New Venture Creation 5 credits

Every entrepreneurial journey involves dozens of critical decisions, many made under uncertainty with limited time. Choosing your technology approach, setting initial pricing, structuring equity, selecting incorporation forms, assembling your team—each decision creates cascading effects throughout your venture. Make the wrong call on legal structure, and you face tax complications for years. Misjudge financing needs, and you run out of runway at the worst possible moment. Understanding the mechanics behind these choices separates ventures that scale from those that stumble. You will build decision-making frameworks across five interconnected areas. Technology assessment covers requirements analysis, intellectual property considerations, and protection strategies for innovations. Market mechanics include pricing strategy development, unit and portfolio economics, and competitive positioning for profitability. Team evaluation addresses team charters, skill gaps, network leverage, and organisational design principles. Financial planning encompasses burn rate analysis, runway projections, capital structure optimisation, and funding source targeting. Legal and strategic components cover incorporation form implications for taxation and ownership, market entry strategy development, and scenario planning for course corrections. This course prepares you to make foundational decisions with appropriate rigour. You will distinguish between critical choices that require deep analysis and secondary issues that can evolve over time. When facing technology, pricing, team, financial, or legal decisions, you will recognise the key variables at play and their long-term implications. The goal is not perfect foresight but competent judgment—knowing what matters, when it matters, and where to focus your limited time and resources.