Starting Business Ideas @ FAU
Welcome to the workshop series Starting Business Ideas @ FAU!
Entrepreneur, intrapreneur, freelancer, project team, founding team, start-up?! – this platform is for you.
Kick off your startup journey with our workshop series that covers everything from defining a value proposition and business model, prototyping, financial modeling, pitching, feedback and 1-on-1 consulting. The series consists of eight workshops delivered virtually as Zoom events.
Who can participate.
Everyone from the
“I learned that an idea is just a dream unless you have a written plan to make it happen. In SBI workshops, starting from importance of Value Proposition and then creating one for an idea to finally financially planning to manage the business, I experienced every bit of it. I highly recommend these plans to students who are passionate about building business but are confused about where to start and need a roadmap for their long journey.”Yasaman Moradi Fard
SBI Summer 2022
Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg
What is in for you?
Part 0: Ideation Workshop
Let’s discover and form new ideas together with the help of various ideation methods. Even if you don’t have a business idea yet, we will make sure you will come up with one during the workshop.
- Introduction to Ideation Methods (30 min)
- Ideation Exercise (60 min)
- Pitch Session (30 min)
Everyone who
- has a whole bunch of different ideas and doesn’t know where to start.
- doesn’t have an idea yet but is keen to experience entrepreneurship first hand.
- has somewhat of an idea but is not sure yet, which direction to take.
- wants to hear and exchange about new ideas.
Part 1: Introduction to Business Design & Value Proposition Creation
Learn the principles of the Business Design process and how to turn your idea into an initial Value Proposition
- Introduction to Business Design (30 min)
- Businesses & Target Groups (30 min)
- Introduction to Value Proposition (30 min)
- Discussing your first Value Proposition approach (30 min)
Everyone who
- has an idea for an own start-up.
- is already working on starting a business.
- wants to review his/her founding idea.
- is looking not for pretty talk but for a fundamental reality check.
- considers himself/herself a newbie and wants to learn a great method to create a business.
Part 2: Business Model Workshop
Here we help you to integrate a Value Proposition into a Business Model and provide you a holistic introduction on how to create your own Business Model with the help of a Business Model canvas.
- Introduction to the Business Model Canvas (60 min)
- Examples of Business Models (30 min)
- Discussing your first Business Model approach (30 min)
Everyone who
- has an idea for an own start-up.
- is already working on starting a business.
- wants to review his/her founding idea.
- is looking not for pretty talk but for a fundamental reality check.
- has some knowledge about Business Design and Value Propositions or working with canvases.
- considers himself/herself a newbie and wants to learn a great method to create a business.
Part 3: Prototyping – Done is better than perfect!
Learn when to use which methods of prototyping, which dependencies occur and how to quickly validate your Value Proposition and/or your overall Business Model with the help of the right prototype:
- Introduction to Prototyping (60 min)
- Get started with sample tools (30 min)
- Discussing your prototyping approach (30 min)
Everyone who
- has an idea for an own start-up.
- is already working on starting a business.
- wants to know the principles for creating a prototype or minimum viable product.
- needs to start validating a business idea by using a prototype.
Part 4: Pitching Best Practices
Learn how to efficiently communicate your idea and convince others. You will get an overview of the different types of pitches there are and get the chance to create your very first pitch outline.
- Introduction to Pitching (15 min)
- Different types of pitches (15 min)
- Definition of the perfect pitch outline (45 min)
- Present your first pitch outline (45 min)
Everyone who
- is looking to better understand how to communicate ideas the right way.
- wants to get started with a first pitch.
- is interested in feedback on his/her pitching skills.
Part 5: SBI Pitch
Present and test your prepared pitch to the audience and get direct feedback.
- Show, present and discuss your prepared pitch with the audience (90 min)
- Learn from the feedback (30 min)
Everyone who
- wants to pitch his/her business model.
- wants to listen to pitches and get inspired by new ideas.
- wants to review his/her founding idea.
- considers himself/herself a newbie and wants to learn a great method to create a business.
Part 6: Revenue Models & Financial Modelling Workshop
Get an overview of what you need to consider in the financial planning of your start-up and start planning and calculating your own numbers:
- Introduction to Revenue Models, Financial Modelling and tools (60 min)
- Investment, cost and price planning (30 min)
- Discussing your proposed revenue model (30 min)
Everyone who
- is already working on starting a business.
- has some knowledge about Business Design and Value Propositions or working with canvases.
- has already a worked out business model.
- wants to see if his/her numbers match with reality.
Part 7: 1-1 Coaching Meet-up
Take the chance and sign-up for a 1-1 online meeting with one of our Start-up coaches
- Pick your 15 minute slot
- Exchange and discuss about your business idea with our experienced start-up coaches
- Get individual feedback, insights and advice on how to proceed with your idea
Everyone who
- is looking to get individual feedback from our start-up coaches
- wants to discuss his/her business idea in detail
- is looking for advice and next steps in the founding process
Sign up for the Starting Business Ideas @ FAU Workshop Series
You can take part in each workshop individually concerning your interest and state of development of your founding endeavor.
Summer Semester 2025
The workshops will take place via Zoom
| Part 0: Ideation Workshop | Wednesday, 07.05.2025 | 16:00-18:00 |
| Part 1: Introduction to Business Design & Value Proposition Creation | Tuesday, 13.05.2025 | 16:00-18:00 |
| Part 2: Business Model Workshop | Tuesday, 27.05.2025 | 16:00-18:00 |
| Part 3: Prototyping | Tuesday, 03.06.2025 | 16:00-18:00 |
| Part 4: Financial Modeling Workshop | Tuesday, 17.06.2025 | 16:00-18:00 |
| Part 5: Pitching Best Practices | Tuesday, 01.07.2025 | 16:00-18:00 |
| Part 6: SBI Pitch | Tuesday, 08.07.2025 | 16:00-18:00 |
| Part 7: 1-1 Coaching Meet-up | Wednesday, 16.07.2025 | 16:00-18:00 |
Who are your Coaches?
The workshops are held by our spin-off and Business Design coaches Lisa Drecher, Christoph Heynen, Klaus Konrad and Heike Nowak-Schwerdtfeger.
Contact us here for more information
What is Business Design?
Business Design is an agile innovation management approach that works best when you are confronted with many uncertainties while building something new. Irrespective of whether you are about to develop a new business model, product, service or software application, the Business Design approach guides you through a structured but flexible innovation journey and helps you find your next big opportunity beyond the resources you currently control.
Our workshop series is based on the overall Business Design methodology of our friends at Orange Hills GmbH.
Please find more information on https://businessdesign.org/