Rick Chapman

Founder

• Electronics & Software background
• MBA from Durham
• International Experience
• 4 startup exits to date
• Multiple Chair / NxD roles
• SETsquared Entrepreneur in Residence for over 12 years (Global #1 University led Incubator)

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Bryan Sergeant

Founder

• Multiple C-suite and Chair roles
• Director in FTSE 50 business
• Founding Director of uSwitch.com (sold, after 6 years, for £210m)
• Mentored hundreds of businesses and business leaders
• Taught at Cambridge, Oxford, Bristol & Bath

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Becky Sage

Associate

• PhD in Chemistry from UoB
• Founded, led & sold Ed-Tech business
• Leadership coach and lecturer
• Won “UK Innovate Women” Award
• 3 times British Gymnastics Champion

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Aimee Skinner

Associate

• Entrepreneurial Programme Creation & Management | Workshop Design & Facilitation
• Qualified Leadership Coach & Mentor
• 8+ years corporate industry experience
• Over 150 founders supported in last 4 years
• Overseen >£4m of entrepreneurial support programmes
• Winner of the 2023 Business Mentor/Advisor award

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Enterprise and Entrepreneurship

Modularized teaching over 6 to 12 weeks

Typically delivered to undergrad or postgrad students, the enterprise course consists of a series of structured modules which build towards the presentation of a business plan to a panel of investors. It’s not all lecture content however. A significant amount of time is spent in practical exercises exploring many aspects of business creation, funding, planning, and building the necessary skills to succeed in future careers.

Practical exercises encompass analysis of executive summaries as well as full business plans, and practical skills development exercises assessing problems facing many businesses at different stages. For the practical exercises students work in small teams studying an aspect of a key question or case study and present their findings at the end. All students will present on behalf of the team at some point during the course.

The students should leave the course with

• An understanding of the various key components of a High Tech business
• Develop further their creative, problem solving, team working skills
• An overview of the various forms of hi tech venture, social enterprise, product manufacturing, technology licensing and services.
• An understanding of marketing, market projections, R&D strategies, business planning, financing ventures, investors, the investment process and exits
• An understanding of IP value and its role
• An understanding of the process of assessing hi tech ventures
• Knowledge of the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial teams
• Experience of going through the whole process of developing an idea through to a complete business plan

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Enterprise Startup

Kick start your business idea!

Typically delivered over three days, this intensive course leads you towards having a business proposition in the form of a short investor pitch, a business plan with a sharp executive summary and helps you focus on the end goal of your enterprise. We examine how the various elements of a business plan interconnect and show that sometimes it is better to work from the end – your ‘Exit’ – and work backwards!

The course outline is

• Bringing your Business Idea to Life - This session starts from the beginning, your business idea; we examine what makes a good business idea, the many ways to create a business through various enterprise types, some innovation techniques and the basic requirements of any new business
• Where do customers come from? - Sometimes the simplest questions can ‘torpedo’ the best crafted business plan: where do your customers come from? This Session will arm you with what you need to identify your target customer, understand their needs and monetisation strategy
• Market Analysis for Start-Up Companies - So how big an opportunity is this? This is one of the first questions that entrepreneurs should ask themselves as it is certainly one of the first questions that investors will ask them. A clear vision of the addressable market opportunity is a fundamental building block of the entrepreneurial business plan and this interactive session explores how you can gather quickly reliable and relevant market intelligence using several simple processes. The Session compares various approaches to understand your customers' needs.
• The Anatomy of a Business Plan - The entrepreneurial business plan is not a document that’s meant to stay on the bookshelf – it lives, breathes and constantly changes to address the needs of the audience it’s being presented to. Whilst your plan certainly has a definite beginning, middle and end, this session reveals how the elements of a business plan interconnect and support each other.
• Finance Basics - An overview of the basic finance terms used in Business plans, Profit & Loss, Cash Flow, Gross & Net Margins.
• Funding strategies for Start-Ups - This Session looks at the principles of funding an entrepreneurial business with external investment, including business angel and venture capital investment, enterprise valuation and building a plan for an ‘exit’. Most importantly the Session will equip you with the information you need to develop a funding strategy for your business.
• Investor Pitches - This is your opportunity to pitch to investors and get real-time feedback on your plan. There’s also a prize for the ‘Best Pitch’ of the afternoon!.

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Strategic Marketing

Beyond the 4 Ps for hi-tech businesses

A full day training and up-skilling course in Strategic Marketing. On completing the course, attendees can expect to have a strong understanding of:

• How to segment a market, including market sizing, characteristics and attractiveness
• How to cost effectively research the best markets and find appropriate customers
• How to position a product and differentiate against the competition
• How to implement a go-to-market strategy for product and company launch

The teaching will be a blend of approaches, selected from the following:

• Interactive ‘slide-sprints’
• Practical exercises – individually or in small teams
• Relevant case studies and short video insight clips
• Live role-play examples

The delivery methods and topic flow are designed to embed the skills that will apply most to each attendee and to also give a solid grounding for their future possible environments.

The course has been designed to transfer practical insights and skills to the participants. The course is delivered by two experienced lecturers who have, themselves, worked in and led numerous technology businesses, large and small in the UK and overseas.

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