Venture Creation: making purposeful ideas reality 

 

An intensive 5-Day program for PhD and Postdoctoral Innovators

This 5-Day Venture Creation course is an intensive, hands-on program designed to guide you through the complete entrepreneurial journey—from generating an innovative idea to delivering a compelling investor pitch. Blending academic rigor with real-world practice, the course is built on the principle of learning by doing. You will form teams, validate customer problems, design business models, and master storytelling and fundraising techniques.

The program is led by Dr. Yossi Maaravi, Dean and Co-Founder of the Adelson School of Entrepreneurship at Reichman University. Dr. Maaravi brings over 20 years of teaching and executive training experience from leading universities worldwide, integrating research-based insights with practical tools in creativity, innovation, lean startup, and decision-making.

The course is for PhD candidates, postdocs, and technicians working at the University of Vienna or at any Circle U university.

 

Why This Course?

  • Highly Ranked: Consistently ranked among the best modules at partner institutions.
  • Transformative Outcomes: Graduates report launching new ventures and significantly strengthening their innovation mindset.
  • Focus on Soft Skills: Emphasis on teamwork, leadership under pressure, and personal growth.
  • Opportunity Evaluation: Identify and evaluate entrepreneurial opportunities by applying creativity techniques, customer discovery methods, and lean startup principles.
  • Business Model Development: Develop and test business models that address validated market needs, including designing MVPs (Minimum Viable Products) and analyzing potential for growth.
  • Teamwork & Leadership: Demonstrate effective teamwork and leadership in high-pressure, time-constrained environments typical of venture creation. 
  • Impactful Communication: Communicate entrepreneurial ideas with impact, crafting persuasive investor pitches that integrate storytelling and financial insights.

  

 Important Details

Application Deadline: 22 April 2026

Notification of Shortlisted Candidates: 4 May 2026

Course Dates: 29 June - 3 July 2026 (every day from 9 to 17)

Location: Seminar Room - Apostelgasse 23, 1030 Vienna

Fees: If accepted to the Summer School, participants are required to pay a EUR 200 deposit, which will be fully refunded upon attendance of all scheduled days of the programme.

 

 

 Schedule

Monday 29 June: the more the merrier

Morning: welcome, overview, and team building

Afternoon: ideation 101 & guided teamwork

Tuesday 30 June: model your model

Morning: do's and don'ts of startups and presentations

Afternoon: business models 

Wednesday 1 July: MVP

Morning: the lean canvas & the minimum viable product 

Afternoon: validation with real customers

Thursday 2 July: money, money, money

Morning: MVP presentations

Afternoon: Raising Money 101 & startup pitching

Friday 3 July: you on stage

Morning: how to give and receive feedback

Afternoon: pitch your startup

ECTS

Participants will receive a certificate reporting that the workload of the course is of 2 ECTS. If PhD candidates seek recognition of the ECTS, they should contact the director of their doctoral programme. The course organiser has no control on this process. We suggest participants contact their doctoral school in advance and submit the certificate of attendance to their respective administrative unit.

     

 How to reach us

If you have any questions or require further information, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Contact us at entrepreneurship@univie.ac.at, and we’ll be happy to assist you.