MIT Courses - Entrepreneurial Strategy Modules I II III

It is a 4-credit course, instructed by Professor GAO Xudong and two prominent Professors from MIT Sloan School of Management, professor Scott Stern and professor Pierre Azoulay. Being one highly praised course among MBA students, it consists of three modules. The course is structured to provide a deep understanding of the core strategic challenges facing start-up innovators, and a synthetic framework for the development and implementation of entrepreneurial strategy in dynamic environments, and the ability to scale those ventures over time. A central theme of the course is that, to achieve competitive advantage, ideas-based entrepreneurs must balance the process of experimentation and learning inherent to entrepreneurship with the selection and implementation of a strategy that establishes competitive advantage. The course identifies the types of choices that entrepreneurs must make to take advantage of a novel opportunity and the logic of particular strategic commitments and positions that allow entrepreneurs to establish competitive advantage.

Module II will contain Company visits. Each student, being part of a group, will have an opportunity to visit companies, ranging from startups to more mature enterprises in China. By interviewing the founders of the companies, each group will prepare a final presentation on the company visit.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Insights from Silicon Valley

Initiated by Tsinghua SEM in a joint effort with Tsinghua X-lab and Facebook, Innovation and Entrepreneurship: insights from Silicon Valley was co-developed and launched in Spring semester 2017. It aims to boost students’ interest and ability in innovation and entrepreneurship by integrating guest speaker talks, academic sessions and team projects.

Senior executives from Facebook, local guests from various related fields in China, together with Tsinghua SEM faculty introduce to students the most popular science and technology hot spots and innovation and entrepreneurship topics from Silicon Valley, to encourage students to think about the future with a global perspective. Through experiential learning, students get insights into Silicon Valley’s latest innovation and entrepreneurial practices, discuss them in groups combining innovation and entrepreneurship theories, and improve their business plans. With the guidance of mentors from both sides, students complete their final presentations and develop project demos.