The schedule is subject to change both until and after the kick-off due to the inclusion of a lot of external workshop organizers who may have to postpone or cancell at short notice! Please make sure to follow the information provided to you via e-mail throughout the semester as short term changes might not be reflected on learn.                  

In the E&I Garage course, students learn to use tools and methods helpful for identifying, evaluating and realizing technology-oriented, explorative business ideas. Students are welcome to bring in their own business ideas and develop them in interdisciplinary teams as part of a structured process. Course instructors and external coaches mentor teams at every step as they transform an initially rough idea into a persuasive business concept. Student start-up teams present their business ideas and profit-oriented business models to potential investors and other experts at the end of the semester.

The Garage course received WU Vienna’s 2011 "Teaching Excellency Award" and stands out for its highly interdisciplinary setting. The course is open to students from three Vienna universities (WU, BOKU and TU), however during the winter semester the TU doesn't take part. Students from diverse fields come together in interdisciplinary teams, similar to real start-up scenarios, bringing a range of perspectives, skills and know-how together to shape the business idea and its implementation.  

In addition to the content provided in class, students have premium access to DataCamp, giving them an opportunity during the course to improve their data science skills and better their understanding of the technical aspects involved collecting and exploiting user/financial/environmental data for developing an idea.

Students are not required to engage with the content on DataCamp to successfully complete the course. It is, however, an excellent opportunity to develop highly valuable technical skills as well as gain a better understanding of the discipline of data science, the opportunities it unlocks, and working with data beyond Excel.

Students can explore the following areas on the platform at their own pace:

· Data manipulation

· Data visualization

· Data collection

· Introductions to R and Python

· Introductions to machine learning

Based on real-world practice and experience, students learn the necessary elements for developing and realizing a business idea.

In the past successful alumni have gone on to create companies like:

- Hokify

- Mimo (Google self-improvement app of the year 2018)

- Alpengummi

- Lympik

After successfully completing the E&I Garage Build Your Own Start-Up course, students will be able to:

· Search for, recognize and evaluate innovative business opportunities.

· Develop business ideas using the appropriate methods and tools.

· Identify customers and their needs,

· Analyze and evaluate the environment around a business idea.

· Develop sustainable business models.

· Apply creative techniques.

Project management skills:

· Manage innovation (therefore less structured) projects.

· Make decisions in the face of uncertainty.

· Manage several stakeholders at once.

· Summarize the most important project results in a business proposal.

Team work skills:

· Work in an inter-disciplinary team.

· Recognize and use team members’ individual strengths for maximum efficiency.

· Effectively deal with varied working methods, opinions and perspectives.

Communication skills:

· Conduct lively discussions and interactive workshops.

· Structure complex data (project results) and present them to various target groups in writing and orally.

To complete this course with a positive grade, students must attend 80% of scheduled classes (exception: 100% attendance at literature test, kick-off and E&I Touchdown – event)

The course is built around several workshops, which are structured to be interactive and combine several teaching methods to impart various topics and skills. Among them are working in teams, open discussions, individual team coachings and coachings by external mentors.

The basic principles of idea generation, searching for business possibilities and the methods to be employed during the semester will all be presented and discussed during the kick-off session. After the kick off, each student is obliged to submit a business idea, of which a number will be chosen by the lecturers to develop throughout the course, in teams which are formed in an in class marketplace. The remaining course will revolve around the formation and validation of a business model through group work and field interviews with customers and experts.

The students will be supported in the development of their business ideas by the course instructors and external mentors in both online and offline coaching sessions as well as expert talks. Regular presentations of results are scheduled. The results of the start-up-planning process will be summarised in an investor pitch deck as well as accompanying documentation.

The teaching method of this course is supposed to emulate the realities of forming a startup as closely as possible, which means you will be receiving feedback as if you were actually starting a company. This means no sugar coating. While the workload is high, the rewards consist of highly transferrable skills along multiple personal and professional dimenions, not to mention the chance to work on an actual, viable business!

Given the individual challenges and opportunities that come with a highly diverse set of ideas for businesses (think implications for an online recruitment platform vs the design and manufacturing of solar poweredumbrellas - actual examples from previous courses!) or having to pivot, your path will start diverging from your colleagues very quickly. This means certain expectations we have towards deliverables will be easier or harder to to fulfill. Keep in mind that this course has been in development for nearly 10 years however and every piece of work you are asked to deliver has been carefully considered, reworked and is based on cutting edge methods that are tried and proven.

The final grade in the course will depend on:

- 10% literature test (in English / literature according to Learn@WU)

- 35% engagement in the project (attendance, contribution to classes, coachings and workshop, quality of working deliverables) 

- 10% mid-term pitch (includes not only the pitch but also the slides as well as any progress you made from working deliverables)

- 30% final pitch and final submission (as above)

- 5% Touchdown (adherance to deadlines, implementation of feedback and quality of pitch)

- 10% reflection paper

Additionally, there will be mid-term and end of term peer ratings of the team members which may result in individual up- or downgradings.

Literature test: The aim of the compulsory literature test (1.10.2019 betweeen 8.00am and 9.00am) is to examine the necessary basic as well as specific knowledge in order to successfully work on your project.

If the literature test is not successfully passed, the Analyst Support Program (ASP) will be automatically applied. Within the Analyst Support Program, an individual performance has to be carried out in the further semester course, instead of the group work. In case of non-participation (only due to illness), a medical certificate must be presented. An alternative date will be offered for this purpose. You will receive detailed information about the content and location of the test after registration to the course.

Attendance: In order to successfully pass this course, your absence is limited to 20% of our appointments. Please note that the attendance of the literature test, the kick-off and the E&I Touchdown is obligatory!

Students enrolled in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Specialization Program.

Please note that course registration is binding. The moment your registration is received, it is regarded as a clear commitment on your part. Students cannot transfer to another course (once the add/drop period is over) with no exceptions, as it would be unfair to other students (who might not have gotten into the course of their choice because of the spot you registered for). The number of students accepted to the course will only be expanded if there is no space in any other course 4/5.