From Idea to Impact: Entrepreneurial Opportunity Identification

Whether you’re thinking about launching a venture, innovating within your company, or exploring a mission-driven idea, knowing how to evaluate opportunities is essential. This course gives you a systematic way to spot, assess, and compare entrepreneurial possibilities — from new products and services to acquisitions, intrapreneurial initiatives, and social-impact projects.

Guided by Wharton faculty and grounded in rigorous, research-based frameworks, you’ll learn how to evaluate market need, value potential, risk, and fit, aligning opportunities with your pathway and personal context. Upon completion of this course, you’ll have a clear, prioritized list of opportunity concepts that match your goals, values, and risk tolerance, along with the analytical tools to compare and justify which ones to pursue further.

This course helps you turn ideas into evaluated opportunities, giving you the clarity and confidence to choose what to pursue. At the end of your learning experience, you will be equipped to:

·        Assess potential opportunities across multiple dimensions (market demand, value creation potential, personal fit, scalability, risk/reward tradeoffs)

·        Use structured frameworks and criteria to compare and prioritize different ideas or ventures

·        Conduct market and competitive analysis to evaluate demand, barriers, and competitive landscape

·        Estimate resource needs, investment requirements, and potential returns (financial, social, or strategic)

·        Evaluate timing, uncertainties, and personal readiness to move from idea to action

·        Align opportunity choices with your preferred entrepreneurial pathway (startup, acquisition, intrapreneurship, social impact, etc.)