A business simulation for finance and management courses
A finance or management course has a different job from an entrepreneurship course. Students don't need to find a problem; they need to model a company, value it, organise it and run it. Those skills stick when the company is one they built themselves and have to defend in front of the class. Here are two nine-week plans that do that, and how to pitch them from an intro section to a graduate seminar.
Why build the company instead of being handed one
A case or a canned simulation gives every team the same numbers, so the work becomes finding the expected answer. When each team models its own company, there is no answer key: the forecast has to be defended from drivers the team chose, the cap table reflects a raise they planned, and the board presentation reports on OKRs they set five weeks earlier. That is much closer to the job students are training for.
The money stays simulated. Each team has a Team Bank in course money, and if you turn the class venture market on, students invest $100,000 of play money in each other's companies and prices move on the graded work.
A nine-week finance plan
| Week | Module | What each team hands in |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intro to venture | A funding map for the company and a priced SAFE scenario |
| 2 | The company + its economics | Company brief, revenue drivers, unit economics and comparable companies |
| 3 | Pricing + unit economics | Pricing strategy and what's left over on each sale |
| 4 | Startup costs + funding need | Every cost before day 90, with sources, and the funding need it implies |
| 5 | Revenue model + forecasting | A driver-based 12-month forecast in best, base and worst cases |
| 6 | The financial model | A 12-month P&L and cash flow with scenarios and sensitivity |
| 7 | Financial planning | Cash flow and runway against the plan |
| 8 | Cap table + dilution | Ownership today, vesting, an option pool and two rounds modelled |
| 9 | Investment memo + presentation | The case for and against the company, presented to the class |
The twelve-week finance plan adds cost of today and willingness to pay, break-even and scenario analysis, and working capital and cash management. Other finance modules include valuation and the raise, reading the market, and financial controls with a metrics dashboard.
A nine-week management plan
| Week | Module | What each team hands in |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Strategy + the team | Competitive strategy, a team charter, SWOT and stakeholders |
| 2 | Org design + roles | A function map, the org chart now and at ten people, role descriptions and decision rights |
| 3 | Hiring + onboarding | A job description, a researched pay range, a structured interview and a 30-day onboarding plan |
| 4 | Operating model + processes | One customer end to end, the core processes with owners, and the bottleneck fix |
| 5 | KPIs + the weekly scorecard | A KPI tree with definitions and sources, targets, and a scorecard kept every week after |
| 6 | OKRs + the 90-day plan | Three OKRs with baselines, a 13-week plan, a not-doing list and a day-45 check |
| 7 | Risk + change management | A ten-risk register with early warnings, and a plan for when an assumption breaks |
| 8 | Culture + leadership | A culture audit, three leadership situations handled, and a self-assessment per founder |
| 9 | The board presentation | A board deck against the OKRs and KPIs, the decisions needed and the 90-day ask |
Other management modules include supply chain and vendors, customer service and retention, and operations and fundraising.
From an intro section to a graduate seminar
Two settings decide how hard and how heavy the course is, per course or per week.
| Setting | Option | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| How technical | Intro | First course, any major. Plain-language prompts, worked examples, pre-filled templates, one number at a time. |
| Intermediate | Upper-level undergraduate. Real interviews, a set price, a 12-month forecast and a market size with sources. | |
| Graduate | MBA, finance or honors. Driver-based forecasts, sensitivity, 13-week cash, a cap table across two rounds and a full valuation, on a tighter rubric. | |
| How much time | Light, about 2 hours a week | The team hand-in only. |
| Standard, about 4 hours | Plus an individual role piece for every student. | |
| Deep, about 6 hours | Plus the weekly memo, earnings calls and the class venture market. |
Mixing subjects
There are 45 modules, fifteen each in entrepreneurship, finance and management, and any course can borrow from the others: a finance course can open with customer discovery so the forecast has real demand behind it, and an entrepreneurship course can add cap table and dilution before Demo Day. Every module comes with a team hand-in, five role pieces, a rubric and a weekly memo.
Common questions
What is the best business simulation for a finance course?
One where students model a company they understand from the inside. When each team builds its own company first, the forecast, cap table and valuation have to be defended from drivers the team chose, rather than reverse-engineered from a shared model.
Can a business simulation work for a management course?
Yes, if the deliverables are management artifacts: a team charter, an org chart, a hiring plan, a KPI scorecard kept weekly, OKRs and a board presentation reporting against them.
How long should a business simulation run?
Nine weeks covers a full arc in finance or management. Twelve weeks leaves room for break-even, working capital or supply chain. Three weeks fits a single unit inside an existing course.
Do students need a business background?
No. At the intro level prompts are in plain language with worked examples and templates, and no prior business course is assumed. The same modules run at intermediate and graduate levels with more depth.
Does any real money change hands?
No. Team budgets and the class venture market run on course money, and nothing connects to a real bank, card or ad account.
Send us your syllabus.
We'll send back your course: every week mapped to a module at your level and length, within seven days. No commitment until you approve it.
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