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Entrepreneurial Risks
Last Updated: 2026-02-05 16:07:00
Abstract
- Dimensions of risks with emphasis on entrepreneurial, financial and social risks.- What young entrepreneurs need to know from start-up creation to investment in innovation.- Perspectives on the future of innovation and how to better invent and create.- How to innovate and scale up and work with China.- Dynamical risk management and learning from the failure of others.
Objective
We live a in complex world with many nonlinear negative and positive feedbacks. Entrepreneurship is one of the leading human activity based on innovation to create new wealth and new social developments. This course will analyze the risks (upside and downside) associated with entrepreneurship and more generally human activity in the firms, in social networks and in society. The goal is to present what we believe are the key concepts and the quantitative tools to understand and manage risks. An emphasis will be on large and extreme risks, known to control many systems, and which require novel ways of thinking and of managing. We will examine the questions of (i) how much one can manage and control these risks, (ii) how these actions may feedback positively or negatively and (iii) how to foster human cooperation for the creation of wealth and social well-being. The exam will be in the format of multiple choice questions.
Content
PART I: INTRODUCTION Lecture 1 (19/02): Risks (and opportunities) in the economic, entrepreneurial and social spheres (D. Sornette) PART II: START-UPS AND INVESTMENT IN INNOVATION Lecture 2 (26/02): Setting the landscape on entrepreneurship and private investment (P. Cauwels) Lecture 3 (04/03 and 11/03): Corporate finance (P. Cauwels) Lecture 4 (18/03): Legal, governance and management (P. Cauwels) Lecture 5 (25/03): Investors in the innovation economy (P. Cauwels) PART III: HOW TO PREDICT THE FUTURE Lecture 6 (01/04): Historical perspective (P. Cauwels) Lecture 7 (08/04): The logistic equation of growth and saturation (D. Sornette) Lecture 8 (22/04): Future perspective (P. Cauwels) Lecture 9 (29/04): The fair reward problem, the illusion of success and how to solve it (P. Cauwels) PART IV: HOW TO WORK WITH CHINA “if China succeeds, the world succeeds; if China fails, the world fails” (D. Sornette). Lecture 10 (06/05): The macro status in China and the potential opportunity and risks for the world (K. Wu) Lecture 11 (13/05): The collision of the two opposite mindsets: Innovation and Entrepreneurship in China and Switzerland (K. Wu) PART V: ESSENTIALS ON DYNAMICAL RISK MANAGEMENT Lecture 12 (20/05): Principles of Risk Management for entrepreneurship (D. Sornette) Lecture 13 (27/05): The biology of risks and war principles applied to management (D. Sornette)
Resources
Lecture Notes
The lecture notes will be distributed a the beginning ofeach lecture.
Literature
I will use elements taken from my books -D. Sornette Critical Phenomena in Natural Sciences, Chaos, Fractals, Self-organization and Disorder: Concepts and Tools, 2nd ed. (Springer Series in Synergetics, Heidelberg, 2004) -Y. Malevergne and D. Sornette Extreme Financial Risks (From Dependence to Risk Management) (Springer, Heidelberg, 2006). -D. Sornette, Why Stock Markets Crash (Critical Events in Complex Financial Systems), (Princeton University Press, 2003) as well as from a variety of other sources, which will be indicated to the students during each lecture.
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- DS , MSC
- Frequency
- Yearly recurring
Examination
- Type
- graded semester performance
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| lecture with exercise | Entrepreneurial Risks |
|
2 h weekly |
Offered In
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Science in Perspective (In “Science in Perspective”-courses students learn to reflect on ETH’s STEM subjects from the perspective of humanities, political and social sciences. Only the courses listed below will be recognized as "Science in Perspective" courses.)
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Type A: Enhancement of Reflection Competence (SiP courses are recommended for bachelor students after their first-year examination and for all master- or doctoral students. All SiP courses are listed in Type A. Courses listed under Type B are only recommendations for enrollment for specific departments.)
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Type B: Reflection About Subject-Specific Methods and Contents (Subject-specific courses. Particularly relevant for students interested in those subjects. All these courses are also listed under the category “Typ A”, and every student can enroll in these courses.)
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