Start-ups: from idea to funding

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Vocabulary - start-ups

start-up vocabulary

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • talk about business start-ups and their difficulties;
  • explore start-up vocabulary;
  • watch a short video on how to fund a business.

In this lesson, students discuss the challenges start-ups face, practise useful collocations (e.g., give up equity, rely on venture capital, secure funding), and discuss solutions for various start-up obstacles. They watch a video about start-up financing, imagine they have an idea for a start-up and decide how they would finance it. Students also talk about start-up funding in their country.

B2 / Upper Intermediate
C1 / Advanced
60 minStandard LessonPremium Plan

WARM-UP AND VOCABULARY

This lesson starts with a warm-up. Students list five challenges that business start-ups commonly face. They then match the halves of sentences about obstacles for new businesses. Afterwards, students practise start-up vocabulary. They match collocations related to start-ups (e.g. create a pitch, develop expertise, exercise due diligence) with their definitions. Moving on, students discuss feasible solutions for different start-up challenges. They use the collocations from the previous task

VIDEO AND DISCUSSION

In this part of the lesson, students watch a video about start-up financing. First, they try to complete sentences about ways to fund a start-up. Then, students watch the video and check their ideas. Next, they revise start-up vocabulary by imagining they have an idea for a start-up. Students examine options related to financing methods, decide which ones they prefer and explain their reasoning. Finally, they discuss questions about start-up funding in their country.

HOMEWORK/REVISION

This lesson also includes an additional task that you can use as homework or revision. In the task, students complete the gaps in statements about business with start-up vocabulary. The task is available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet. You can print it and hand it out to your students. It’s also included in the e-lesson plan.

WORKSHEETS

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  1. giselem

    Hi! I love the content on this lesson. Do you think it could be linked to the other lessons you have about entrepreneurs as a lesson set? I tre’ve been noticing a trend of more and more small business owners looking to expand their businesses by learning conversational English and this material is wonderful for speaking practise 🙂

    1. Rawan_K

      Hello!
      Thank you for your comment. Regarding the lesson set, we will think about how to create a set that might be useful for entrepreneurs, but you may now also check out other lessons on the topic, e.g. here, here, here and here.

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