Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences Robert D.

McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science Northwestern University Spring Quarter 2013
COURSE: TEXT: 419 TECHNICAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP Harvard Business School Press Case Packet download and purchase at: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/access/19051560 The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide for Building a Great Company, Steve Blank and Bob Dorf, 2012. (TSOM) Purchase from Amazon.com ASAP; Kindle edition only $8.39 TIME: LOCATION: PROFESSOR: Wednesdays: 6:30-9:30 st Ford Design Center, ITW Classroom, 1 Floor Michael Marasco Clinical Professor Director, Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Ford 2-331 847-467-6347 Office mmarasco@northwestern.edu I will try to be in the classroom by 6:15pm and will stay after class is completed. I am on campus every day. Please email me to schedule a time. 419 Technical Entrepreneurship is designed to focus on the opportunities and challenges associated with starting a technology venture. The single greatest wealth creator of our generation and of every generation before us has been technology. Today, state of the art technology can be defined as nanotechnology, biotechnology, and Web 2.0-3.0. In previous generations, it was defined as the television and the internal combustion engine. In many cases, the innovator was not the entity that invented it or was best-positioned to introduce it to the marketplace. Before the business comes the idea. The goal of this class is to evolve an idea into a complete business model. We well study all phases in the development of a business. We will provide students with a toolkit to more effectively create, assess, and build ideas into businesses. We will leverage the most current thinking in the area to start-ups including: Bootstrapping, Lean Start-Up, Business Models, and Customer Development. This class cannot make you into an entrepreneur or intrapreneur. It can help you better assess whether an idea is a business opportunity and how to transform that opportunity into a business. More than any time in our history, students are becoming entrepreneurs and creating companies with significant market capitalization. 419 can be a launching pad for a student to start a company or a set of learning to better assess when to become an entrepreneur or intrapreneur.

OFFICE: TELEPHONE: EMAIL: OFFICE HOURS: COURSE OVERVIEW:

419 Syllabus Page 2. 419 will initially focus on intrapreneurship-the role of entrepreneurship and innovation within larger, more established companies. We will study corporate ventures and innovation from three perspectives: 1) As a member of the corporate venture team 2) As the general manager of the corporate venture 3) As upper management overseeing the venture within an organization 419 will then focus on entrepreneurship by examining newly created companies from the business idea creation stage through the growth stage. You will be asked to assume the role of the entrepreneur within these firms and tell us what you would do. This class allows you to apply those analytical tools from your more traditional courses to solve practical issues that entrepreneurs face on a daily basis. As you already know, the best way to learn something is to actually do it. Since we cannot find companies for all of you to run, we will do the next best thing. The class project will involve putting together a business plan within small groups. This process should help students take advantage of whatever current or future business opportunities they may choose to pursue.

COURSE GOAL:

Our overall goal is to help you develop a method of thinking through the challenges you will face as either an entrepreneur or intrapreneur. The cases, class discussion and guests are designed to help put these two perspectives in place. The most important piece of advice to take away from this class is that the TEAM OF PEOPLE you build is the most critical component to success. You need to learn how to get the most out of yourself and those you work with. Over time, you will more than likely forget the cases along with a lot of the other things you learn here. My hope is that whether you chose the role of entrepreneur or intrapreneur, you are able to get the most out of yourself and the people you work with. You already have the analytical tools. Without effective application of those tools, you will never reach the level of success you are striving for.

STUDENT ROLE:

For you to spend the time reading, analyzing and writing up the cases, it is my responsibility to see that you get the most out of your efforts. I hope to create a classroom environment that is interesting and fun. Your participation in class is CRITICAL to accomplishing our goal. You should come prepared to discuss the assigned case. Rest assured that during the course of a three-hour class, you will be given the opportunity to share your thoughts with the rest of the class.

419 Syllabus Page 3. INSTRUCTOR ROLE: We will abandon the traditional learning approach where the instructor lectures and you take notes. Believe it or not, you will learn from each other. My role as instructor is to facilitate the learning. You will do the majority of the talking. I will be taking notes on the board to help provide a path through the case.

GRADING:

Now we get to the real meat of this document: How will your grade be determined? Your grade will be compiled from three different components: CLASS/TEAM PARTICIPATION WEEKLY CASE ANALYSIS PAPERS WEEKLY BUS MODEL CANVAS DRAFTS FINAL BUS. MODEL CANVAS PRES. FINAL BUS. MODEL CANVAS & SUPPORT 15% 20% 20% 15% 30%

Class and Team participation will be graded based on quality versus quantity. I place high importance on comments that move the class discussion forward. Team member evaluations and class attendance will also be factored into your participation score. Weekly case analyses are compilations of your thoughts on a particular case. I will provide discussion questions that will serve as a basis for your analysis. YOU WILL WRITE YOUR ANALYSIS BASED ON ONE OF THESE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS THAT YOU CHOOSE. The analyses will not exceed 2 pages. For the business model canvas/ plan, the students will form groups of up to five people and develop a pitch and a fully developed business model with the online tool , LaunchPad Central, for an idea they would consider pursuing on their own or within an existing company. By proposing and validating hypotheses associated with all components of their business model canvas, engaging with potential customers, and conducting primary and secondary market research within the Launchpad Central tool, teams will build a compelling case for their proposed business. The content of LaunchPad Central will serve as the basis for the Final Business Model Canvas and Support listed in the grading components above. On the final day of class, the team will provide a 10-minute presentation summarizing their plan.

COURSE PREREQUISITE

It is your responsibility to insure that you meet the prerequisites for this course. An understanding of accounting and finance is required.

FINAL THOUGHT

Keep in mind that there is no right or wrong answer to a case. I am much more interested in how you think through the case problems.

419 Syllabus Page 4.

CLASS 4/3

OBJECTIVES Class Introduction The Entrepreneurship Process -Concept to Opportunity to Business

TOPIC AND ASSIGNMENT CASE: Sociable Labs (A) NOTE: Business Model Canvas Primer (posted on BB) LEAD: Mike Marasco

4/10

Entrepreneurship & Intrapreneurship (cont.)

CASE: Google HBR NOTE: Innovators Dilemma LEAD: Mike Marasco TSOM: Chapter 1-2 CASE: Xerox Technology Ventures: March 1995 LEAD: Mike Marasco TSOM: Chapter 3-4

4/17

Intrapreneurship
-Corporate Venture Capital -Innovation -Missed Opportunities

4/24

Intrapreneurship
-Turnarounds -Transitioning to Entrepreneurship

CASE: Serengeti Eyewear: Entrepreneurship within Corning GUEST: Zaki Mustafa, former General Manager, Serengeti Eyewear (Tentative) TSOM: Chapter 5-6 CASE: OnStar: Not Your Fathers General Motors GUEST: Paul Pebbles, On-Star (Tentative) LEAD: Mike Marasco TSOM: Chapter 6-7

5/1

Intrapreneurship
-New Product Development -Intrapreneurship Wrap-Up

5/8

Entrepreneurship
-Business Plan vs. Canvas

CASE: Aardvark HBR NOTES: Founders Dilemma LEAD: Mike Marasco TSOM: Chapter 8-9 CASE: Groupon (Download from Blackboard) LEAD: Mike Marasco TSOM: Chapter 10-11

5/15

Entrepreneurship -Creating Value -Pivoting -Vision -Valuation

419 Syllabus Page 5.

CLASS 5/22

OBJECTIVES Entrepreneurship -Term Sheet Structuring -Negotiations

TOPIC AND ASSIGNMENT CASE: Nanogene Technologies, Inc. HBS NOTE: A Rich-Vs.-King approach to Term Sheet Negotiations HBR NOTE: How VCs Evaluate Potential Venture Opportunities LEAD: Mike Marasco CASE: Feedburner LEAD: Mike Marasco

5/29

Entrepreneurship -Building Teams

6/5

Entrepreneurship -Lean Start-Up in non IT Final Presentations

CASE: Predictive Biosciences LEAD: Mike Marasco

6/12

419: Technical Entrepreneurship STUDENT SURVEY NAME: ADDRESS:

HOME PHONE #: WORK PHONE #: MOBILE#: PREFERRED EMAIL: CONCENTRATION:

CURRENT COMPANY (if any): CURRENT TITLE (if any):

LIST YOUR THREE (3) GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENTS: 1.

2.

3.

WHY ARE YOU INTERESTED IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP?

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN INVOLVED IN A START-UP? WHAT WERE YOUR KEY LEARNINGS?

WHAT ARE YOU HOPING TO GET OUT OF THIS CLASS?