Public Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Public entrepreneurship is an alternative, inventive approach for leading change in public realms. This course is designed for future private entrepreneurs and public leaders who want to build new ventures operating in, or selling into, traditionally public domains. Throughout the last few years, we have seen a wave of new public entrepreneurs start companies that eventually sell to government institutions, or directly to citizens, and a growing interest in these companies by ventures funds and other investors.

Financial Modelling for Social Enterprise shows you how to think about and build a basic financial model from the ground up, starting from a single business unit and scaling up. This approach helps ensure that your product or service can be realistically commercialised, and that the business model is built for scalability from the start.

This course explores the benefits and limitations of microfinance as an economic development strategy, focusing specifically on the role of microfinance in international poverty alleviation efforts. We will explore the history and evolution of the field from both a theoretical as well as practical perspectives, along with the roles played by various constituencies (e.g. clients, policy makers, donors, investors, etc.).