Opportunity Discovery
Overview
This unit provides the fundamental knowledge base and skills necessary for anyone wishing to study or work as an innovator and/or entrepreneur. The processes and evaluation techniques taught in this unit can be applied to entrepreneurship and innovation in any context: new businesses, existing businesses (small or large), not-for-profit, public service. The unit aims to critically reflect on real world innovations and entrepreneurial practice using key ideas, concepts, models, procedures, tools, methods and literature in the innovation and entrepreneurship disciplinary environment. Design and discovery principles are applied in order to discover and test product-market fit.
Requisites
08-June-2025
08-February-2026
Learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- Apply coherent and advanced knowledge concepts, techniques and tools in regards to discovery and development of entrepreneurial opportunities
- Apply the fundamentals of entrepreneurship to develop business skills and apply for customer development
- Critically analyse business models in startup development and develop skills in building business models
- Demonstrate integrity, ethical conduct, accountability, respect and a developing awareness of professional practices and cultural norms in a global and sustainable context
- Work collaboratively in groups analysing, presenting and applying a range of startup tools in order to discover and develop the opportunity
Teaching methods
Hawthorn
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-campus Class | 2.00 | 12 weeks | 24 |
| Unspecified Activities Independent Learning | 9.50 | 12 weeks | 114 |
| Online Lecture | 1.00 | 12 weeks | 12 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Swinburne Online
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online Directed Online Learning and Independent Learning | 12.50 | 12 weeks | 150 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Assessment
| Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Presentation | Group | 35 - 45% | 1,2,4,5 |
| Report | Individual | 55 - 65% | 1,2,3 |
Content
- Lean startup principles of entrepreneurship
- Effectuation
- Opportunity discovery
- Value creation and proposition
- Design principles
- Journey mapping
- Customer development
- Value proposition tools
- Hypotheses testing process and skills
- Introduction to Business models
- Customer segments and markets
- Product-market fit
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.