Opportunity Hunters - Thinking Like an Entrepreneur

What it is about

You learn how founders embark on paths to self-employment and how entrepreneurial opportunities emerge from problems. Through practice reports, methodological inputs, and your own field research, you recognize, analyze and validate real problem spaces and assess their founding potential — including targeted use and critical evaluation of AI as an exploration tool.

What you will be able to do

• Understand and reflect on paths to entrepreneurship and experiences
• Identify entrepreneurial opportunities in problem spaces
• Describe complex, real problem spaces
• Decompose problem spaces into concrete subproblems
• Validate and quantify subproblems
• Analyze systemic connections and dependencies
• Perform trend analyses and filter relevant signals
• Apply qualitative methods (interviews, observations, diaries)
• Strategically use AI for initial exploration and develop prompts
• Critically compare AI analyses with primary research
• Reflect on one's own assumptions and describe perspective shifts
• Structuredly assess the relevance and urgency of problems (e.g., 4U)
• Communicate results clearly and structurally in writing

What the module consists of

• Speaker sessionsWeekly guest lectures provide practice reports, inspiration and problem-space proposals for the project
• Methods masterclassMethodical inputs on Opportunity Recognition, problem-space exploration and qualitative methods
• Independent project work4–6 weeks of autonomous field research to analyze and evaluate a chosen problem space
• AI-assisted problem space explorationInitial, AI-supported mapping of the problem space as a starting point before primary research
• Peer review workshop and showcasePresentation of selected works and a structured peer-feedback process
• Asynchronous learning materials on MoodleVideo tutorials on interview, observation and analysis techniques for flexible follow-up

Teaching method

• Guest lectures (weekly speaker sessions)Conveying practical knowledge, role models and problem proposals for inspiration
• Method inputs / MasterclassIntroduction to qualitative research methods and analytical techniques
• Project work (individual)Independent application of the methods in the field to foster initiative and research skills
• Moodle + AI-assisted materialsAsynchronous learning support and guidance on meaningful use of AI
• Peer ReviewPromotion of critical reflection and communicative skills through structured feedback