01. Structure of this Master Degree

From theory to practice

  • Interactive classes
  • Pragmatic, multidisciplinary approach
  • Insightful business simulations
  • Real-life cases and challenges

Highlights of the programme include:

  • Silicon Valley Disruption Tour: Discover what made Silicon Valley and the broader San Francisco Bay Area such a hub for new technologies and world-leading companies on this one-week study trip.
  • Deep Dive Challenge: Working with senior management, begin to link management theory and practice by working on challenges from a real-life business case.
  • Start-up Accelerator: Following the lean start-up approach you’ll build your own start-up – using the accelerator and testing all assumptions underpinning your intended business model. You’ll work alone or in a team – with the support of an experienced entrepreneur or investor.
  • Innovation Challenge: Assessing new technologies is a crucial part of the innovation process. In this challenge you’ll evaluate technology, identify the possibilities it offers an organisation and develop a plan to implement it.
  • Company or start-up project: Over two months, you’ll apply everything you’ve learned in a real innovation consultancy project of your choice in a start-up or scale-up – or by launching your own start-up.

Highlights of the programme include:

  • My Vlerick Development Portfolio: Gain insight into your own strengths and weaknesses, be challenged to reflect and take actions to improve.
  • Management Skills Seminar:  Join us for three days off campus to focus on leadership development and the management skills you need for the digital age.
  • Diversity and inclusion: Understand your own assumptions, biases and preconceived ideas about how the world works – or should work. Discover which behaviours are acceptable, open your mind – and begin to develop a broader world view.
  • Career Coaching: Stay aligned to current global job market as you gain the skills, insights and instincts to make a difference and explore your true potential.

02. Strengths of this Master Degree

Strategic Management of Technology: What? protection

  • Understand the interaction between technological revolutions and financial capital
  • Distinguish between the different types of IP
  • Weigh in on the decision to keep R&D results confidential (trade secret) or to file for patent
  • Identify elements to strengthen an IP portfolio
  • Avoid IP pitfalls
  • Design IP-based business models for techno-ventures

How?

• By running a technology foresight exercise

• By following a real invention from conception to patent grant

• By discussing whether copyright rules are adapted for the digital age

• By zooming in on case studies prepared by the European Patent Office

• By identifying non-traditional trademarks that target us as consumers

• By designing and negotiating technology licensing contracts

02. Strengths of this Master Degree

Entrepreneurship: What?

  • Understand the essence of entrepreneurship
  • Explore and identify new venture opportunities in a more systematic way
  • Understand the importance of a business model for new venture creation
  • Evaluate the viability of a new venture idea and understand how to finance it
  • Develop and pitch a business case for a new venture

How?

• By developing and pitching a business plan in front of potential investors

• By receiving hands-on coaching in New Venture Labs to improve your business case

• Through testimonials of successful entrepreneurs and their lessons learned

• By analysing in detail different aspects of the new venture creation process using real cases from across the globe

02. Strengths of this Master Degree

Accounting for Innovation & Entrepreneurs: What? for a start-up to prepare its’ financial statements inventories, the valuation of intangibles such as patents and goodwill, understanding cashflow streams for start-ups and the impact of finance decisions on equity and debt reporting innovation managers to make better decisions and realize financial and societal value over time planning for scale-ups and finally the development of strategy maps and performance scorecards value of leading indicators such as company culture, knowledge and innovation management systems, firms’ informational capital, and employees' skills that are typically leading indicators for start-ups growth and success over time

  • understand the basics of financial accounting and the necessary compliance requirements
  • focus on relevant start-up and accounting for innovation challenges, such as accounting for
  • understand the use of management accounting information that helps entrepreneurs and
  • focus on break-even analysis, the design of costing systems, the use of budgeting and
  • Discuss strategy maps and performance scorecards with a focus the measurement and

How?

• By applying the theory and frameworks learned to several exercises, case studies and simulations that focus on the management of start-up companies or other entrepreneurial challenges

02. Strengths of this Master Degree

Entrepreneurial Finance: What?

  • Calculate the financing needs of a start-up
  • Apply appropriate valuation techniques for valuing entrepreneurial ventures
  • Analyse liquidation and anti-dilution preferences in investor term sheets
  • Develop a financing strategy for an entrepreneurial company

How?

• By analysing and discussing real cases

• Through the development of a financing strategy for your own start-up

• By interviewing and attending entrepreneurs’ guest lectures on their financing strategy

02. Strengths of this Master Degree

Scaling your Venture: What?

  • Understand the key growing pains of a venture
  • Determine the right pace of growth
  • Navigate the trade-off between structure and chaos
  • Develop an organizational structure for a growing venture
  • Optimize the hiring strategy for a scale-up
  • Build and maintain a culture when scaling
  • Develop a plan to scale your sales
  • Evaluate and support your growth financially and systematically

How?

• Through tackling cases illustrating key growing pains and putting you in the shoes of the entrepreneur in charge

• Through sessions by guest speakers, e.g. by co-founders of Showpad