Programme Master in Management

Academic Year 2021/22

Module/course code
Delivery location Paris campus
Language EN
Contact Hours 15
ECTS 3
Semester S1
Module name Elective Course – Deep tech entrepreneurship: Taking on
the world’s largest problems
Module leader Martin Kupp
Professors / email address Martin Kupp, [email protected]

OUTLINE

Module/course Summary

The next wave of innovation will be powered by emerging technologies and the approach of
deep tech entrepreneurs. Its economic, business, and social impact will be felt everywhere
because deep tech ventures aim to solve many of our most complex problems with
technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), synthetic biology, nanotechnologies, quantum
computing, or fusion energy just to name a few.

As technological advances move from the lab to the marketplace, and as companies form to
pursue commercial applications, we see a number of similarities in how and why they are
being developed—and a powerful ecosystem is taking shape to drive their development. We
witnessed the power of that ecosystem in the year just ended, as Moderna and the team of
BioNTech and Pfizer separately took two COVID-19 vaccines from genomic sequence to
market in less than a year. Although these companies did remarkable work at unheard-of
speed, they benefited from the work of many others, including governments, academia,
venture capital, and big business. All of these are critical players in the coming wave. This
course looks at how this deep tech entrepreneurship is taking shape.

Module / Course Objectives

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This course is designed for students who want to better understand how emerging
technologies find their way out of the lab and onto the market. In this respect, the purpose of
the course is to guide students through various forms, tools, and prerequisites of deeptech
entrepreneurship in order to broader students’ perspective and to give them the knowledge,
frameworks and network to potentially start their career in the deeptech space. To intensify
the experience, we will bring in guest speakers from all main stakeholder groups and include
a group work in which the students immediately apply their knowledge to develop
recommendations for improving and accelerating a deeptech eco-system of their choice.

Pre-requisite: None

Department: Jean-Baptiste Say Institute for Entrepreneurship of ESCP

Learning Goals (LG)

LG1: To have in-depth knowledge and understanding of organizations

LG2: To be able to make relevant decisions (skills oriented)
LG4: To have an independent and critical mind

Learning Objectives (LO)

LO1: To demonstrate in-depth knowledge and understanding of organizations, the external

context in which they operate and how they are managed
LO2: To apply knowledge of business and management to complex issues and situations,
both systematically and creatively
LO4: To formulate a problem, analyse a situation and draw evidence-based conclusions

WHAT WILL I BE EXPECTED TO ACHIEVE?

Knowledge and understanding of:

 Definition of deeptech entrepreneurship and specificities of deeptech entrepreneurship

 Forms of deeptech entrepreneurship
 The main stakeholders of deeptech entrepreneurship
 The role of universities and university spin-off
 The role of the eco-system
 Deeptech investors like patient capital, evergreen investors, family offices or public
grants

Skills
Subject specific: Students develop a deep understanding of the specific deeptech
entrepreneurship sector.
Cognitive and intellectual: The course stimulates innovative thinking to explore and to design
new ways how to stimulate deeptech entrepreneurship.

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Transferable: Real-life project helps students to create the connection between theory and
practice and to gain first-hand experience and build a network in the deeptech sector.
Values and attitudes: Students will understand the power of an entrepreneurial mindset and
the impact of entrepreneurial activities.

HOW WILL I LEARN?

Delivery modes:
☐100% face to X100% face to face/teaching ☐ Blended ☐100%
face materials online online

Comments: tbd based on covid-19 developments

Teaching Methods:
X x Case ☐Business X Group X Projects ☐ Tutorials
Lectures studies Simulations Work

Module/course teaching pattern

Teaching Component Type Contact Self Directed Total Student

Hours Study Hours Learning Hours
Lectures Lectures 15
Group work Powerpoint 1
presentation
Totals

COURSE CONTENT

The course consists of 5 class sessions (3h), made up of lectures, group work, guest speakers
and final group presentations.

Students will be divided into groups in which they are supposed to develop a strategy on how
to integrate corporate entrepreneurship into a real company case. The company case will be
presented at the end of the first session.

● Session 1: Introduction to deep tech entrepreneurship: taking on the world’s biggest

problems
o Definition, how is deep tech entrepreneurship different from usual startups
o From scientist to entrepreneur: the deep tech team
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 o Forms of deeptech entrepreneurship
o Impact of deep tech: pandemics, climate change, biodiversity, energy, …

● Session 2: From lab to market: The role of universities, public research labs and
business schools
o How do universities and labs commercialise their science? Examples of
Sarbonne, CNRS, ESCP …
o What is a TTO (tech transfer office) and how does it work
o Guest speaker

● Session 3: The role of government in deeptech entrepreneurship

o The role of government funding
o The role of incentives and regulation
o Guest-speaker

● Session 4: Investing in deep tech and the role of the deep tech community
o The funding cycle and why it is harder than digital
o Types of capital: equity, non-dilutive
o Short-term vs long-term investing
o Innovative investment vehicles
o Guest speaker

● Session 5: The role of corporates in deep tech and presentation of project works
o The role of corporate venture capital
o Corporates as co-developer, customers, investors
o Presentation of project works

HOW WILL I BE ASSESSED?

Overview
Language of Assessment EN
Examination
The advanced management course in deeptech entrepreneurship stands for one credit based on the
following grades:
 Class participation (30%): group work, presentations, discussions etc.
 Group work (70%): Recommendations to improve deeptech entrepreneurshp.

Any grade under 10/20 on any of the above will lead to a “no credit” for the entire course.
In addition, absence from more than two class sessions will lead to a “no credit” for the entire
course (please refer to the student book master course).

Assessment Component Assessment Type Weighting Pass Pass/ Fail

% Mark %
YES/NO
Group work Oral & written work 70%

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 Individual in class participation Oral work 30%

Assessment criteria

Marking Schema for comparison across countries where the programme takes place:
Spanish English French German Definition
8 - 10 70 - 100 16 - 20 1.0 – 1.5 EXCELLENT. Only minor errors.
7 - 7.9 65 - 69 14 - 15.9 1.6 – 2.0 VERY GOOD. Above average,
some errors.
6 - 6.9 60 - 64 12 - 13.9 2.1 – 2.5 GOOD. Sound work but notable
errors.
5.5 - 5.9 55 - 59 11 - 11.9 2. 6 – 3.5 SATISFACTORY. Fair, but
significant shortcomings.
5 - 5.4 50 - 54 10 - 10.9 3.6 - 4.0 SUFFICIENT. Meets the minimum
criteria.
<5 < 50 < 10 4.1 - 5.0 FAIL. Some or considerable work
needed to pass.

Feedback on assessment

READING LIST

Reference articles & reports:

Aldridge, T.T., Audretsch, D., Desai, S. and Nadella, V., 2017. Scientist entrepreneurship
accross scientific fields. In Universities and the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem. Edward Elgar
Publishing.

Benaich, N. 2021. Rewriting the European Spinout Playbook,

https://www.airstreet.com/blog/spinouts

Edström, A. and Klinger, A., 2020. A Landscape of Deep-Tech and Venture Capital in Europe.

Harlé, N., Soussan, P. and de la Tour, A., 2017. What deep-tech startups want from corporate
partners. BCG Henderson Institute, 3.

Kupp, M., 2021. Only startups can move deeptech out of the lab,
https://sifted.eu/articles/startups-deeptech-value/

Tsujimoto, M., Kajikawa, Y., Tomita, J. and Matsumoto, Y., 2018. A review of the ecosystem
concept—Towards coherent ecosystem design. Technological Forecasting and Social Change,
136, pp.49-58.