Entrepreneurship 101 Introduction

About E101 

An award-winning online masterclass, Entrepreneurship 101 (E101) helps aspiring entrepreneurs bring their visions to life. Our five-week course offers mentorship from experts, connections to  Canada’s thriving tech ecosystem, and all the tools you need to build a strong company. 

Learning Objectives 

Over 5 weeks, entrepreneurs will achieve the following learning outcomes: 

• Conduct market research and competitive analysis to identify business opportunities • Develop your startup’s value proposition 

• Deliver a compelling elevator pitch 

• Identify the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to validate your product 

• Create customer personas and conduct customer interviews 

• Create a business strategy using the Business Model Canvas 

• Define key financial and startup metrics to measure growth and traction 

• Build a viable financial model for your product 

• Develop your fundraising strategy 

• Identify the legal needs of your startup and start planning an IP strategy 

• Define and test various marketing channels and build your brand strategy 

• Operate as an effective startup founder and team leader 

Course Outline 

Unit 1: Get started 

There are so many challenges at the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey. These lessons  will teach you about the initial steps towards building a startup; including problem-solution fit,  establishing a product vision and identifying your core team. 

Lessons: 

• Define your startup idea 

• Product basics 

• Build your team 

• Set up your startup 

Unit 2: Customer Discovery 

This unit will help you break down your startup idea by coming up with a set of assumptions about  the problem you plan to solve. You’ll discover what values your solution can bring to your target  customer. 

Lessons: 

• Develop your value proposition 

• Build your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) 

• Customer Discovery

Unit 3: Customer and Market Analysis 

Understanding the market and your customers is hard, but it’s an essential component of your startup’s success. These lessons will give you the tools and methodologies to calculate the size of your market and the characteristics of your customers. You’ll also start to design your business model and learn how to reach your target customer. 

Lessons: 

• Customer personas 

• Market sizing 

• Business Model Canvas (BMC) 

• Startup marketing 

• Create your brand 

Unit 4: Startup Financials 

You may have a brilliant idea and a great market opportunity but if you don’t understand your financials then your startup will fail. This unit will give you a basic understanding of financial tools, key metrics, and strategies for capitalizing your startup. 

Lessons: 

• Financial planning tools 

• Financial models 

• Key financial metrics 

• Early sources of capital 

• Bootstrapping 

Unit 5: Build a business 

Everyone knows that they have to develop their solution, be sure of the market for it, run their operations, and recruit the right team, but there is a whole business-related area that you also need to implement at the right time. This unit will give you a better understanding of venture capital, patent strategy, and finding talent. 

Lessons: 

• Venture capital 

• Grow your team 

• Legal foundations 

• Define your success