Lean Start Up

ECTS : 3

Lecturer in charge : Gilles MAUTIN (https://www.linkedin.com/in/gilles-mautin/)

Language of instruction : French

Teaching hours : 18

Course content:

We believe you should become the captain of your destiny!
This course introduces Lean Startup as it is practiced in incubators and early-stage venture environments.
The approach is strictly hands-on: students are not here to study a method, but to build a project that could actually exist.
Each team develops a real early-stage idea and engages with the market week after week. Concepts are introduced briefly, then immediately applied.
Main themes covered:

• Idea vs. hypothesis vs. fact: how to reduce uncertainty. 
• Problem discovery: identifying real unmet needs through interviews and observation.
• Value proposition: defining who you serve and what problem you solve.
• MVPs (Minimum Viable Products): designing simple, credible tests to validate assumptions.
• The Build–Measure–Learn cycle: how to structure experiments and learning loops.
• Decision-making: continue, refine, pivot, or stop based on evidence.
• Teamwork under uncertainty: roles, coordination, accountability.
• Evidence-based pitching: presenting a project through the lens of experiments and insights, not speculation.

• "Amazing !  I learnt a lot and discovered lots of things during those weeks. Moreover the classes were genuinely really interested and helped me in deciding wether I launch a start up or not. Thank you!"
• "I am an Erassmus student student & I always wanted to work on some startup. That’s why I joined this course ‘lean startup’ & trust me it was a fun, learning, and a really good experience. All thanks to our professor, he’s really supportive."
• ""I would not imagine it before, but it really changed my view of the world","
• "Very good experience ! quite tangible, which is good in comparison with other subjects that are being taught at Dauphine. The steps to follow are explained very clearly which debunk the idea of building a business in a good way ! :)"
• "It was nice that this course was really practical. If you want to, you can really start a business and the teacher will support you. Overall, I learned a lot from this, thank you for this experience!"
• "The learning experience was beyond expectations as it balanced perfectly theory and practice. As a law student, the knowledge I gained through this experience was more than useful to me. Thank you for everything and keep up the good spirit!"
• "No unnecessary words here. It's the place to get a real entrepreneur mindset. Thank you !"
• ...

Skills to be acquired:

 By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Understand how a business works as a whole, from identifying a need to shaping an offer and testing a business model. 
• Identify and articulate a real customer problem through interviews, observation, and early-stage research.
• Formulate and test hypotheses using Lean Startup tools (MVPs, rapid experiments, iteration cycles).
• Design a simple and verifiable business model, linking the value proposition, customer segments, and revenue logic.
• Collect and analyze user feedback, and make evidence-based decisions: continue, adjust, pivot, or stop.
• Present a learning journey, showing what was tested, what was learned, and why it matters.
• Work effectively in a project team, distribute roles, organize deliverables, and communicate progress.
• Pitch a project convincingly, using facts gathered on the field rather than assumptions or opinions.
   

Mandatory prerequisites

Please note that due to the extremely participative and interactive nature of the course, presence is mandatory. 

Assessment:

Pedagogical approach alternating between 30 minutes of lessons, 30 minutes tutorials, 30 minutes restitution in classAssessment method: Final Oral PresentationAttendance, participation, 25% Defense 75%

Weighting : 0.75

Bibliography, recommended reading:

Eric Ries, 2011, The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses,1st edition, Crown Business.Peter Thiel, Blake Masters, 2014, Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future, 1st edition, Crown Business.Geoffrey A. Moore, 2014, Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers (Collins Business Essentials), 3rd edition, HarperBusiness.Daniel Kahneman, 2013, Thinking, Fast and Slow, 1st edition, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.Guy Kawasaki, 2015, The Art of the Start 2.0: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything, Portfolio.Ash Maurya, Running Lean: Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works, 2nd edition, O'Reilly Media.Steve Blank, Bob Dorf 2012, The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide for Building a Great Company, 1st edition, K & S Ranch.Tim Brown, 2009, Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation, HarperBusiness.Tom Kelley, David Kelley, 2013, Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All, 1st edition, Crown Business.