Digital Entrepreneurship (openHPI)

Not only in times of Corona, digital companies, digital business models and digital business processes are on the rise. Using many examples from entrepreneurs and scientists, you will learn in a clear and practice-oriented way what it means to be a digital entrepreneur.

Important: This is not a business plan course, we will not develop business ideas and/or write a business plan. Instead, we will focus on the framework and philosophy of digital entrepreneurship.

Target group:

With this course, we address those who are already thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, those who are not sure yet whether they want to become entrepreneurs but who are interested in entrepreneurial topics and entrepreneurial thinking, and also those who definitely never want to become an entrepreneur but who are mindful of societal and sustainable challenges that require new ways of thinking.

What will I learn in this course?

Especially in these current times, we want to encourage proactive thinking about the ‘new normal’ in times of crisis. You will learn in this course how to think and act in an entrepreneurial way. We will be using a reflective approach to Digital Entrepreneurship, focusing on building an entrepreneurial mindset for practice, research, and policy.

This course is not about writing a business plan nor will it teach you different entrepreneurial tools like Business Model Canvas. We will be touching different strands of digital entrepreneurship research and action like impact entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, female entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial ecosystems or entrepreneurial teams, to name just a view. All topics will be considered through a digital perspective, i.e. how do digital technologies influence these fields. The class builds on state-of-the-art research, literature, and practitioners’ insights in order to jointly reflect the underlying principles and schools of thoughts.

Prior knowledge:

You will get the most out of this class if you like a scientific perspective and how to apply it to current challenges. You are not afraid of empirical research and how to use it to extend your knowledge. You have some previous entrepreneurial experience be it as a founder, intrapreneur, policy maker or citizen. You like to discuss and develop concepts further and apply them to the task at hand. You speak and understand English fluently.