Course Content

Throughout this English/French bilingual program, students will:

• Acquire practical methods and tools to identify, test, and validate sustainable business opportunities.
• Develop the entrepreneurial mindset, leadership and adaptability needed to thrive in uncertain environments.
• Design and launch a new venture or take over an existing company.
• Gain first-hand exposure to French and international entrepreneurial ecosystems through international programs, learning expeditions, company visits and seminars.
   

• Case studies and practical exercises
• Deliverables
• Jury presentations
• Hackathons
• Professional experience
• Master's thesis

Students take part in 2 field missions with real companies and entrepreneurs:

• Mission Creation: Working alongside an organization, students adopt a customer-centric approach to challenge assumptions, understand market needs, validate business opportunities, and define an initial go-to-market strategy.
• Mission Restructuring: Working alongside a judicial administrator, the students develop a recovery or restructuring plan for a business in difficulty.

Complementary courses, electives and various seminars – including the Darty sales seminar in retail stores in Paris – help students build both technical and interpersonal skills.

Student teams develop their entrepreneurial project within one of the paths proposed below, depending on their objectives and project focus:

• HEC Entrepreneurship by acquisition: Students identify and assess acquisition opportunities, conduct strategic and financial due diligence, structure the financing of the transaction, develop a negotiation strategy, and prepare a business acquisition plan.
• Learn2Launch - UC Berkeley: A hands-on immersion at UC Berkeley combining lectures, case studies, and expert talks. Students form startup teams and use their project as a live case study to experience each stage of building a venture, from idea validation to launch.
• Singapore - National University of Singapore (NUS): Students develop their entrepreneurial project within Singapore's vibrant innovation ecosystem, supported by weekly coaching sessions. The program is particularly well suited to ventures targeting Asian markets or sectors such as fintech, design, gaming, media, foodtech, logistics and urban innovation.
• HEC Startup Launchpad (including a learning expedition in London, UK): An intensive 11-week accelerator guiding student teams from idea to launch. Through weekly workshops, mentoring and expert input, participants validate their opportunity, refine their business model and build the foundations of a scalable venture.

This phase ends with a collective Learning Expedition.
 

Students consolidate their entrepreneurial journey through advanced electives, workshops, coaching and leadership development, while preparing the next step in their professional path:

• Clarify and refine their professional ambitions through personalized coaching and mentoring.
• Strengthen leadership and interpersonal skills through practical training in decision-making, negotiation, conflict management and team leadership.

The phase also features:

• The École Navale seminar, focusing on leadership, teamwork, and resilience in demanding situations.
• The Demo Day, where selected student teams present their ventures to key players in the French entrepreneurial ecosystem, including investors, mentors, and alumni.
  
   

Students transition from learning to execution by choosing one of two pathways: launching their own venture or gaining operational experience alongside senior leaders within entrepreneurial organizations.

• Launch their own venture: sstudents continue developing the project initiated during Phase 2. Subject to approval by the Academic Directors, sufficiently mature ventures may fulfil the program's professional experience requirement.
• Professional experience: students complete a 4- to 6-month "CEO's right-hand" internship/professional experience within a startup, scale-up, venture capital fund or other entrepreneurial organization, gaining direct exposure to strategic decision-making and company operations.

All students must also complete a Master’s thesis, combining academic rigor with practical insights from their entrepreneurial or professional experience.