Across four editions of PNRR-funded school programmes, I designed and delivered courses on entrepreneurship, startup development and personal finance.
The courses combined concise theoretical sections with discussion, collaborative exercises and practical models. Students moved from identifying a problem and validating an idea to defining its operational and economic logic, while a complementary path introduced investment decisions, mortgages, saving and long-term financial planning.
The core programme was refined across editions, while examples, pace and practical activities were adapted to the students, their starting points and the progress of each group.
The documented programme comprised two 10-hour learning paths.
The first focused on the development of a business idea, from problem discovery to launch and growth. The second could also be attended independently and focused on investments and personal financial planning, while allowing students to continue the work completed in the first path where appropriate.
10 hours
Theory
Introduction to entrepreneurship and startups
What a startup is
Starting from a problem
Developing and validating an idea through a lean approach
Working with external stakeholders and funders
Building the team
Introduction to company law and corporate structures
The business plan
Presenting the idea
Developing and launching the idea
Company growth and exit
Selected startup case histories
Practical work
Generating business ideas through structured brainstorming
Carrying out a preliminary analysis and simulated validation of the ideas
Comparing the alternatives and selecting one idea as a group
Refining the idea from an operational and economic perspective
10 hours
The second learning path could be attended without having completed the first. Its practical activities were adapted to the participants and, where useful, to the results achieved during the entrepreneurship path.
Theory
Foundations and theories of investment
Psychology and behavioural factors in investing
Comparison of common forms of investment
Practical work
Continuing the development of the business ideas produced during the first path, where appropriate
Calculating mortgage and amortisation scenarios
Designing a savings and investment plan
Comparing assumptions, time horizons and possible outcomes
What students practised
Across both learning paths, students practised identifying and framing a problem, making assumptions explicit, comparing alternatives, working collaboratively and communicating the reasoning behind a decision.
The objective was not to present entrepreneurship or finance as a collection of isolated definitions. The courses treated them as connected sequences of decisions made under uncertainty: which problem to address, which evidence to collect, how to organise people and resources, how to evaluate economic assumptions and how to explain a proposed course of action.
I developed the programme at the intersection of formal study, independent learning and direct product work.
My Management Engineering studies included business strategy, corporate finance, structured and project finance, venture capital, private equity and investment banking, project management, software engineering and data analysis.
My bachelor’s thesis focused on the development of a business plan for a startup. My master’s thesis examined the path from an initial software idea to a minimum viable product, including funding, team formation, management and project execution.
Alongside this academic work, I studied lean startup methods, venture financing and product development, and applied many of the same questions while developing my own digital products.
My Management Engineering thesis, the programme of the Project Management course designed for ITS Logistica Sostenibile and the complete teaching materials.
A practical spreadsheet model in which assumptions about savings, returns, expenses and inflation can be changed to compare long-term financial outcomes.
Selected university courses, books and independent study in entrepreneurship, startup development, finance, product design and project management.