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Vlerick Business School Masters in Innovation & Entrepreneurship

⬤ 01. Structure of this Master Degree

From theory to practice - Interactive classes - Pragmatic, multidisciplinary approach - Insightful business simulations - Real-life cases and challenges

Highlights of the programme include:

  • Silicon Valley Disruption Tour: Discover what made Silicon Valley and the broader San Francisco Bay Area such a hub for new technologies and world-leading companies on this one-week study trip.
  • Deep Dive Challenge: Working with senior management, begin to link management theory and practice by working on challenges from a real-life business case.
  • Start-up Accelerator: Following the lean start-up approach you’ll build your own start-up – using the accelerator and testing all assumptions underpinning your intended business model. You’ll work alone or in a team – with the support of an experienced entrepreneur or investor.
  • Innovation Challenge: Assessing new technologies is a crucial part of the innovation process. In this challenge you’ll evaluate technology, identify the possibilities it offers an organisation and develop a plan to implement it.
  • Company or start-up project: Over two months, you’ll apply everything you’ve learned in a real innovation consultancy project of your choice in a start-up or scale-up – or by launching your own start-up.

Highlights of the programme include:

  • My Vlerick Development Portfolio: Gain insight into your own strengths and weaknesses, be challenged to reflect and take actions to improve.
  • Management Skills Seminar:  Join us for three days off campus to focus on leadership development and the management skills you need for the digital age.
  • Diversity and inclusion: Understand your own assumptions, biases and preconceived ideas about how the world works – or should work. Discover which behaviours are acceptable, open your mind – and begin to develop a broader world view.
  • Career Coaching: Stay aligned to current global job market as you gain the skills, insights and instincts to make a difference and explore your true potential.

⬤ 02. Strengths of this Master Degree

Strategic Management of Technology: What? • Understand the interaction between technological revolutions and financial capital • Distinguish between the different types of IP • Weigh in on the decision to keep R&D results confidential (trade secret) or to file for patent protection • Identify elements to strengthen an IP portfolio • Avoid IP pitfalls • Design IP-based business models for techno-ventures

How?

• By running a technology foresight exercise

• By following a real invention from conception to patent grant

• By discussing whether copyright rules are adapted for the digital age

• By zooming in on case studies prepared by the European Patent Office

• By identifying non-traditional trademarks that target us as consumers

• By designing and negotiating technology licensing contracts

⬤ 02. Strengths of this Master Degree

Entrepreneurship: What? • Understand the essence of entrepreneurship • Explore and identify new venture opportunities in a more systematic way • Understand the importance of a business model for new venture creation • Evaluate the viability of a new venture idea and understand how to finance it • Develop and pitch a business case for a new venture

How?

• By developing and pitching a business plan in front of potential investors

• By receiving hands-on coaching in New Venture Labs to improve your business case

• Through testimonials of successful entrepreneurs and their lessons learned

• By analysing in detail different aspects of the new venture creation process using real cases from across the globe

⬤ 02. Strengths of this Master Degree

Accounting for Innovation & Entrepreneurs: What? • understand the basics of financial accounting and the necessary compliance requirements for a start-up to prepare its’ financial statements • focus on relevant start-up and accounting for innovation challenges, such as accounting for inventories, the valuation of intangibles such as patents and goodwill, understanding cashflow streams for start-ups and the impact of finance decisions on equity and debt reporting • understand the use of management accounting information that helps entrepreneurs and innovation managers to make better decisions and realize financial and societal value over time • focus on break-even analysis, the design of costing systems, the use of budgeting and planning for scale-ups and finally the development of strategy maps and performance scorecards • Discuss strategy maps and performance scorecards with a focus the measurement and value of leading indicators such as company culture, knowledge and innovation management systems, firms’ informational capital, and employees' skills that are typically leading indicators for start-ups growth and success over time

How?

• By applying the theory and frameworks learned to several exercises, case studies and simulations that focus on the management of start-up companies or other entrepreneurial challenges

⬤ 02. Strengths of this Master Degree

Entrepreneurial Finance: What? • Calculate the financing needs of a start-up • Apply appropriate valuation techniques for valuing entrepreneurial ventures • Analyse liquidation and anti-dilution preferences in investor term sheets • Develop a financing strategy for an entrepreneurial company

How?

• By analysing and discussing real cases

• Through the development of a financing strategy for your own start-up

• By interviewing and attending entrepreneurs’ guest lectures on their financing strategy

⬤ 02. Strengths of this Master Degree

Scaling your Venture: What? • Understand the key growing pains of a venture • Determine the right pace of growth • Navigate the trade-off between structure and chaos • Develop an organizational structure for a growing venture • Optimize the hiring strategy for a scale-up • Build and maintain a culture when scaling • Develop a plan to scale your sales • Evaluate and support your growth financially and systematically

How?

• Through tackling cases illustrating key growing pains and putting you in the shoes of the entrepreneur in charge

• Through sessions by guest speakers, e.g. by co-founders of Showpad

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