What do you need to finally launch? Nothing.
Just audacity
You don't need another MBA. You don't need a perfect business plan on day one. You need a place to build a real company, in real conditions: make the call, ship the rough draft, fall on your face, and get back up without falling apart. Backed by the rigor of KEDGE Business School and the audacity of its first ever Chief Audacity Officer, Fatou N'Diaye.
“Audacity is a muscle. You have to train it every single day.”Fatou N'Diaye
This program doesn't just teach you how to start a business. It trains the exact muscle that lets you start anything: deciding with 70% of the information, building before you feel ready, failing without falling apart.
Every module moves one real business forward. Yours, not a case study. While you train, week after week, the one skill that actually moves the needle: your entrepreneurial audacity.
Learning outcomes
From idea to first prototype, in 6 steps
The whole program is built around one real business: yours. It's a live venture, not a case study.
HR
Figure out why you, and not someone else, are the right person to build this. And stop waiting for permission.
Marketing
Turn an idea into a real need. Know exactly who you're talking to, and why it matters to them.
Communication
Give your venture a face: an identity, a message, materials that make people want to follow you.
Operations
Build a first version of your product, put it in real people's hands, and adjust based on their feedback, not your assumptions.
Finance
Understand how your business actually makes money, and build a plan you truly understand, not just a spreadsheet someone handed you.
Growth
Tell your story in two minutes, with enough conviction to bring a partner or investor on board.
Tools & methods
60 to 70 hours, spread across 9 months
A fully remote format, built for people who can't put their career on pause to learn.
Premium masterclasses
Led by top C-level Next40 & Next120 alumni, for high-level strategic feedback.
Online coursework
100% built by KEDGE Business School's own faculty.
Three co-development workshops
Three hours each. One of them run by Fatou N'Diaye herself.
One-on-one coaching
Personalized support on your actual project.
Independent work
Self-paced work on the e-learning platform.
The curriculum
A real business, built in real conditions
Six key challenges give you the tools and methods to apply directly to your project, while you build the audacity and self-trust to actually use them.
01Personal development & HR tools
- Align who you are with what you're building, for a brand story that sounds true, not a pitch you memorized.
- Real methods to organize yourself, solo or with a team, when nobody's telling you what to do.
02Marketing & sales methodology
- The Design Sprint and the Map Day method, to test an idea in days instead of months.
- The Lean Canvas: a simple tool to define what you're offering, to whom, and why it's different from what already exists.
03Communication & branding
- Build a visual identity, a pitch deck, and/or a website that actually look like your project.
- Real ways to get noticed without a big-brand budget.
- The basics of growth hacking: getting fast results with limited resources.
04Prototyping, user testing & community
- Go from Lean to MVP, your product's first testable version, without spending six months on it.
- Simple tools to prototype fast, even if you can't code or design.
- Why a community gets built before the product, not after, and how to keep it engaged.
05Financial strategy
- Market sizing: how to know if your market is big enough to make a living from.
- Build a business model that holds up, using the Sustainable Business Model Canvas as your guide.
- A first draft of your business plan. No unnecessary financial jargon.
06Pitching & growth
- Build a pitch deck people actually want to keep listening to.
- The art of the two-minute elevator pitch, without sounding like you're reciting it.
- Plan for the talent you'll need around you, the day this actually takes off.
Assessment: one required written case study on launching a business in a real-world setting. It earns you a KEDGE Business School certificate, aligned with Skill Block 6 of the KEDGE Bachelor's program, “Leading an Operational Action Plan.”
The Fatou method
The 7 commandments of entrepreneurial audacity
The throughline of Fatou's opening masterclass for KEDGE Entrepreneurship. Train it all year long.
Dare to reveal yourself
Try thisThe 50 facts exercise. Write down 50 things that make you unique. Experiences, values, wins.
Dare to move without mastering it all
Try thisDecide with 70% of the information. Don't wait for certainty.
Dare to keep learning
Try thisBlock one non-negotiable hour a week to learn something outside your expertise.
Dare to experiment (and fail)
Try thisOne experiment a month, followed by a learning review every time. What did I learn?
Dare to change your mind
Try thisOnce a quarter, take a strong belief and ask yourself, what if the opposite were true?
Dare to speak up
Try thisShare one real opinion a week. Know how to tell your story in two minutes.
Dare to keep dreaming
Try thisEvery six months, ask yourself, if I had zero fear, what would I try right now?
Your Chief Audacity Officer
Hi, I'm Fatou
I graduated from KEDGE in 2011. I'm a serial entrepreneur, a United Nations expert, and the founder of la Fresque de l'Équité, the Great Village incubator, and The Wonders. I care about social and environmental impact, and I build things that prove it.
I've launched 5 companies and coached hundreds of entrepreneurs. Today I choose my own clients, I make a real difference in people's lives, and I teach the people in this program to do the same, by training their audacity.
What you don't see
- I spent a year in the hospital
- I got deported from Singapore
- I landed in Sydney without a dollar to my name
- My boss fired me
- I went bankrupt
Today
- I've launched 5 companies and coached hundreds of entrepreneurs
- I choose my own clients and partners
- I make a real difference in people's lives
- I launch new projects despite the fear of failing
- Bottom line: I'm free
What you walk away with
What you take with you
A KEDGE Business School certificate that proves your skills and builds your credibility with partners and investors.
Over 800 professional tools at member pricing, hand picked for entrepreneurs.
Access to KEDGE's coworking spaces in Paris, Bordeaux, and Marseille.
A wide network of entrepreneurs and experts who open doors.
A possible path into the KEDGE Entrepreneurship incubator, then accelerator, once the program ends.
A real business, yours, from first prototype to final pitch deck.
The details
Ready?
Train your audacity.
The next cohort starts in April 2027. Enrollment isn't open yet. We'll let you know the moment the waitlist turns into real seats.