Entrepreneurship has been held by many as the key to development in the underdeveloped world. This is because it holds the potential of aiding problem solving through the development of innovative products and services. These will also help in reducing unemployment by serving as income generation avenues for the youth. If Africa, and indeed other developing economies, can achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), there will be the need to develop profit generating enterprises as well as social enterprises to serve as the backbone and propellant.

This capstone session, in a bid to further position Ashesi graduates to understand the nuances of start-ups and the entrepreneurial mindset to develop into entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs, integrates the skills and knowledge obtained from courses offered in the past three years of the student’s education on campus. It will teach students what a start-up is and make the clear distinction between a start-up and a small business. It will take students through opportunity analysis and the development of sustainable business models using Eric Ries’ Lean StartUp, Steve Blank’s Customer Development Process and Alexander Osterwalder’s Business Model Canvas.

The core teaching philosophy is experiential, learner-centric and inquiry-based to develop the mind-set, reflexes, agility and resilience an entrepreneur needs to search for certainty in the chaotic world of start-ups. This will be achieved with the adoption of several teaching aids and stress on the need to get out of the classroom to bring their businesses to life.