Contents 

Course Content

Entrepreneurs often experience passion, benefit from feelings of autonomy, and receive a boost in self-esteem through external recognition. However, the process of founding and growing a venture is also marked by high uncertainty, limited resources, and frequent setbacks—conditions that can lead to stress, anxiety, and burnout. This course discusses the psychological challenges and opportunities of founding a new venture, offers insights into how entrepreneurs can navigate adversity, and illustrates how personal well-being ties into entrepreneurial performance.

In this course, students will explore topics such as the drivers of entrepreneurial well-being, the balance between passion and burnout, the impact of emotions, and the role of resilience in navigating uncertainty. Students will engage with the latest literature on entrepreneurial well-being, supplemented by insights from psychology (e.g., positive psychology, clinical psychology) and popular press to gain an understanding of current approaches to, as well as practical tools around entrepreneurial well-being. The course is designed to blend academic theory with practical application through readings discussions, self-assessments, group work, and experiential learning activities.

This course lives from active participation both during and between sessions. Students are expected to actively engage in course discussions, complete their mandatory readings and additional homework between sessions, and invest time to practice the applied exercises on a regular basis.

Course Outline 

The course is designed as a seminar with a mix of student presentations, topic deep dives by the lecturer, interactive discussions of the session topics, and applied exercises focusing on concrete well-being practices.

The course will take place online (zoom) and is composed of 7 sessions with a duration of 3h15min each (i.e. two “blocks” + 15 min break per session).

Session 1: Introduction to entrepreneurial well-being

• Course introduction
• Introduction to entrepreneurial well-being

Session 2: The bright side of entrepreneur­ship

• Well-being and it’s link to entrepreneur­ship
• Entrepreneurial passion

Session 3: The dark side of entrepreneur­ship

• Entrepreneurial ill-being
• Entrepreneurial fear of failure

Session 4: Managing well-being

• Entrepreneurial resilience & coping
• Coping strategies

Session 5: Getting emotional

• Emotions & Entrepreneur­ship
• (Entrepreneurial) emotion regulation

Session 6: Looking beyond the individual

• The role of social support networks
• Emotions and well-being in the entrepreneurial team

Session 7: Wrapping up the entrepreneurial journey

• Dealing with entrepreneurial failure
• Course wrap-up and reflection

Learning outcomes 

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

1. Identify psychological, emotional, and physical well-being opportunities and challenges that entrepreneurs face.
2. Understand and analyze the key academic concepts and theoretical frameworks surrounding entrepreneurial well-being.
3. Identify and apply well-being strategies (emotion regulation, coping) to manage entrepreneurial stress and uncertainty.
4. Assess their own well-being experiences in the entrepreneurial (or academic/professional) context and develop personalized approaches to foster well-being in settings of high uncertainty.

Prerequisites

The course is aimed at master students with an interest in the topic of well-being and its link to entrepreneur­ship. Having previous entrepreneurial experience and/or having attended introductory entrepreneur­ship courses (e.g. MAN 630 Introduction to entrepreneur­ship, MAN 631 Creativity and Entrepreneur­ship in Practice) is beneficial but not a necessary requirement for course participation.

Course Registration

Due to its interactive nature, this course has a limited capacity.  You can register anytime during the official course registration period and registrations are done via Portal2. Spots are assigned by chance after the registration period. Hence, you will receive feedback if you are accepted to the course only after the registration period. Please refrain from sending emails beforehand regarding the status of your registration.

Since course capacity is strictly limited, students who received a spot but decided not to participate in the course have to deregister from the course during the deregisteration period indicated in Portal2.

Please see Portal2 for the periods of registration, deregisteration, and notification of acceptance for the course.

The application procedure for OEI-students will be provided in the Mobility Online Portal. For further information refer to: https://www.uni-mannheim.de/en/academics/coming-to-mannheim/engageeu-study-offers/#c284038

Attendance & Course Assessment

Please note that this course relies on active participation so that attendance is mandatory (exceptions are made for students who provide a medical certificate or have an exam). An attendance of at least 80% of the classes is required in order to complete the course. To foster engagement during the course, students will have to complete mandatory readings and ungraded homework assignments in between sessions.

The final grade will be based on an in-class presentation (70%, team) and a written reflection paper (30%, individual).

1. Group Project (in-class presentation) (70%)
   • Investigate and present a specific topic related to entrepreneurial well-being (e.g., entrepreneurial fear of failure, emotion regulation) using both academic literature and real-life examples.
   • Presentations will be evaluated on integration of relevant (academic) literature, depth of analysis, use of examples, and general coherence.
2. Individual Reflection Paper (30%)
   • Students will submit a 1,500-word reflection paper at the end of the course. The reflection paper will be based on guiding questions provided by the course instructor and incorporate reflections on the course content and its application to the students’ well-being in their professional or academic lives.
   • The reflection paper will be graded on application of course concepts, critical reflections of own situation and behavior, and clarity of thought.

Place and Time 

All sessions will be held online. The zoom-links will be available in Portal2.

• Wednesday, March 19th, 08:30 – 11:45 | Session 1: Introduction to entrepreneurial well-being
• Wednesday, April 2nd, 08:30 – 11:45 | Session 2: The bright side of entrepreneur­ship
• Wednesday, April 9th, 08:30 – 11:45 | Session 3: The dark side of entrepreneur­ship
• Wednesday, April 30th, 08:30 – 11:45 | Session 4: Managing well-being
• Wednesday, May 7th, 08:30 – 11:45 | Session 5: Getting emotional
• Wednesday, May 14th, 08:30 – 11:45 | Session 6: Looking beyond the individual
• Wednesday, May 21st, 08:30 – 11:45 | Session 7: Wrapping up the entrepreneurial journey