Innovation Arena EXECUTE!

Innovation Arena EXECUTE! is a structured, guided program 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.

Innovation Arena EXECUTE! aims to build founders and innovative professionals, not simply build startups.

Drawing on empirically tested methods and approaches used to coach elite athletes and high performing business leaders QUT’s Entrepreneurial Performance Mindset (EPM) framework will be used to train you in the essential psychological factors determining entrepreneurial success.

You will 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.

The modules will leverage and incorporate MIT's 24 Steps of Disciplined Entrepreneurship that QUT has access to via our contractual arrangement established in 2020. Divided into six themes the 24 Steps provide a systemic and structured process for entrepreneurs wanting to build a new venture.

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

2024 program

• Applications open - 31 May 2024
• Applications close - 9 August 2024
• Program commences - 21 August 2024
• Program ends - 27 November 2024

Course contact

• To contact our Entrepreneurship team email entrepreneurship@qut.edu.au

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

Innovation Arena EXECUTE! is built around three major themes drawn from MIT’s 24 Steps of Disciplined Entrepreneurship.

Theme 1 Achieving Value Capture

During this theme you will begin to build your business model around your proposed product or service, you will establish a pricing strategy, calculate the potential Life Time Value (LTV) of your customers and determine the Cost of Customer Acquisition (COCA). On completion of this theme you will have confirmed the financial sustainability of your proposed venture or innovation project.

Theme 2 Solution Validation

In this theme you will validate your proposed solution, testing the key assumptions you have made about your target customers, begin to design and build out your Minimal Viable Business Product (MVBP) and demonstrate that customers are genuinely willing to pay and use what you are offering them.

Theme 3 Scaling Your Business

In the final theme you will begin to launch your product and/or service to the world, determining the size of future target markets, develop long-term product and customer engagement plans and interact with the broader innovation and entrepreneurial eco-system.

Cost

• Course cost: $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 Innovation Arena EXECUTE! you will receive a QUT Certificate of Completion. In addition to your QUT Certificate you will receive:

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

You will also be eligible to receive up to three Innovation Arena EXECUTE! Micro-Credentials

• IA1 Achieving Value Capture
• IA2 Solution Validation
• IA3 Scaling Your Business

Participants will receive complimentary copies of:

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

We’ll support you

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.

In order to be accepted into Innovation Arena EXECUTE! you must demonstrate you have:

• previously graduated from one of:
  - a Bachelor degree
  - Master's degree
  - PhD degree
• either:
  - undertaken some early customer engagement or market research that has identified a product or service that customers may be willing to pay for (a validated 'problem worth solving')
  - identified a need or an opportunity within your organisation that you would like to further develop into a new line of business or an innovation
  -have attended one or more of our QUT Entrepreneurship programs (e.g Side Hustle, Venture Catalyst, Growth Lab) or similar (e.g MIT FUSE; StartMIT)
  - have successfully completed an entrepreneurship focused QUT Capstone unit (such as IGB300, EGH419, KKB380)

As a participant in Innovation Arena EXECUTE! 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 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

Expressions of interest are now open for Innovation Arena EXECUTE! 

Please note, applications close 9 August.

The program will run from 21 August 2024 – 27 November 2024.