Value Proposition Design and Communication

Catalog description

Launching a startup is daunting. Creating a new business within an existing company can be just as difficult. In either case, succeeding takes vision, grit, and luck. However, innovators who can clearly describe how their business model is meant to create value can significantly improve their chances of success -- or more quickly move on to their next great idea. This course arms students with the tools to identify how a business idea is meant to create value, to see the risks and assumptions lurking underneath any new venture, and to effectively communicate it to others. Using a simple yet powerful framework, students will find, organize, and examine the universal building blocks within successful business models, and apply these techniques with innovators who are trying to bring their own innovations. This course also dives into the ethical dilemmas that are impacting innovators every single day and that are growing with importance every year, and introduces tools such as competitive intelligence, business case development, and creative problem solving. At the end of this course students should be able to quickly assess any innovation and the key assumptions upon which it is built. Whether students plan to join an existing organization or start their own, these tools will provide a foundation for creating and identifying sound, value-focused businesses. Counts as a Communication Intensive course.