Course Outline for Entrepreneurship Fall 2014 at Ashesi University, taught by Sena Agyepong and Todd Warren. Based on the Lean LaunchPad curriculim from steve blank and co.

1. ENTREPRENEURSHIP I
Instructor: Todd Warren Office: 213 Tel Ext: 1028
E-mail: twarren@ashesi.edu.gh Class time: Thurs 1330 - 1640
Office Hours: Friday 1000 - 1200 or by appointment Class location: 218
Instructor: Sena A. Agyepong (PhD) Office: 205 Tel Ext: 1058
E-mail: sagyepong@ashesi.edu.gh Class time: Thurs 1330 - 1640
Office Hours: Tues & Thurs 1500 – 1700 or by appointment Class location: 218
Faculty Intern: Michael Asiedu Office: 209 Tel Ext: 1076
E-mail: masiedu@ashesi.edu.gh Discussion time: Tuesday 1330 – 1500
Office Hours: Tuesday 900 - 1100 Discussion location: 218
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Course Description:
Entrepreneurship has been held by many as the key to development in the under developed
world. It is key as it holds the potential of aiding people come up with innovative products and
services that will improve the lives of many as well as help in alleviating poverty by providing
job opportunities and social interventions needed by the deprived.
If Africa, and indeed other developing economies can achieve the MDGs and beyond, there
will be the need to develop profit generating enterprises as well as social enterprises to serve
as the backbone and propellant of this effort. There is absolutely no need for an unemployed
graduates association, neither is it absolutely required that all graduates work for established
corporations and multi-nationals.
Ashesi has been fortunate to have some of its graduate’s start-up business and some having
grown them into small and big corporations causing waves across the globe.
This class, in a bid to further position graduate to understand the nuances of start-ups,
integrates the various skills and knowledge obtained from courses offered in their past three
years on campus. This class will teach students what a start-up business is, and make the clear
distinction between a start-up and a small business. It will take students through ideation, and
developing business concepts that will be modelled using the Business Model Canvas, from
the ideas generated. The methodology is based on the “Lean Launchpad” class used by the US
National Science Foundation, Stanford, and University of California Berkeley.
The core teaching philosophy of this class will have experiential, learner-centric and inquiry-
based classes that help to develop the mind-set, reflexes, agility and resilience an
entrepreneur needs to search for certainty in a chaotic world. This will be achieved with the
adoption of a number of teaching aids, prominent amongst which is the Launchpad Central,
and videos from Steve Blank’s class on “How to start a business”. To be stressed will be the
need to “get out of the class room” and bring the business models to life.
Since this is a capstone class, the first half, which will be undertaken in the first semester, is
what the course outline will be based on. It will guide students to come out with a laudable
business concept which will be presented to established entrepreneurs to feedback for further
development in the second half.
Course Objectives:
By the end of this class, students should have:
1. An understanding of the elements and journey of entrepreneurship and how an
entrepreneur uses the concept of ‘effectuation’ to decide where to enter;
2. A general understanding of the opportunities and differences in being an entrepreneur
in Ghana:
3. An understanding of how to develop a business model hypothesis using the business
model canvas.

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4. The experience of testing a business model hypothesis using customer development
techniques, and formulating and executing a ‘minimum viable product’.
Text:
“Start-up Owner’s Manual (SOM): Step-by-Step Guide for Building a Great Company” by Steve
Blank and Bob Dorf © 2012
Supplementary text and material:
 Kuenyehia on Entrepreneurship (KOE) by Elikem Nutifafa Kuenyehia © 2012;
 Videos from the Udacity class on “How to Start a Business” by Steve Blank (distributed
in class);
 8 month access to LaunchPad Central https://www.launchpadcentral.com; and
 Articles as will be deemed necessary and posted on courseware by instructors.
Measuring of Learning Outcomes:
The above mentioned learning outcomes will be measured by the activities identified below:
Assessment Detailed
Scores
Total
Score
Weight
1 Online and In class Participation, and attendance 10+10+10 30 6
2 Interviews in LPC 20+20+20+20 80 16
3 Case Reviews and Industry Sector Research 20+20+10 50 10
4 Idea hypothesis and Canvas updates 25+25+25+25 100 20
5 Mid-point concept evaluation 100 100 20
6 Weekly team blog posts 20 20 4
7 Final concept presentations 100 100 20
8 Lessons learnt presentation 20 20 4
500 100
Team formulation:
Teams will be formed at two levels:
1. Following the industrial sector taxonomy used by the Ministry of Finance and Economic
Planning (MoFEP) in the development of its budget, students will select their industry
of interest and will be grouped as such for idea ‘elevator pitch’ sessions.
a. Agriculture: crops; livestock; forestry and logging; fishing; agro processing;
breweries and beverages; etc
b. Industry: mining and quarrying; petroleum; manufacturing; electricity; water
and sewerage; construction; consumer goods; media; pharmaceuticals;
telecommunications
c. Services: trade, repair of vehicles, household goods; hotels and restaurants;
transport and storage; information and communication; financial
intermediation; business, real estates, and others; public administration &
defence; social security; education; health and social work; consumer &
industrial products and services
2. In the various industrial interest groups, students will be tasked with pitching different
business ideas for the instructors of the class to select the ones that are likely to be

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successful. This will be followed by a session of student idea collaborations etc to form
various business teams. The focus of team formulation will need to be on compositions
with strengths that complement each other, rather than composition based on
friendships.
Teams will agree on a team charter to guide team activities, produce weekly team logs for
assessment. As part of the charter, team members will define the major milestones that they
will need to meet (at least 5), and appoint one team member to be in charge of each milestone.
Assessments:
LPC=launchpadcentral.com
Week
Class
Date
Assignment Due
1 04/09/2014 Case 1 : 1 pager & presentation (Due in Discussion Section)
2 11/09/2014
Case 2: 1 pager on a business from smallstarter.com & short
presentation in class
Industry Sector Research: What are problems worth addressing;
identify many
Weekly Blog
3 18/09/2014
Idea hypothesis
Team charter
LPC interviews #1
Weekly Blog
4 25/09/2014
LPC interviews #2
First Canvas in LPC
Weekly Blog
5 02/10/2014
Update to the canvas in LPC
Weekly Blog
6 09/10/2014 Weekly Blog
7 16/10/2014
Mid-point canvas and report
Weekly Blog
8 23/10/2014
LPC interviews #3
Customer Acquisition Tactics Budget/Hypothesis
Weekly Blog
9 30/10/2014
10 06/11/2014
Update to canvas
Weekly Blog
11 13/11/2014
LPC interviews #4
Weekly Blog
12 20/11/2014
Update to canvas
Weekly Blog
13 27/11/2014
Lesson Learned Document
Weekly Blog
14 04/12/2014
Final presentation, canvas and report
Weekly Blog
Participation
Participation will be based on attendance, in class discussion, online discussions, as well as
peer feedback given during in-class critique sessions in the launchpadcentral (LPC) platform.

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Regular and prompt attendance as well as active participation in this class is crucial to your
understanding and enjoyment of this class. Should there be a need to miss a class, please be
sure to inform the instructors in advance. Attendance and participation during discussion
sessions and participation in online discussions, will contribute to your grade, so be sure not
to miss class, discussion sessions and online sessions, and be engaged while at it.
Interviews in LPC (4 sets of interviews)
A key part of entrepreneurship, and the method we are using to teach it, is the idea of getting
out of the building. That is to say, the answers you are looking for to better formulate your
business are not between your ears, but out in the world. Much will be learned by talking to
customers, ideally in person, but also on the phone and online. We expect that teams will
perform at least 80 interviews with potential customers and stakeholders in their business
before the close of the semester. The interviews are due on 4 dates throughout the semester;
20 interviews per team per date. Our intention is that each person will be involved in
interviewing, and so for a team of 5, an average of 4 interviews will be done per person. Some
interviews will be very extensive; others will be very brief. At the beginning, these interviews
will be open ended, and then later in the semester more focused on gaining feedback to your
product prototype and value proposition. Interviews will be recorded in LaunchPadCentral,
and scored appropriately. Teams may also earn up to 20 points extra credit, one point for each
interview beyond 80. The point value is 1 point per extra interview.
Case Reviews (2 cases)
Early in the quarter, we will have two cases that students will prepare in teams. The students
will prepare a short paper and then present to their peers, first, on a set of start-up companies
the faculty team assigns (discussion section after (4/9/2014); and for the second case, on a start-
up company of the team’s choosing from smallstarter.com (11/9/2014). In each case, students
will work together to analyse the business model of the target company, their competitive
environment, and their competitive advantage. The same team will be used for both projects,
and we will factor in a peer and overall team assessment. Each case will be 20 points. 10 points
for the short paper and 5 points for the presentation.
Industry Sector Research (1 report)
In the first class, we will break into teams by industry sector. Each individual within the team
will be responsible for producing a one page industry brief. The brief will potential
opportunities, trends, and customer segments that could be served by new startups. We
encourage teams to divide the space between them to get as much breadth in the sector as
possible.
Idea hypothesis and Canvas updates (4 updates)
We will start with elevator pitches and then an idea hypothesis. The idea hypothesis will follow
a format provided by the instructors, focused on describing a scenario where the start-up’s
product is applied. The other 3 canvas updates will occur in the LaunchPadCentral tool.
Students will be graded on the completeness and reasoning for each piece of the business
model canvas. As students move to later critiques, they will be judged on the extent to which
they match interviews to canvas hypothesis to improve their understanding of how to adapt
their business idea to the reality of the market.

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Mid-point concept evaluation
This is evaluation to be done before the mid-semester break. Students will be required to
submit a complete canvas, with supported hypotheses for each aspect of the canvas. Students
will also prepare a mid-term presentation, and a panel of industry advisors will assist in giving
student teams feedback.
Weekly team blogs
Each Team will be required to produce a blog post for each week on the Ashesi courseware
system. The focus of the blog will be: key insights, accomplishments, and plans for the next
week, and lessons learned. You should make the posts exciting to read. The task should be
rotated between team members. Individuals are encouraged to read posts by other teams in
the class and give them feedback regularly. (PS: this will count towards online participation and
engagement)
Final concept preparations
The final concept for the semester will include the following components: First, a business
report describing the start-ups current thinking on the elements of the business model canvas,
as well as its competitive position. Second, a business pitch will be done before faculty and a
panel of industry advisors. Finally, a video concept pitch, of length 2-4 minutes, which is an
amalgam of your product and pitch, leading us through your company, customers served,
problems solved, and product you are producing.
Ashesi's Learning Goals
Ethics and Civic Engagement
An Ashesi student is an ethical, responsible and engaged member of his/her community.
To be ethical as an entrepreneur means to ensure that the business concept is one that fits within
the Code of Conducts of doing business within the context the business will be established in. It will
also mean putting in place structures and making assumptions that makes the entrepreneur conduct
business with integrity. In this class, students will receive feedback on their business ideas and
concepts from the instructors and from class guest to teach them the ethos of doing business locally
and internationally. Also, the methodology for the class will have students taking their ideas outside
the class room and testing them. This will make them engage with their communities, who will form
part of their target customer base, and all the feedback from these engagement efforts will shape
their ideas to be sure they are sensitive to the requirements of the communities.
Critical thinking and Quantitative Reasoning
An Ashesi student is able to apply critical thinking and quantitative reasoning to approach complex
problems.
In the entire class, students will be expected to make very sound business decisions and
assumption, as well as justify these decisions and assumptions. This capstone class will give them
the opportunity to integrate the critical thinking and quantitative reasoning skills acquired over the
years. They will further conduct various research and customer feedback sessions that will need to
be analysed to help them draw on sound conclusions to feed into their business ideas. This class
thus gives them an excellent opportunity to sharpen this skill and develop new techniques for
approaching complex problems as young entrepreneurs.

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Communication
An Ashesi student is an excellent communicator in a variety of form
The class and discussion sessions will be filled with written and oral presentations to help students
hone their communication skills. Also, interactions with class guests and their peers will help the
students pick up key communication up points for an entrepreneur including listening skills, giving
and receiving feedback, and pitching ideas and business concepts to potential partners, investors,
customer and other stakeholders.
Leadership and Teamwork
An Ashesi student is adept at leading and functioning in teams.
The entire class is based on team activity and team effort. Students forms teams very early in the
semester and work together as a team till the end. Instructors in this class pay attention to how team
development occurs and coach students on how to work together focusing on what contribution
each team member makes to it, and minimize the differences they have to help them succeed. The
students would have also worked in different teams from their enrolment at Ashesi, but with these
team projects as a subset of the various classes. In this class, they will realize how they ultimately
must rely on each other, and learn the hard lessons of having no option than to work together to
attain success for the team and individually as well. The hope is that, they will be able to put into
practice, some of the team formulation skills they would have learnt in previous classes.
Innovation and Action
An Ashesi student takes intellectual risks and demonstrates an entrepreneurial spirit.
The foundation of this class starts with the ideation process the team goes through and how they are
able to come up with creative ideas and work throughout the semester to make them feasible. They
will learn how to be proactive as a team, analyse the risks that they and their teams are subjected
to, find ways of mitigating these risks and work at achieving team success. This assignment will
require them being bold, intellectually justifying all assumptions and decisions, and developing
the tenets of an entrepreneur. They will at the end of the class be ready to graduate from Ashesi
and start businesses with all the calculated boldness that goes with it.
Curiosity and Skill
An Ashesi student is inquisitive and confident, has breadth of knowledge, and has attained a high level
of mastery in his/her chosen field.
A student who is not curious, does not question the status quo, and fails to apply all the knowledge
garnered from classes taken prior to this class, will not be able to succeed in this class. The structure
of the class is such that, students will learn how to be intellectually curious through various research
and customer feedback interviews. Also, they will learn how to probe properly in the critique
sessions and master the art of confidently projecting their points while they objectively receive
feedback for improvement. The integrative nature of the class will also have them drawing and
knowledge acquired in previous classes, and have them read up on materials from other sources
including professionals, entrepreneurs, investors, etc to feed their curiosity buds and to help them
achieve project success.
Technological Competence
An Ashesi student is an effective and flexible user of technology.
Over the years at Ashesi, students have been introduced to various technologies to help aid these
classes, as well as make them functional when they go out for internships and in their social settings.
In this class, students will be introduced to the Launchpad Central software for developing start-up
concepts. The very interactive interface will require a consolidation of knowledge in the use of ICT
from various classes, as well as help students adapt very quickly to a new interface, which is what

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they will be faced with in industry. In the second week of class, students will be introduced to this
software, and the expectation is that, by the end of the semester, they would have mastered it. This
will aid students hone their skills in adaptation to technology, and proactively studying and
practicing how to use these, to help prepare them for life after graduation.
Class Schedule & Readings
Week
Class
Date
Part 1 Part 2
1 04/09/2014 - Course Introduction
- Entrepreneur Speaker
- Introduction to and elements of
entrepreneurship:
 Who is an entrepreneur
 How do they find ideas
 What are the elements they
need to think through
- Basic background on the business
model canvas and an example
- Break into industry sector
teams of 5
- Work in teams to develop the
business model canvas of the
enterprise that presented, turn
in at the end of class
- Work on developing an
overview of opportunities and
trends in the sector for
discussion session
2 11/09/2014 - Analyze and write summaries on
businesses on smallstarter.com to
cover:
 Brief about business
 Business model
 Customer segment
characteristics
 Value to the customer
- Teams formulation
3 18/09/2014 - Teams present their ideas for
general feedback on soundness
 Each team present 2 ideas
 Presentations should
address: the business
hypothesis, customer
segment, value the business
will add to customers, and
stakeholders of the business
- Business model hypothesis
- Define customer segment
- Go out and test: Customer
Interview
4 25/09/2014 - Market Research
 Purpose
 Methods
- Market type
 Hypothesis
- Competition
 Strategies to manage them
- Persona Definition
- The business Model Canvas
Critique
 Attempt The Canvas on
their current idea.
 Discuss The Canvas as has
been developed. Each
team will present for
critique. If we run out of
time, teams will continue
at discussion.
5 2/10/2014 - The Value Proposition
 Assess needs/ problems of
various market segments
 Propose solutions to needs/
problems identified
 Identify ways in which the
solution has added value
 Find other creative ways of
adding value to modify
product/ service
- Team meeting on MVP

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Week
Class
Date
Part 1 Part 2
6 9/10/2014 Guests: discuss MVP decisions of
their businesses
- Customer relationships
 Identifying customer
expectation
 Integrating with business
model
 Evaluating cost of
relationship
- Channels of reaching
customers
 Selecting channels
 Testing channels
 Assessing channel
efficiency
- Assignment: customer
acquisition tactics and budget
for discussion section.
7 16/10/2014 - Midpoint concept evaluations
- show prototype of
product/service
- submit a draft document
 overview
 sections in canvas
 competitors and strategy
 appendix
- Midpoint concept evaluations
- show prototype of
product/service
- submit a draft document
 overview
 sections in canvas
 competitors and strategy
 appendix
8 23/10/2014 Feedback sessions with instructors Feedback sessions with instructors
9 30/10/2014 Mid - Semester Break
10 6/11/2014 - Business Model critique session
 Focus should be on what has
been changed after the mid-
point evaluations
- Business Model critique session
 Focus should be on what
has been changed after
the mid-point evaluations
11 13/11/2014 - Revenue Models
- Resources
- Cost decisions
- Partners
- Industry guest speakers to
share their experiences.
 an entrepreneurs
 - venture capitalists
12 20/11/2014 - Business Model Critique
 Focus on revenue models,
cost, resources etc
- Business Model Critique
 Focus on revenue models,
cost, resources etc
13 27/11/2014 Lessons learned presentations Lessons learned presentations
14 4/12/2014 Final concept presentations Final concept presentations

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Reading List
Week
Class
Date
Lean Launchpad
Video
Reading
1 4/9/2014 Lecture 1
Lecture 1.5A
Lecture 1.5B
SOM p1-20 (Chapter 1-3)
http://businessmodelgeneration.com/canvas/bmc
2 11/9/2014 KOE Chapter 1-3
3 18/09/2014 Lecture 2: Value
Proposition
SOM p51-84 (Chapter 4 and 5)
4 25/09/2014 Lecture 3: Customer
Segments
KOE Chapter 4
SOM pp85-97, 112-125, 203-217 (problem), 218-221
(customer)
5 02/10/2014 MVP Intro:
http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/2009/08/m
inimum-viable-product-guide.html and Eric Ries
Video
(http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.ht
ml?)
6 09/10/2014 Lecture 4: Channels
Lecture 5: Customer
Relationships
SOM p291-343,357-409
7 16/10/2014
8 23/10/2014
9 30/10/2014
10 06/11/2014 SOM 413-425 (Chap 11: positioning)
11 13/11/2014
12 20/11/2014 Lecture 6: Revenue
Model
Lecture 7: Partners
Lecture 8:
Resources,
Activities, and Costs
13 27/11/2014
14 04/12/2014
SOM=Startup Owner’s Manual
KOE=Kuenyehia On Entrepreneurship
Lean Launchpad videos will be made available to the class