YSEALI ACADEMY’S FLAGSHIP SEMINARS 2022

ENTREPRENEURSHIP SEMINAR CURRICULUM

Topic: Born Globals – Scaling Startups beyond Borders

I. TIME AND VENUE

Time

· Seminar dates: Sep 21 – Sept 30, 2022 (1 week online and 1 week in person, five working days, Monday – Friday).

· Application opening: July 7, 2022

. Application deadline: July 29, 2022

Venue

· The seminar will be conducted in-person mode by the YSEALI Academy based in Fulbright University Vietnam located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

 

II. PARTICIPANTS

About 35 YSEALI fellows who are young professionals between the ages of 25-40, highly qualified and motivated, from all 10 ASEAN member states and Timor-Leste.

Participants are required to commit at least 36 hours to seminar activities and approximately 12 additional hours for individual and group assignments over a period of one week. Therefore, participants are highly recommended to take one fully committed week to participate productively in and achieve the most from the seminar.

 

III. OBJECTIVES AND LEARNING OUTCOME

Objectives

To benefit from the in-person nature of this seminar series, the pedagogy will heavily rely on “Learning by Doing.” Therefore, the learning objectives aim to go beyond knowing about how Born Globals are different and unique, but also to learn how to build them. Specifically,

· Teach fellows the recent research insights from high-growth startups, international new ventures, and specifically the capabilities of Born Globals.

· Learn and apply the knowledge of Born Global capabilities related to Global Mindset, Cross-cultural team management, business modeling, and network embeddedness,

· Equip leaders with knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy to evaluate and adopt frameworks and tools to build Born Global business plans.

· Build a network among YSEALI fellows, alumni, and resource speakers.

This seminar series aims to increase the YSEALI fellows’ self-efficacy in identifying regional opportunities and mobilizing a network across borders.

Learning outcomes

Upon graduation, participants will be able to understand regional and global venture opportunities, and how startups can create and nurture a global mindset, develop an internationally oriented business model and embed it into networks across borders. The fellows will learn, through example, how ASEAN and international startups have pursued their international opportunities and how they dealt with challenges. More generally, the fellows are expected to gain self-efficacy in formulating and executing an internationalization strategy for a high-growth firm.

 

IV. THEME AND TOPICS

1. Major theme – Born Globals: Scaling Startups beyond Borders (for 2022)

The improvements in entrepreneurial ecosystems across ASEAN countries significantly increased the number of ASEAN-born startups, gave birth to several national unicorns, and boosted the standing of entrepreneurial careers. Yet, the lack of regional market integration remains to hamper international startup success. Home markets are often too small and unique to offer a solid springboard for success abroad. The challenge addressed in this seminar series: How to accelerate startup success abroad?"

 

2. Seminar topics

Topic 1 – Understanding the Opportunities and Challenges of International Expansion in ASEAN

This topic enlightens the young leaders on the opportunities and challenges of expanding businesses in ASEAN. Internationalization patterns of firms vary greatly in speed, country selection, and entry mode. Most commonly firms start expanding to markets that are similar to their home markets and only later do they move into markets very different from their original. Instead of these slow gradual processes of expansion abroad, born globals follow an accelerated pattern of entering different markets simultaneously.

 

Topic 2 – Leading high-performing international teams

Successful rapid and simultaneous market expansion requires unique capabilities. One of the capabilities of Born Globals is leading high-performing internationally diverse teams. Team diversity is known to offer great benefits of reducing group-think, increasing agility, and heightening creativity, yet leading it well requires continuous efforts and care. This topic will be addressed by having the teams go through intensive team-building exercises, discovering a shared deeper purpose, and practicing how to deal with (cross-cultural) team diversity challenges.

 

Topic 3 – Business Modeling Design and Adaptations

A second capability that makes born globals execute their rapid international expansion is their ability to design business models that are niche but universal and do not need locally based assets or resources. Thanks to digital technologies and the possibility to experiment at a faster pace, startups can learn quicker to design and adapt such unique business model propositions. To learn about this topic, the teams will not only learn about how to make a minimal viable product in a maker space, but they will also get an understanding of how business models can generate revenues and support the startup in its mission/purpose.

 

Topic 4 – Embedding Strategy into Multiple International Networks

Thinking global requires acting local. Successful Born Globals are very good at relationship building and devise strategies to quickly embed themselves into local ecosystems and figure out when to deploy which types of country-wise investments (for physical country presence). This topic introduces the different types of ecosystems and will teach the teams about different ways to analyze these and strategize the embedding strategy.

 

V. SEMINAR FORMAT AND STRUCTURE

1. Seminar format

This seminar aims to unlock ASEAN’s entrepreneurial potential that can change the world. We will gather 35 to 40 YSEALI fellows who will learn and work on expanding a mission-driven startup across ASEAN countries and potentially beyond. The combination of online engagement sessions and a week-long in-person seminar/workshops will be high-speed, ultra-meaningful, and prepare the fellows for the Start or Expansion of an international new venture. At its core will be an action-based hackathon complemented by lectures, panel discussions, and coaching sessions from a carefully selected group of faculty and mentors. Participants have a chance to build conceptual business solutions for pressing societal problems across borders, and finally, pitch their plans before VCs and business angels. This seminar will unlock ASEAN’s entrepreneurial potential that can change the world.

 

High-speed format. The seminar week consists of 8 so-called “Sprints.” For each Sprint, participants get accelerated results with powerful learning distilled into short, high-quality sessions of 1-2 hours by faculty on the ground and virtually.

 

Ultra-meaningful. With hardly any time to lose at the high speed of this seminar, who teaches you matters. The professors and mentors we select are the trusted partners of industry leaders and experts in their fields, to ensure they bring meaningful and relevant content to the seminar series. Participants will work with them to upskill quickly on topics that are critical to their learning and startup venture.

 

Applicable and prepare for the start. In each sprint, participants and their teams learn the value of the frameworks and tools by applying these in real-time. For this, they gain applicable, strategic recommendations for their internationalizing new venture. By presenting to a forum of potential investors at the end, they can achieve real impact, fast.

 

Team project formation: participants from at least two nations will work in a team and deliver a pitch presentation on a purpose-driven startup idea that has ASEAN market potential.

 

2. Structure (2 online engagement sessions and one 1-week in-person seminar)

There are a total of 10 sessions in one week (Monday – Friday), and 2 sessions /per day (morning, afternoon, or evening). The eight action-oriented sessions are called “Sprints” and consist of 3-hour segments which include the following series of activities: introduction of the topic by speakers guest talk, assignment to apply the topic by the team, and then sharing with the class or one specific other team.

 

· 8 sessions for Sprints (scholars together with guest speakers, if any).

· 1 prep session

· 1 welcoming session and 1 closing session, including class review (reflection, Q&A, comments) and graduation ceremony.

 

Tentative seminar structure: 1-week online engagement + 1-week in-person seminar

Online engagement:

Week 1	Monday 19	Day 1 Tuesday 20	Wednesday 21	Day 2 Thursday 22	Friday 23	Saturday
Evening   7:30pm–9pm		(1.5 hours)		(1.5 hours)

 

Start Time	Day 1 Monday, 26 Sep 2022	Day 2 Tuesday, 27 Sep 2022	Day 3 Wednesday, 28 Sep 2022	Day 4 Thursday, 29 Sep 2022	Day 5 Friday, 30 Sep 2022	Saturday, 1 Oct 2022
8:30	Opening Ceremony	SPRINT 3: Introduction to Born Globals	SPRINT 5: SPRINT 4: Business Model Design (2) & Product Prototyping:	SPRINT 7: Ecosystem embedding (2),	Free [Preparation for the Pitch]	Social activities
12:00	Lunch break	Lunch break	Lunch break	Lunch break	Lunch break
14:00	SPRINT 2: Global Mindset, Startup Team Diversity and Performance	SPRINT 4: Business Model Design (1)	SPRINT 6: Ecosystem embedding (1),	SPRINT 8: Country entry and non-market strategies,	PITCHING (With rewards)	Gala dinner
17:00	Fellows networking + Live Case	Team work	Team work	Team work	Night Tour
18:00	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner
19:30		Panel	Distinguished Speaker	Panel