Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship, Fall 2025
Main contact
Timeline
-
September 19, 2025Experience start
-
September 23, 2025Student teams formed
-
September 30, 2025Student teams assigned to a startup
-
October 14, 2025Initial Interview Oct 13-27
-
November 4, 2025Follow-up meeting
-
November 18, 2025Final touchpoint
-
December 4, 2025Experience end
Timeline
-
September 19, 2025Experience start
-
September 23, 2025Student teams formed
-
September 30, 2025Student teams assigned to a startup
-
October 14, 2025Initial Interview Oct 13-27
Student teams meet and interview the founder or a representative from the startup, between Oct 13 - 27. The representative should prepare a general information session on the organization, as well as internal and external characteristics and trends. The representative will answer student questions concerning the organization’s competition and the industry at large.
-
November 4, 2025Follow-up meeting
Student teams schedule a follow-up touchpoint with the startup through a virtual call, between Nov 3-14. Students present their research question and progress thus far, such as their observations about stakeholders, the internal and general environment, industry, competitors, direction of recommendations, etc. They will ask questions and receive feedback.
-
November 18, 2025Final touchpoint
Touchpoint before the final deliverable/presentation to finalize any last-minute questions during the week of Nov 17. This can be a check-in virtual call or through email, up to the founder's schedule.
-
November 25, 2025Final Presentations Nov 24 and Dec 1
Final presentations between Nov 24 and Dec 1.
* Please note that this timeline may change as the course develops.
-
December 4, 2025Experience end
Experience scope
Categories
Product or service launchSkills
strategic management sustainable business entrepreneurship operationsStudents in the BCom program complete this course in their second or third year at McGill. Students come from diverse backgrounds with a wide variety of concentrations including Strategic Management, Business Analytics, Marketing, Operations Management, Entrepreneurship, Organizational Behavior, Finance and HR, and Sustainability. Some have completed internships in these fields.
Learners
Students may share their presentation slides with you as part of their final presentation. This includes a written recommendation for the organization, including challenges the startup may encounter and an action plan to avoid or mitigate threats to business growth. Students will make a short term and long-term strategy recommendation for your organization, based on your chosen need. Each student group spends approximately 25 - 35 hours on the project total.
Project timeline
-
September 19, 2025Experience start
-
September 23, 2025Student teams formed
-
September 30, 2025Student teams assigned to a startup
-
October 14, 2025Initial Interview Oct 13-27
-
November 4, 2025Follow-up meeting
-
November 18, 2025Final touchpoint
-
December 4, 2025Experience end
Timeline
-
September 19, 2025Experience start
-
September 23, 2025Student teams formed
-
September 30, 2025Student teams assigned to a startup
-
October 14, 2025Initial Interview Oct 13-27
Student teams meet and interview the founder or a representative from the startup, between Oct 13 - 27. The representative should prepare a general information session on the organization, as well as internal and external characteristics and trends. The representative will answer student questions concerning the organization’s competition and the industry at large.
-
November 4, 2025Follow-up meeting
Student teams schedule a follow-up touchpoint with the startup through a virtual call, between Nov 3-14. Students present their research question and progress thus far, such as their observations about stakeholders, the internal and general environment, industry, competitors, direction of recommendations, etc. They will ask questions and receive feedback.
-
November 18, 2025Final touchpoint
Touchpoint before the final deliverable/presentation to finalize any last-minute questions during the week of Nov 17. This can be a check-in virtual call or through email, up to the founder's schedule.
-
November 25, 2025Final Presentations Nov 24 and Dec 1
Final presentations between Nov 24 and Dec 1.
* Please note that this timeline may change as the course develops.
-
December 4, 2025Experience end
Project examples
Requirements
In this project, students in groups of 4-6 assume the role of organizational consultants, providing advice about how to develop, grow, and expand a new organization. Their goal is to deliver an evaluation of the organization’s prospects, their recommendations for growth and development, and how these recommendations will affect the organization’s future. Students will interview the founder or another representative of the startup.
You should expect students to ask questions related to:
- Your organization’s goals and/or product(s)
- The problem that your organization addresses
- The competitors
- The target consumer
- Hurdles faced by the founder(s)
Following this initial interview, students will contact the founder or representative to solicit feedback on their progress and to ask follow-up questions. Students will perform a 1-hour interview and will then contact your founder/representative with follow-up questions through a scheduled video call. They will then have a shorter touchpoint before the end of the semester for feedback. Should scheduling be an issue email can be used instead. It will be your responsibility to select a clearly articulated problem or topic of interest and to share relevant information with the student groups. Students will then work on this topic as their course project, providing you with their insights or suggestions. Through hands-on and experiential learning, the projects give students an in-depth overview of the challenges involved in identifying and developing an entrepreneurial venture.
Guiding the student projects will be a commitment of approximately 5 hours over the course of the semester. You may choose to work with two student teams in separate sections of the class on different topics of interest in your organization. In this case, the workload and time commitment involved would double. You may choose to designate a co-founder or other representative of your startup to lead one of the teams.
Main contact
Timeline
-
September 19, 2025Experience start
-
September 23, 2025Student teams formed
-
September 30, 2025Student teams assigned to a startup
-
October 14, 2025Initial Interview Oct 13-27
-
November 4, 2025Follow-up meeting
-
November 18, 2025Final touchpoint
-
December 4, 2025Experience end
Timeline
-
September 19, 2025Experience start
-
September 23, 2025Student teams formed
-
September 30, 2025Student teams assigned to a startup
-
October 14, 2025Initial Interview Oct 13-27
Student teams meet and interview the founder or a representative from the startup, between Oct 13 - 27. The representative should prepare a general information session on the organization, as well as internal and external characteristics and trends. The representative will answer student questions concerning the organization’s competition and the industry at large.
-
November 4, 2025Follow-up meeting
Student teams schedule a follow-up touchpoint with the startup through a virtual call, between Nov 3-14. Students present their research question and progress thus far, such as their observations about stakeholders, the internal and general environment, industry, competitors, direction of recommendations, etc. They will ask questions and receive feedback.
-
November 18, 2025Final touchpoint
Touchpoint before the final deliverable/presentation to finalize any last-minute questions during the week of Nov 17. This can be a check-in virtual call or through email, up to the founder's schedule.
-
November 25, 2025Final Presentations Nov 24 and Dec 1
Final presentations between Nov 24 and Dec 1.
* Please note that this timeline may change as the course develops.
-
December 4, 2025Experience end