Startup Thinking: turning ideas into viable business models

Aims of the course

• To develop creativity and entrepreneurial thinking by introducing practical methods for generating, refining, and evaluating innovative ideas for products, services, or processes.
• To provide a structured understanding of business model development, guiding through the process of transforming creative ideas into viable and sustainable ventures.
• To build confidence and competence in applying entrepreneurial behaviours such as curiosity, courage, adaptability, and critical decision-making within dynamic and uncertain environments.

Course content overview

The course explores how creativity drives entrepreneurship and innovation, focusing on practical tools and frameworks to help learners generate, evaluate, and refine business ideas.  Beginning with the cognitive foundations of creativity, it introduces ideation techniques such as divergent thinking, mind mapping, and design thinking to stimulate original solutions.

We will then move from idea generation to business model development, applying frameworks such as the Business Model Canvas to structure and test their ideas.  Ethical and sustainability considerations are woven throughout, encouraging learners to reflect on the social and environmental implications of innovation.  The course combines theory, case studies, and reflective activities to help learners connect creative thinking to real-world entrepreneurial practice.

Target audience

This course is ideal for aspiring entrepreneurs, innovators, and professionals seeking to enhance their creative problem-solving and innovation capabilities.  It suits those who wish to develop new business ideas or introduce fresh approaches within existing organisations.  These may include founders, intrapreneurs, or early-career professionals eager to understand how to turn ideas into actionable business models.  No prior experience is required, just a willingness to experiment, reflect, and think creatively about opportunity and change.

Welcome week (Week 0)

Purpose:

• personal introductions
• introducing the course
• useful reading
• personal objectives

Learning outcomes:

By studying this week, the students should have: 

• become familiar with navigating around the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and from VLE to links and back
• test your ability to access files and the web conferencing software and sort out any problems with the help of the Technology Enhanced Learning team
• learn how to look for, assess and reference internet resources
• contribute to a discussion forum to introduce yourself to other students and discuss why you are interested in the course and what you hope to get out of your studies 

Teaching Week 1: Cognitive Skills and Ideation Techniques

Purpose:

This week introduces students to the cognitive foundations necessary for entrepreneurial thinking:

• We will explore creativity, problem framing, and ideation techniques, developing the skills to generate innovative ideas and think critically in uncertain business environments.

Learning outcomes:

• Applied a range of cognitive and creativity techniques to generate diverse entrepreneurial ideas.
• Analysed problems and opportunities using structured ideation approaches.
• Demonstrated curiosity and critical thinking in evaluating the potential of generated ideas.

Teaching Week 2: Entrepreneurial Opportunities: ideation in action

Purpose:

We will move from individual ideation to recognising and evaluating real-world entrepreneurial opportunities:

• This week focuses on market trends, opportunity recognition, and early-stage feasibility assessment, enabling students to understand how ideas translate into potential ventures.

Learning outcomes:

• Identified and evaluated potential entrepreneurial opportunities in various market contexts.
• Applied ideation techniques to develop actionable concepts from initial ideas.
• Analysed market, customer, and competitive factors to assess opportunity viability.

Teaching Week 3: Crafting Effective Business Models

Purpose: 

This week focuses on the construction of business models that turn ideas into viable ventures:

• We will explore the Business Model Canvas, value propositions, customer segments, revenue streams, and the role of innovation in business design.

Learning outcomes:

• Developed a business model framework for a selected entrepreneurial idea.
• Evaluated key components of a business model, including value proposition, customers, and revenue streams.
• Applied principles of innovation to adapt business models to diverse contexts.

Teaching Week 4: From Ideas to Implementation: idea screening

Purpose:

This week emphasises screening and prioritising ideas for feasibility, potential impact, and alignment with strategic objectives: 

• We will learn how to assess risks, filter concepts, and select the most promising ideas for further development.

Learning outcomes:

• Applied systematic criteria to screen and prioritise entrepreneurial ideas.
• Assessed risks and feasibility associated with multiple concepts.
• Selected viable ideas to progress towards business model development and implementation.\

Teaching Week 5: From Ideas to Implementation: idea validation and deployment

Purpose:

This week focuses on validating and implementing the selected ideas: 

• We will develop prototypes, test concepts, and refine their business models in preparation for real-world application and scaling.

Learning outcomes: 

• Designed and tested prototypes or pilot concepts to validate feasibility.
• Applied the business model framework to refine and implement entrepreneurial ideas.
• Developed a structured plan for translating validated ideas into actionable ventures.

Week 6: what next?

• assessment of student learning
• assessment of student satisfaction
• encouragement of further study

This course is open to everyone, and you don’t need any previous knowledge or experience of the subject to attend.  

Our short courses are designed especially for adult learners who want to advance their personal or professional development. They are taught by tutors who are expert in both their subjects and in teaching students of all ages and experiences. 

Please note that all teaching is in English. You should have near-native command of the English language to get the maximum benefit from the course. 

Each week of an online course is roughly equivalent to 2-3 hours of classroom time. On top of this, participants should expect to spend roughly 2-3 hours of self-study time, for example, reading materials, although this will vary from person to person. 

While they have a specific start and end date and will follow a weekly schedule (for example, week 1 will cover topic A, week 2 will cover topic B), our tutor-led online courses are designed to be flexible and as such would normally not require participants to be online for a specific day of the week or time of the day (although some tutors may try to schedule times where participants can be online together for web seminars, which will be recorded so that those who are unable to be online at certain times are able to access material). 

Unless otherwise stated, all course material will be posted on the VLE so that they can be accessed at any time throughout the duration of the course and interaction with your tutor and fellow participants will take place through a variety of different ways which will allow for both synchronous and asynchronous learning (using discussion boards etc).

Fees

The course fee includes access to the course on our VLE, personal feedback on your work from an expert tutor, a certificate of participation (if you complete work and take part in discussions), and access to the class resources for two years after your course finishes.

Concessions 

For more information, please see our concessions information page. 

Alison Fordham Bursary

University of Cambridge Professional and Continuing Education is proud to offer the Alison Fordham bursary, which is awarded to students who wish to study on one of our short online courses via our VLE, reducing the fee paid by 50%. The bursary is limited to a single award for each set of online courses. 

Application criteria:  

• applicants should set out their personal learning motivations since priority will be given to those who are returning to learning after an extended break, or have not previously engaged with fully online learning, or are seeking to use the online short course as a bridge towards undergraduate award-bearing study
• applicants who can demonstrate financial need 

For more information, please see our bursaries information page. 

A certificate of participation and a digital credential will be awarded to those who contribute constructively to weekly discussions, exercises and assignments for the duration of the course.