digital Preservation, Research Data Management, and Open Access.
Start your own digital library by using tools such as “Greenstone”. The Greenstone digital library software is open-source software that is freely available, with features such as multi-platform availability for Windows, Linux, Access, distribution through the Internet or Intranet, powerful indexing from full-text, creation of indexes for various metadata, powerful search and browse options, support for different file formats (html, pdf, doc rtf, ppt etc), extensibility by allowing customization and configuration. This software empowers users (especially universities, libraries and other public service institutions) to build digital libraries. Greenstone is issued under the terms of the GNU General Public Licence.
Training opportunities in the EOSC Digital Innovation Hub
The EU's digital strategy aims to make this transformation work for people and businesses, to analyse and assess the technological readiness of your company and explore the IT solutions aligned with your business strategy. EOSC (European Open Science Cloud) Digital Innovation Hub (DIH) in partnership with DIHNET EU facilitates collaboration between DIH and the pan-European network of networks. EOSC DIH provides services in several areas starting with piloting and co-design, technical assets, training, and support and visibility.
Through EOSC DIH, many training options in the field of business, including digital business skills and others, are presented. In addition, EOSC DIH offers free training materials, which include useful webinars on various topics such as funding for innovation, technology transfer models, intellectual property rights as well as business internationalisation.
Private companies supporting knowledge sharing
There are many examples of private firms focused on business and innovation support that provide free access to learning resources truly valuable for entrepreneurs.
The Board of Innovation is a quality resource for the organisation of entrepreneurial learning. It is a business design and innovation strategy firm, which supports organisations to undergo fundamental shifts and changes through the development of growth strategies and innovation capabilities.
The company provides free access to many different entrepreneurial learning resources, via their blogpost, tools (hands-on, easy-to-use, actionable innovation tools), guides (including examples, templates, and agendas), webinars and staff picks (selection of books, tools, podcasts, guides, and more).
Outlook of an academic course related to startup entrepreneurship - an example
Masters in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Vlerick Business School programme contains two parts (action learning and personal development), which eventually synergise to develop the student as a complete professional.
The course on the Fundamentals of Running an Innovative Company provides the knowledge in accounting, management in the tech field, entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial financing and venture scaling.
Creative thinking and creative design skills are taught in the first phase in the Idea Generation and Idea Conversion course and are afterwards further developed through subjects such as Innovation Process Management, Technology Foresight and Strategic Perspective on Growing from Venture to a Corporation.
The Idea Diffusion course consists of skills and knowledge concerned with digital marketing and marketing new products.
Professional Management Skills are very important for personal development as well. Some of the emphasized ones will answer the questions like:
- How to negotiate to create value?
- What career skills are essential in innovation and technology entrepreneurship?
- How to present the idea efficiently and effectively?
Action Learning consists of various challenges, study cases and exploration of disruptive models (Silicon Valley tour) in effort to connect the academic knowledge with the real world situations and practices. The main challenges in Action Learning are creating startup or consultancy projects and testing the acquired knowledge.
There are also elective courses students can take from February until June and they are:
- AI with Deep Learning and Natural Language Processing
- Business Development and Sales
- Data Management and Cloud Platforms
- Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship
- Gaming and Esports
- Leadership Skills in an Agile World
- Family Business
- Managing Risk to Maximize Opportunity
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Organizational Design: Turning Strategy into Organizational Structuring
- Social Entrepreneurship
- Strategy Implementation and Change
- Sustainable Growth Strategies (The European Green Deal)
- The Leader as Negotiator
- Turning Supply Chain Management into a Competitive Advantage
Students can also partake in versatile boot camps which are aimed at imparting practical knowledge via student teams cooperation and case studies in Fintech, Healthcare, Renewable Energy, Global Supply Chains management, as well as Code Camp and Data Science for Financing and Strategy.
The knowledge and skills gained through this Master's programme are deemed as more than adequate by various industries as:
- 95% of students get employed within the first 3 months of graduation
- 48% with a job in innovation
- 26% start their own venture
- 40+ enroll as startup/scaleup recruiters
- 75% work in IT, Consulting and Fast-moving consumer goods industries.
Learn about startups around the clock and anywhere
When in a startup business, one’s learning takes place all the time and everywhere. Fast learning gives you a competitive advantage, especially in the innovation playground.
Podcasts are one of the best ways to keep up with the latest trends, tools, methods, markets, strategies, and tactics.
Most commonly, the podcasts relevant to startup entrepreneurship present success stories by the top entrepreneurs, brilliant minds, or simply, business celebrities, and thus, they provide inspiration and advice. There are literally hundreds of podcasts addressing the needs of startup founders. Find below several most common types of content, with some examples. The examples are only illustrative, they are not necessarily recommended, use the types below to find the exact podcast you need.
There are many podcasts that provide a behind-the-scenes look into the journey of successful entrepreneurs and how they built their multi-million dollar companies. One example of such podcasts is How I Built This with Guy Raiz. Masters of Scale by Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn co-founder) tests and discusses his theories about business with successful founders of iconic companies, including Netflix, Uber, Airbnb, Facebook, PayPal, and others. The podcast also includes talks of leadership, strategy, management, and fundraising.
Another group hosts founders and venture capitalists in in-depth interviews offering a view to the startup sectors from the top of the mountain, including useful advice on how to get funding from angel investors. One of the examples is Below the Line with James Beshara. Angel Podcast hosts angel investors to uncover their secrets to selecting winners as well as the winning strategies for funding seekers.
There are many educational podcasts, sharing some of the best lessons, concepts, examples, and insights from the startup ecosystems, including practical tips and advice related to starting and growing a business. An example of such a podcast is The $100 MBA Show with Omar Zenhom. Inside Intercom Podcast offers different expert perspectives in the fields of product management, design, startups, and marketing and strategies on how to scale your company. Business Growth Podcast by Spencer Shaw takes a specific approach, where each of the episodes addresses a specific problem and offers solutions to the problems businesses face along the way to success. If you want to learn only about marketing, Growth Marketing Toolbox by Nicholas Scalice is the podcast for you. It hosts marketers, product creators, startup founders, marketing technologists and talks about growth marketing tools, tactics, and strategies they create, market, and use.
