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Theses (M.Sc. & B.Sc.) Inside the Venture

For startups in need of support

A typical Inside the Venture Master's Thesis starts with a needs analysis and project definition. We discuss if and how your challenges are suitable for a student thesis project and then inform students about project opportunities on MCEI's website and also within our network and scout potential student candidates. Start-ups interested in hosting an Inside the Venture thesis project are being requested to contact us with a brief project description! Of course, students who already have established startup ties or work on their own project can approach us anytime with project suggestions as well. It is important to note here that we have a confidentiality clause for the Inside the Venture projects. 

For master students who want to conduct a startup project

The project tasks can range from developing a business plan with a pitch deck to market analyses, pricing analyses, competitor analyses or even dedicated analyses of the business model. Regardless of how you are tasked, the focus is always on an empirically grounded due diligence, pushing the envelope and deriving well-grounded implications.

This special type of Master Thesis consists of 2 parts (The two parts are seperate from each other with individual title but together form one thesis):

Part I: The startup project (Inside the Venture part)

  • fully dedicated to your client startup or your own startup
  • clear implications for business
  • well-grounded on due diligence and facts to the point
  • you usually work on site
  • intern­ship certificate may be possible
  • final consulting report as 1 chapter of your thesis (usually spans between 50–100+ pages including all documented appendices)
  • the managerial report may contain theoretical background and academic papers if helpful to the startup
  • all sources (including data) must be referenced appropriately

Part II: An academic journal-style paper (Academic part)

  • usually qualitative research (about 5–10 interviews, etc.)
  • of about 25–30 pages with empirical focus
  • clear theoretical foundations and contribution to theory and practice (just like an academic journal paper)
  • in the „look & feel“ aligned with the Academy of Management guidelines
  • paper structured like in the Academy of Management Journal
  • the topic of the academic (i.e. theory) paper is advised to be unrelated to the startup project, however it may be related if specifically desired

An example theses:
Inside the Venture part: Business model development and market analysis for Awesome Start-up GmbH – Academic part: The impact of entrepreneur­ship education on venture creation 
 

Why do we have these two parts?

Our experiences in many highly successful projects show us that this is a scheme which produces highly productive outcomes at top-level, enabling students to grow their skills significally and really give our startups a significant boost in acceleration and growth. A combination of writing a theory paper with managerial reports would not meet any standard – neither from an academic evaluation perspective nor for the stakeholders in question. 

Please contact us, if you have further questions or need advice. Sample projects can be screened in the MCEI office upon request to gain a better impression on Inside the Venture Theses.

For interested bachelor students

Bachelor students have the opportunity to write an Inside the Venture Bachelor's Thesis. The requirement is that it is conducted for the student's own startup. Differently from the Inside the Venture Master's Thesis it consists of only one part and has a more limited project volume as it integrates both academic and practical insights. Please arrange an appointment to discuss project feasibility before your Bachelor's Thesis topic application. Also note that the Bachelor's Theses applications can only be made during the centrally scheduled date in FSS. Please keep an eye on the relevant websites to know the deadlines.

Dr. Nora Zybura

Dr. Nora Zybura

Ansprech­partnerin Start-ups und Gründungen
Bereich: Entrepreneur­ship
Universität Mannheim
MCEI/ Institut für Mittelstandsforschung
Schloss, Ehrenhof Ost – Raum EO 271
68161 Mannheim