UpStart

UpStart Program exposes students to the entrepreneurial eco-system and provides practical tools and experiential learning in the local startup environment.

Head of Program

Dr. Gali Einav

Head of International BA and UpStart Program

Operation and administration

Sharon Zahavi

Project and Administration Coordinator, International.

Leading Lecturer

Mr. Ofir Richman

Lecturer, Academic Faculty member

The UpStart program works to instill an entrepreneurial mindset in students, endowing them with valuable knowledge, tools and skills necessary to take a leadership role in an entrepreneurial startup or business venture.

The program includes fundamental courses in entrepreneurial strategic thinking, user design, legal and financial aspects of startup ventures and behavioral and psychological aspects of creativity and innovation.

Students in this specialization will work on a final project in teams, creating the building blocks for an entrepreneurial venture. Throughout the year, students work closely with industry mentors on all stages of building their venture idea. By end of the program students pitch their ventures to accelerators and potential investors.

The program offers field visits to Israeli companies, networking opportunities and guest lectures by leading figures in the Startup eco-system.

Details

The Upstart program takes place in the 2nd year for Law and CS students, 3rd or 4th year of studies for all students on campus (except for the Adelson school of Entrepreneurship students)
The courses are held Fridays over 1 academic year
Credit points allocated individually by each school
The program includes 4 courses
Final project in venture creation
The program is limited to 50 participants

Admissions

Current 1st year Law and CS students, going to their 2nd year of studies, all current 2nd and 3rd year students
Top students (GPA) or students with a proven record in extracurricular activities
Applicants who do not submit a video (see the form) will not be considered
Applications applied by June 26th, 2024
Decisions given: July 1st, 2024
For Application, Click here >>
Info-session will be held Sunday, May 2nd at 5:30PM, Adelson Building, Room E305.
Sign up for the Info-session here >>

Important

All courses are on Fridays: 8:00-13:00
The entire program is in English
The program is very demanding and requires hard work and high motivation

*For further information please email: Sharon.zahavi@runi.ac.il

Students testimonials >>>

Nitzan Weiss

I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in the Upstart program. The program gave me practical tools and exposed me to the entrepreneurial eco-system. It is unique among all academia's courses, had amazing teamwork alongside professional mentors!

Course Outlines

- Lecturer: Mr. Ofir Richman
  
  The course will explore the challenges and processes involved in the creation and growing of a new venture. Following the “lean start-up” methodology the course integrates theory and practice by emphasizing multiples tools, methods and validation techniques and working closely with industry mentors. By the end of the course students will have determined and validated their business and strategic plan needed to launch and grow their business/venture.
- Lecturer: Mr. Daniel Pomerantz
  
  Entrepreneurs face a wide range of economic and legal issues. This course is designed to provide entrepreneurs with the tools and knowledge required to deal with core economic and legal issues. The course examines all aspects such as introduction to finance, reading and understanding financial statements, models for financing startups and new ventures, basic contracts (founders' agreement, investment agreements, NDA), patents and intellectual property and taxation issues.
- Lecturer: Dr. Yaakov Greenshpan
  
  This course will deal with the theoretical and practical issues that the design of a winning UX for a startup requires. The course’s objective is to provide students with a clear understanding and basic practical knowledge about UX’s role in a startup’s success. This course targets young entrepreneurs – as well as others interested in this area. The course will present contemporary research and practices in cognitive psychology, which stands at the core of improving human performance while using technology. This theoretical knowledge will enable students to better understand the design and behavior considerations for a startup’s product.
- Lecturer: Mr. Ofir Richman
  
  In this course, students will bring their venture ideas to the execution phase. They will dive deeper into issues of market strategy, MVP building, fund raising and growing their customer base. The course is based on the three core courses of the minor program in entrepreneurship: (1) Strategy and Marketing for Entrepreneurs (2) The Psychology of Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship; (3) Product design and User Experience. During the course, students will work with courses lecturers and mentors, and present their progress on a regular basis. The course final paper can provide the building blocks for initiating a new venture.