ENCS 692 Technology Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Winter 2023

Course Information

Instructor Name: Dr. Lucy (Yuxi) Zhao

Email: [email protected] (Please use email rather than the message system in Moodle)

Office Hours: By appointment

Course Description

Technological innovation takes the results of research in science and engineering and uses them
to create new businesses and transform our world. This course is designed to help students
understand the process of commercialization of research and how technological and social
innovations lead to new businesses and how they are created, funded, governed, and grown.
Students acquire the knowledge and skills needed to manage the development of innovations,
recognize and evaluate potential opportunities to monetize these innovations, plan specific and
detailed methods to exploit these opportunities, and acquire the resources necessary to
implement these plans. This course also helps students understand the complex relationship
between technology entrepreneurship, sustainability, and the society. Topics include
entrepreneurial thinking, innovation management, opportunity spotting and evaluation, industry
and market research, entrepreneurial strategy and sales, accounting, entrepreneurial financing,
fundraising, business plans, elevator pitch, legal considerations, co-ops, sustainability, business
ethics, and technological entrepreneurship’s social impacts.
Educational Objectives

Upon completing this course, students will be able to do the following:

1. Be aware of the sources of technological innovation and how those innovations flow
from the lab to the marketplace.
2. Describe the processes by which technological innovation is fostered, managed, and
commercialized.
3. Explore the technological entrepreneurial process and its role as a growth engine of
national economies.
4. Spot new business opportunities in the environment, whether by recognition or creation.
5. Effectively and efficiently evaluate the potential of business opportunities.
6. Assess the market potential for a new venture, including customers’ needs, competitors,
and industry attractiveness.
7. Conduct marketing research and develop marketing plans based on the research.
8. Develop a business model for a new venture, including revenue, margins, operations,
working capital, and investment.
9. Understand financial statements that reflect business model decisions and can be used to
determine future funding requirements.
10. Discuss different ways of financing new ventures and the implications of each approach.
11. Write and present an effective start-up business plan.
12. Analyze the legal issues relating to new ventures, including the selection of appropriate
legal structures.
13. Explain the need for corporate social responsibility and sustainable development.
14. Understand how creative destruction is constantly changing our economy and society,
which influences social justice and inclusion.

Prerequisites: None

Instruction Methods

This course is taught using a variety of instructional approaches, including lectures, readings,
class exercises, and case analyses.

Texts/Materials

Course Materials (download from Moodle): PowerPoint slides and other documents

Reference Book 1 (not necessary to purchase): Thomas Byers, Richard Dorf, and Andrew
Nelson. Technology Ventures: From Idea to Enterprise, 5th Edition. McGraw Hill Education
https://www.vitalsource.com/en-ca/products/ise-technology-ventures-from-idea-to-enterprise-thomas-byers-v9781260289220
Reference Book 2 (not necessary to purchase): Walter Good, Wendy Mayhew, Robin Yap, and
Marc Ford. Building Your Dream: A Canadian Guide to Starting Your Own Business, 11th
Edition. McGraw Hill Education
https://www.vitalsource.com/en-ca/products/canadian-edition-building-your-dream-good-v9781260890037

Reference Book 3 (not necessary to purchase): William Nickels, James Mchugh, Susan Mchugh,
Rita Cossa, Julie Stevens. Understanding Canadian Business, 11th Edition. McGraw Hill
Education
https://www.vitalsource.com/en-ca/products/understanding-canadian-business-nickels-v9781265008819

Reference Book 4 (not necessary to purchase): Harvard Business Essentials: Managing Creativity
and Innovation. Harvard Business Press
https://www.vitalsource.com/en-ca/products/managing-creativity-and-innovation-harvard-business-review-v9781422131763

Student Evaluation

The final grade will be composed of the following:

• Class Exercises: 30%

• Midterm Exam: 30%
• Final Exam: 40%

Course Topics

1. Entrepreneurial Thinking
• Challenging current beliefs and the reconceptualization of resources
• New venture vision and mission
• The founding team
• Business plan
• Understanding how to analyze small business success

2. Innovation Management
• The S-curve of innovations
• Technology life cycles and diffusion
• Incremental and radical innovation
• Entrepreneurship ecosystem
3. Opportunity Spotting and Evaluation
• Recognizing, discovering, and creating entrepreneurial opportunities
• Identifying trends and market signals
• Discovering market forces
• Opportunity screening criteria and opportunity evaluation
• Market testing and pivoting to plan B

4. Industry and Market Research

• Marketing research in entrepreneurship
• Market segmentation
• Selecting the target market
• Positioning
• Marketing mix (4Ps: product, price, promotion, place)

5. Entrepreneurial Strategy and Sales

• Strategy framework
• Competitive advantage and competitive intelligence
• Business models and breakeven
• Customer development
• Sales forecasting

6. Costs, Profitability, and Accounting for Entrepreneurs

• Estimating your costs
• Financial statements
• Using ratios to measure financial health

7. Financing Your Business

• Determining types of financing options
• Financial forecasting
• The fundraising process
• Risk management

8. Business Plans
• Objectives and structure of a business plan
• The elevator pitch
• Investor’s perspective

9. Legal Considerations
• Registering new ventures
• Deciding which legal form is best for your business
• Intellectual property
• Franchising and licensing
 10. Third Sector Structures
• Community development corporations
• Worker-owned ventures
• Cooperatives
• Social enterprises
• Civil society (NGOs)

11. Sustainability, Business Ethics, and Society

• Business stakeholders and externality
• Triple bottom line
• Environmental sustainability
• Corporate social responsibility

12. Technological Innovations, Entrepreneurship, and Society

• Technological advancement, entrepreneurship, and societal progress
• The link between technological entrepreneurship and the natural world
• Technological entrepreneurship and uneven development

Course Schedule

Week Day Topics

Week 1 January 9–January 13 • Course introduction
• What is entrepreneurship
Week 2 January 16–January 20 • Technology innovation
Week 3 January 23–January 27 • Defining your business ideas and opportunities
Week 4 January 30–February 3 • Market feasibility
Week 5 February 6–February 10 • Cost and profitability 1
Week 6 February 13–February 17 • Cost and profitability 2
Week 7 February 20–February 24 • Midterm exam
Week 8 February 27–March 3 • Entrepreneurial marketing and sales 1
Week 9 March 6–March 10 • Entrepreneurial marketing and sales 2
Week 10 March 13–March 17 • Technology transfer and legal considerations
Week 11 March 20–March 24 • Accounting for entrepreneurs
Week 12 March 27– March 31 • Financing your business
Week 13 April 3–April 7 • Social entrepreneurship 1
Week 14 April 10–April 14 • Social entrepreneurship 2
(Note: This schedule is subject to change.)
Attendance Requirements

Per Concordia University policy

Late Policy/Extensions

No late class exercise will be accepted. Extensions may be granted for rare and special
circumstances (e.g., medical reasons) on a case-by-case basis. To ask for an extension, please fill
in the extension request form on Moodle at least 24 hours before the exercise deadline. In case
of an emergency (within 24 hours or after), an explanation document why the application for an
extension before the deadline is not possible is required. You will need to fill out this form
separately for each exercise you wish to have an extension.

Collaboration and Academic Integrity

Forming study groups to understand the course material is encouraged as long as you stay on the
conceptual level and are not collaborating on the graded questions directly. Please be aware that
the following activities constitute cheating:
- directly collaborating on the solutions of graded questions
- sharing graded questions/solutions online or with any other person/institution
- searching for graded questions/solutions online even if you are not the one who posted
the graded questions/solutions
This applies even after you have completed the course. If you have questions, always ask the
instructor first to avoid any activities that can lead to academic dishonesty.

Teaching Materials

Content belonging to instructors shared in courses, including, but not limited to, lectures, course
notes, and PowerPoint slides, remain the intellectual property of the faculty member. They
cannot be distributed, published, or broadcast, in whole or in part, without the express permission
of the faculty member. Students are also forbidden to use their own means of recording any
elements of a class or lecture without the express permission of the instructor. Any unauthorized
sharing of course content may constitute a breach of the Academic Code of Conduct and/or the
Code of Rights and Responsibilities.

Use of Technology

The teaching materials are posted on Moodle. Please read them to keep yourself informed.