Intake: August
Language: English
Campus: UC Berkeley and Sophia-Antipolis
Fall semester (mid-August to mid-December)
Students will be introduced to the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley. The programme blends in-depth learning of leading technologies together with engineering students, with training in innovation management, to develop a unique and effective entrepreneurial mindset and skillset.
Students learn how to go from an initial idea to a structured pitch to an audience of professionals. They will build their team and design their service or product prototype.
Students will learn how to overcome the challenges of early businesses. Students will have the unique opportunity to fully
immerse themselves in Silicon Valley, learn from industry experts, and meet influencers and colleagues at networking events,
conferences, and panel events. Students can choose electives in various disciplines in order to specialize in an area relevant to their startup project.
Programme learning objectives
- Learn to imagine, design and prototype an innovative product or service;
- Understand the principles of engineering and product development;
- Learn how to analyse the needs and behaviour of their target consumers;
- Learn how to lead effective negotiations;
- Understand the latest developments in high technology research.
Spring semester (mid-January to mid-May)
In this semester, students learn the next stages of development of a startup. They will learn how to structure their business model strategically and how to navigate through the journey of building a company. Students will have the chance to work on projects for tech startups who have been existing for 18-36 months. But students will also learn how to scale a company both from a human, operational and technical perspective. Students can choose electives in various disciplines in order to match their career goals of either launching their own company or joining the booming startup ecosystem.
Programme learning objectives
- Learn how to scale a company through excelling in execution;
- Learn how to build a team;
- Learn how to take a product to market;
- Learn how to manage agile teams and build agile organisations
At the end of their courses students will have the chance to edit either a business plan if they want to launch their company or a dissertation. This important final piece of their studies will represent a real opportunity to blend their newly acquired learnings with their upcoming career.
Students will also have the chance to validate their professional experience either through launching their own startups or by doing a four to six months internship in the startup ecosystem.