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Aalto University’s new Founder Principles course gives aspiring student founders a structured way to take their first steps in building a venture. 

During six intensive weeks, students work on a real startup idea while learning how to identify problems, understand customers, build prototypes, form teams and make decisions under uncertainty.

The course takes a practice-focused approach to entrepreneurship. 

Rather than creating a hypothetical business plan, students carry one idea through the entire course, gradually building the key pieces of a venture. By demo day, teams have progressed from problem and market research to a prototype, team strategy, financial planning and a pitch.

What makes the course different is the role of AI. It is not taught as a separate topic but used throughout the founder journey as an assistant, challenger and co-founder. Students can use AI to accelerate market research, synthesize customer interviews, pressure-test assumptions and build prototypes. They can also simulate real founder situations, such as negotiating with a co-founder or pitching to an investor.

The course is open É«É«À² students interested in entrepreneurship, startups and innovation, whether they already have a startup idea or are simply curious about what it takes to build something. Students can bring their own idea or work on one introduced at the beginning of the course. Teams are encouraged, although students can also work independently.

Practical founder skills

By the end of the course, participants will be able to identify and validate real market problems through customer discovery and rapid experimentation, build and evaluate founding teams, navigate early-stage financial planning and apply AI tools to accelerate idea validation, market research and decision-making.

Students will also practise responding to real founder scenarios, including pitches, negotiations and pivots, while developing leadership strategies for managing uncertainty and building resilience.

The course combines these practical exercises with case studies of real founders and external perspectives from people working in entrepreneurship. Mikko Kiertonen will contribute to the module on team building, culture and founder agreements, while the course also explores rapid AI-enabled prototyping and emerging approaches to building, including vibecoding. Kiertonen is an advisor, coach and a startup architect for early-stage startups. His passion is to help entrepreneurs turn ambitious visions into scalable businesses. He has over 20 years of experience in sales, business development and entrepreneurship.

This course matters for students and the future of entrepreneurship

AI is making it easier and faster than ever to turn an idea into something tangible. But speed alone does not make someone a founder.

Founders still need to identify meaningful problems, understand customers, work with others and recognize when an idea needs to change direction. As new tools make building more accessible, the ability to exercise judgement and navigate uncertainty remains just as important.

For students considering entrepreneurship, Founder Principles provides an opportunity to practice these skills before taking the next step. The course is also relevant beyond startups, giving students tools for identifying opportunities, testing assumptions and driving innovation in different professional contexts.

‘The goal is simple: by the end, students have a founder's toolkit and the confidence to take the first real step,’ Lähtevänoja says.

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Founder Principles (MNGT-C3004) is a 6 ECTS course taught in English during Autumn II in the 2026–2027 and 2027–2028 academic years.