Founder Minor

The Founder minor teaches students from all six schools of Aalto University skills that are necessary to succeed as a founder of a company. All Aalto students are welcome to take the Founder minor or take any of the entrepreneurship courses that are included in the minor as electives. 

The Founder minor seeks to inspire and provide students with skills and insight they will need when starting any type of business organization (based on science, arts and design, or any other discipline at Aalto). Students learn what it takes to be a founder, how to become one, and how to succeed in a startup. The minor inspires students to start companies from Finland, for global markets and customers. 

The required courses of the minor teach the students how founders recognize new business opportunities and pursue them via building new products or services and taking them to markets. The elective courses teach additional founder skills. For elective courses, students can also suggest alternative entrepreneurship related courses available elsewhere in Aalto University by contacting the teacher in charge of the minor.

• Use lessons learned by existing founders to become comfortable with the uncertainty and promise of startups.
• Evaluate potential business models for startups, assessing their market feasibility as well as alignment with the career and personal goals of the founder.
• Apply user-centered design and experimentation methods to create a viable startup concept.
• Create and use entrepreneurial narratives and sales, marketing, and communication strategies to promote a new product, service, or business.
• Distinguish between different funding and legal options for startups and assess their fit with various startup contexts. 

Basic information

Code: BIZ5020

Extent: 20–25 ECTS

Level: Intermediate studies

Language of learning: English

Theme: Global business dynamics

Target group: All Aalto students

Teacher in charge: Maija Renko

Administrative contact: Kati Halminen

Organising department: Department of Management Studies

School: School of Business

Prerequisites: -

Quotas and restrictions: -

Application process: -

About the minor

Description of the minor

The Founder minor teaches students from all six schools of Aalto University skills that are necessary to succeed as a founder of a company. All Aalto students are welcome to take the Founder minor or take any of the entrepreneurship courses that are included in the minor as electives. 

The Founder minor seeks to inspire and provide students with skills and insight they will need when starting any type of business organization (based on science, arts and design, or any other discipline at Aalto). Students learn what it takes to be a founder, how to become one, and how to succeed in a startup. The minor inspires students to start companies from Finland, for global markets and customers. 

The required courses of the minor teach the students how founders recognize new business opportunities and pursue them via building new products or services and taking them to markets. The elective courses teach additional founder skills. For elective courses, students can also suggest alternative entrepreneurship related courses available elsewhere in Aalto University by contacting the teacher in charge of the minor.

Intended learning outcomes

• Use lessons learned by existing founders to become comfortable with the uncertainty and promise of startups.
• Evaluate potential business models for startups, assessing their market feasibility as well as alignment with the career and personal goals of the founder.
• Apply user-centered design and experimentation methods to create a viable startup concept.
• Create and use entrepreneurial narratives and sales, marketing, and communication strategies to promote a new product, service, or business.
• Distinguish between different funding and legal options for startups and assess their fit with various startup contexts. 

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