he purpose of this module is to develop students’ entrepreneurial teaming competencies in gathering talent and facilitating collaboration when creating, running and developing a project or a company.
Entrepreneurial leadership: value creation;
Human capital strategies: dilemmas in gathering talents, hiring professionals;
Experiential learning and teaming;
Teaming evolution and stages;
Role-taking;
Collaborative practices for team decision-making process
Emotions and motivation in teaming.
After this module:
You will be able to differentiate key concepts and models for effective teamwork and apply them in changing situations.
You will learn about various collaboration processes and tools, and you will be able to apply them to facilitate group work in cross-cultural situations.
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Entrepreneurial Leadership
The purpose of this module is to develop students’ entrepreneurial leadership competencies in the entrepreneurial context when creating, running and developing a project or a company.
Embracing: an introduction to leadership. Different views on leadership. Leadership: inherited characteristics or learned skills?
Embracing: leadership and personality. Personality traits of successful leaders;
Embracing: leadership roles and goals. Leadership in business;
Embracing: leadership ethics, values and culture(s). Sustainable leadership;
Enacting: configuring leadership. Evaluation of one’s leadership abilities and skills;
Enacting: entrepreneurial leadership. Vision. Ability to engage people around a vision. Empowering people;
Enacting: interpersonal relationships. Building trust;
Enacting: leadership performance;
Enacting: leadership accountability;
Exercising: leadership styles;
Exercising: influence through communication. Dealing with difficult situations according to leadership values and ethics.
After this module:
You will be able to understand the complexities of business ethics in a team environment and act with integrity.
You will be able to enhance your career and commitment to lifelong learning, as well as engage in entrepreneurial self-management.
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Opportunity Recognition and Business Development
The purpose of this course is to develop students’ entrepreneurial competencies in opportunity recognition via innovative business intelligence and information analysis techniques, which will help identify niche and continuously strengthen competitive advantages of a venture in volatile and dynamic markets.
Start with the problem;
Are you really creating value?;
From assumptions to facts;
Build your Minimum Viable Product and your business model;
Get out of the building;
Pivot or Persevere and Pitching;
Development of an understanding of the use of business models in entrepreneurial settings;
Analysis of customer segments and value propositions for entrepreneurial opportunities;
Analysis of the use of channels (informational and delivery) and customer relationships in entrepreneurial organizations;
Application of discovered information about value propositions, customer segments, channels, and customer relationships to develop revenue streams for an entrepreneurial opportunity.
After this module:
You will be able to build a coherent and viable business model by applying tools such as the Lean Canvas and Business Model Canvas and by applying the Lean Start-up methodology;
You will be able to formulate testable critical assumptions that underlie the identified business model;
You will be able to apply the process of customer validation and select and apply a set of validation tools to thoroughly validate the critical assumptions.
You will learn to identify key aspects of business models in entrepreneurial settings;
You will learn to analyse customer segments and value propositions for entrepreneurial opportunities;
You will learn to analyse the use of channels (informational and delivery) and customer relationships in entrepreneurial organizations;
You will learn to apply information gained about value propositions, customer segments, channels, and customer relationships to develop revenue streams for an entrepreneurial opportunity.
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Innovation Strategy
The purpose of this course is to develop competencies for building and maintaining the capacity to innovative, which will help you and your team achieving a continuous flow of new opportunities for competitive advantages. It is to find ways of staying curious, explorative and visionary as everyday operations may take up most of your attention.
Nurture an innovative organisational culture.
Create a creative work environment.
Establish entrepreneurial work processes.
Plan your innovation landscape.
Select and prioritise meaningful innovative activities to support your overall business strategy.
Integrate effective innovation methods.
Design support systems and motivating innovative performance indicators.
After this module
You will be able to develop an innovation strategy that can help align your team, clarify innovative objectives and distribute ressources to prioritised innovative activities.
You will be able to develop key personal and team skills related to creative problem exploration, ideation, visionary decision making, and persuasive idea presentation.
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Managing Rapid Growth
The purpose of this module is to develop students’ entrepreneurial competencies in managing rapid growth and virtual teams when creating, running, and developing a project or a company.
Company and growth: stages and challenges;
From projects to ventures: teamwork modes;
Entrepreneurial growth as a collective outcome;
Harnessing rapid growth;
Communication in virtual teams;
Managing interdependence and leading members in virtual teams;
Developing culture in virtual teams;
Sustaining competitiveness over the long-run.
After this module:
You will be able to lead virtual teams towards the achievement of entrepreneurial goals, by adapting to new situations related to rapid growth, communicating a vision, contributing effectively to a virtual team environment.
You will be able to explain and analyse and the stakeholders and the role and specifics of virtual teams in organizations.
You will be able to operate effectively in cross-cultural settings, understanding the importance of globalisation, while managing rapid growth.
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Creative Design, Prototyping, and Testing
Creativity, innovation;
Gamification;
Universal design principles and design thinking;
Minimum viable product and testing methodologies;
Developing testing plans for investors including understand risk and inhibitors;
Practical simulation case of entrepreneurship.
After this module:
You will understand the nature of creativity, innovation and the creative process;
You will be able to use gamification as a motivational approach for customers;
You will be able to apply universal design principles and design thinking in new products and services.
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Commercialization and Market Development
Marketing and Entrepreneurship; Sustaining competitive advantage of new ventures;
Identifying Market Opportunities: market research, demand forecasting;
Market Development: creating a new market, segmentation, and targeting, product concept development, focus vs. diversification, positioning tools
Entrepreneurial Communication Strategy: leverage communication, overcome market resistance;
Entrepreneurial Pricing Strategy: pricing models and tools, market expansion and pricing;
Entrepreneurial Distribution Strategy: the power of trust in manufacturer-retailer relations;
Building Customer relationship: managing customers, relationship marketing.
After this module:
You will be able to apply key concepts, theories, and models of entrepreneurial marketing and use this knowledge to make sound marketing problem-solving.
You will be able to use relevant low-cost marketing tools to solve entrepreneurial marketing problems creatively with limited financial resources.
You will be able to understand the complexities of business ethics in a business context and apply it in marketing problem-solving.
You will be able to integrate marketing knowledge into developing a strategic marketing solution.
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Financial Management and Venture Financing
The purpose of this course is to develop entrepreneurial competencies in financial management and venture financing.
Setting Financial goals for Entrepreneurial purposes;
Understanding Financial statements;
Revenue and Expense Forecasting;
Monitoring Financial Performance;
Day to Day Cash flow Management and Forecasting;
Start-up Financing;
External Sources of Financing;
Planning for the Entrepreneur transition.
After this module:
You will be able to differentiate key financial concepts, statements and ratios, ability to analyse complex data, understanding financial implications of entrepreneurial decision-making;
You will be able to integrate financial knowledge in developing solutions in case studies;
You will be able to differentiate and appraise various sources of entrepreneurial financing.
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Knowledge-Intensive Entrepeneurship, IP, and Law
The purpose of this module is to develop students’ entrepreneurial competencies in managing rapid growth and virtual teams when creating, running, and developing a project or a company.
Company and growth: stages and challenges;
From projects to ventures: teamwork modes;
Entrepreneurial growth as a collective outcome;
Harnessing rapid growth;
Communication in virtual teams;
Managing interdependence and leading members in virtual teams;
Developing culture in virtual teams;
Sustaining competitiveness over the long-run.
After this module:
You will be able to lead virtual teams towards the achievement of entrepreneurial goals, by adapting to new situations related to rapid growth, communicating a vision, contributing effectively to a virtual team environment.
You will be able to explain and analyse and the stakeholders and the role and specifics of virtual teams in organizations.
You will be able to operate effectively in cross-cultural settings, understanding the importance of globalisation, while managing rapid growth.
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Experiential Innovation Project
The students select entrepreneurial or intrapreneurial projects that can be conducted in teams or individually. Thus, the experiential project provides one with an opportunity to focus on key entrepreneurial stages in an existing or a new venture. Entrepreneurial projects are based on independent, new venture development-oriented initiatives by the students. Intrapreneurial projects are delivered in commitment to, and in collaboration with stakeholder organizations that offer their cases.
Effectuation. Opportunities identification. The process of customer discovery;
Differentiated Business Model;
Value Proposition;
Going-to-market Plan;
Key Partners, Key Activities, Key Resources, and Cost Structure;
Financial Projections and Key Metrics;
Team: Alignment and Equilibrium;
Presentation skills.
After:
You will be able to lead yourselves and others in the achievement of entrepreneurial goals, contributing effectively to the team environment, adapting to new situations;
You will be able to engage in productive entrepreneurial self-management in real-life problem solving;
You will be able to integrate functional knowledge as well as apply strategic entrepreneurship skills in real-life situations.
How to pitch and communicate business ideas effectively
Strategic thinking in dynamic global markets
Building and leveraging professional networks
Overview
DeepTech Entrepreneurship programme is a unique MSc programme that blends academic knowledge, start-up accelerator and real experience to prepare students to become the next-generation of successful technology entrepreneurs.
Future oriented organizations are looking for employees with entrepreneurial mindsets. This programme aims to educate LEADERS at the intersection of science and business, with a deep understanding of technology, data science, innovation management, and entrepreneurship.
VU Business School seeks not only to give students the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed but also to EMPOWER the future professionals to integrate them into the start-ups ecosystem in order to grow transformative organizations that will advance to bridge THEWORLDS of technology and management.
The programme is developed in three major areas: technologies, entrepreneurship and strategic leadership. Aside from the compulsory courses that are the foundation of MSc, students will also be able to select optional courses depending on interests and career aspirations.
The programme includes a study visit to CERN (Geneva, Switzerland), allowing students to assess the possibilities of developing a new product or service of their designed start-up.
Finally, the MSc thesis brings learning and practice together in a unique piece of work. In this particular programme a student has an option to pursue a research thesis or to engage into their established start-ups mentored by our professors
CAREERPATHS
The programme equips the students with cutting-edge innovation knowledge and business skills so that they could assure in future Europe’s role in the global INNOVATION and DIGITAL economy
FOUNDER Founders of start-ups and spin-offs are entrepreneurship and innovation. They inspire their team, make the core decisions, are the main public representative.
INNOVATIONMANAGER The supreme visioner leading the company into strategic future business opportunities. They shape the culture and processes for innovation to succeed in an organization, train others to become better.
BUSINESSDEVELOPER The networker who makes essential connections. It is a strategic role that demands creativity, excellent business foresight, top negotiation skills, intuition in innovations.
MARKETINGPROFESSIONAL The marketing lead in a company is a growth-hacker. Marketing professional is capable to implement long-vision marketing strategies, adapt to business needs to change, and is responsible for corporate marketing and product management.
TECHNOLOGYENTREPRENEUR Tech Entrepreneur sees the future of “blue” ideas using technology to launch start-ups, create jobs, develop innovations. Remember these names: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg.
Key things to know
Application deadline 1 May 2026
Studies commence 1 Sept 2026
Tuition fee €6,550 per year
Application fee €100
Program duration: 1 year
Study language English
Overall grade average of at least 70%
Every student should pass recorded video interview