Innovation Arena

Innovation Arena is made up of two modules, INITIATE and EXECUTE! that equips you with the practical skills to develop and scale new products and services, either as a new venture or as an intrapreneur, driving change within organisations.

The Innovation Arena program is part of the Startup Year initiative supported by the Australian Federal Government.

Program benefits

• Take your new ideas to the world and use entrepreneurship to bridge your studies and career.
• The program is designed to guide participants towards ideating and validating a business idea or initiative that has the potential to add value to a clearly defined customer or stakeholder group.
• You do not require any previous business experience or have an established start-up idea to enrol in this program.
• Be guided through the process of identifying a potential customer segment or market, clearly identifying the needs and wants of that segment and how they will develop a product or service adding value to those customers or users.
• Successful completion of INITIATE will allow you to enrol in EXECUTE! with an aim to further develop and build your business entity.

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Program benefits

• Extend on the work achieved in the INITIATE module to build founders and innovative professionals, not simply build startups.
• Validate your proposed solution, build your business model, establish a pricing strategy and demonstrate that customers are genuinely willing to pay and use what you are offering them. You will end the module by determining the size of future target markets and develop long-term product and customer engagement plans.
• Learn the essential physiological factors determining entrepreneurial success.
• Work alongside like-minded others, and with input from dedicated mentors, experienced practitioners, and knowledgeable professionals.
• Gain unique understandings and feedback to develop your entrepreneurial opportunity or idea for a new product or service.

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Delivery

Each module is built around a 15-week structure incorporating a series of workshops, on-line coaching sessions and virtual learning materials allowing you to develop a portfolio of outputs aligned to the establishment of your entrepreneurial venture or innovation initiative.

Each 15-week module is divided up into three main five-week blocks that each align to three relevant themes of disciplined entrepreneurship.

Each five-week block begins with a 2-day intensive workshop followed by a weekly workshop for the remaining four weeks.

The workshops are designed to incorporate experiential learning principles and allow you to engage with and practice the skills and activities you will be using in order to progress your new venture / innovative idea.

Themes

Cost

• Each module (INITIATE or EXECUTE!) costs $6360

If applicants have graduated in the last three years they will be eligible for Startup-HELP funding.

What you receive

On successful completion of each Innovation Arena module (INITIATE or EXECUTE!), you will receive a QUT Certificate of Completion.

You will also be eligible to receive up to six Innovation Arena micro-credentials:

• IA1 Understanding Your Customer
• IA2 Meeting Customer Needs
• IA3 Developing Customer Channels
• IA4 Achieving Value Capture
• IA5 Solution Validation
• IA6 Scaling Your Business

In addition, in both INITIATE and EXECUTE! you will receive:

• Up to $2000 Venture Incentive Funding per module on successful completion of your new venture key milestones
• Access to MIT’s ORBIT Entrepreneurship Artificial Intelligence platform to help you develop your idea

Participants of INITIATE and EXECUTE! will receive complimentary copies of:

• Aulet, B. (2024) Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup
• Cheek, P. (2024) Disciplined Entrepreneurship: Startup Tactics

QUT Entrepreneurship facilitators and Entrepreneurs-in-Residence will guide you through each of the 24 Steps of Disciplined Entrepreneurship to ensure you give yourself and your new venture or initiative the best possible chance of success.

Your workshops will also include masterclass sessions held by QUT Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EiR) and self-development activities related to the development of their Entrepreneurial Performance Mindset (EPM).

Each weekly face-to-face workshop will be augmented by a facilitated on-line peer coaching session.  You will also have the option of connecting with a QUT Entrepreneurship staff member for an online consultation session if required.

As a participant in Innovation Arena you will be expected to:

• attend your orientation session before your program starts
• attend all face-to-face workshops and on-line mentoring sessions
• contribute to workshop discussions and activities and complete all your key tasks on time
• engage and connect with the QUT Entrepreneurship teaching and mentoring team to help you stay on track
• engage with the Innovation Arena INITIATE and EXECUTE! QUT Canvas page throughout the teaching period
• regularly check your QUT student email for correspondence from QUT Entrepreneurship staff
• adhere to the rules and policies of QUT, as outlined in the QUT Student Code of Conduct.

You are not required to have any previous business experience or have an established start-up idea in order to enrol in the INITIATE program.