Social Entrepreneurship Curriculum
To best prepare our students with basic knowledge of business and entrepreneurship, they will first participate in a 7-day summer intensive not only to learn from successful entrepreneurs but also to receive exposure to diverse industries and witness theoretical business concepts in real life.
Students will frequently participate in lectures and group discussions, while taking many field trips to headquarters of well-known companies in Beijing. Students will also take part in other activities like daily sports and team building exercises to experience an authentic entrepreneur’s life.
Through the curriculum, students in teams will invent a business that could be viable in the real world, and use academic research and problem-solving skills to hone and defend their idea. This curriculum prepares students to write and present a well-researched, professional business plan. A stellar business plan is typically necessary to obtain financing for a new venture, and a polished, comprehensive, and realistic presentation helps to excite potential investors and employees about any new business.
Curriculum topics include
(not limited to)
01/
Business Plans
02/
Industry analysis & Competitive landscape
03/
Finance & Accounting
04/
Product Development & Go-to-market
05/
Pitching
The industries that students will visit include
(not limited to)
Professional services
i.e. consulting, trading, investment banking, law, accounting
Internet
Consumables
Sports
Non-profits
Renewable energy
Film & Entertainment
Hotel & Hospitality
Media & Communications
Architecture
Start-up Workshop
For the last one day of the program, students will participate in a start-up intensive and work with their groups closely to prepare for their final business plan/presentation. With guidance and oversight from their mentors, students will join workshops and mock-reviews to edit and finalize their business pitches.
Finally, groups will give their presentations to successful entrepreneurs, who will in turn choose the best groups to receive the start-up funds. We hope to give students this intensive, high-pressure experience to help them learn the difficulty of starting from zero to one and appreciate the fruits of their hard work.
GenZ Launch
The program will cumulate in a business pitch competition during which student teams will present original business plans to a panel of professional entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and industry experts.
Each group will be responsible for the research and development required to convert a business idea with a social impact angle into both an original, viable written business plan and a polished presentation of that plan.
Students should think through all the key aspects of a new business when evaluating an idea for their plan, including the nature and legality of the product or service, direct and indirect competition, cost of customer acquisition, barriers to entry, total and target markets, business strategy, and financial opportunities and risks. Teams must make sure they can clearly and concisely state the opportunity — the need and/or desire their product or service fulfills. The plan should have the potential to deliver an unusually high return on investment.
The program challenges students to think critically about the role of business and social enterprises in society. Students will think deeply about how today’s decisions help shape tomorrow’s business environment, and thus consider how current strategies impact longer term business performance, and thus, our society as a whole. At the end, the entrepreneurship program will cumulate into a full-day, Shark-Tank style start-up competition: GenZ Launch.
The winning teams will receive seed funding from investors and be invited to join an accelerator.
Awards
1st place
80,000 RMB of GenZ Entrepreneurship fund with ample support of professional networking.
2nd place
50,000 RMB of GenZ Entrepreneurship fund with ample support of professional networking.
3rd place
