BUS 592 — Spring 2009 Dr. Gilinsky/page XXX
Course Outline for
BUS 592 — Entrepreneurship/New Venture Creation
Sonoma State University
Tuesday: 7:00 – 9:40 p.m.
January 27 – May 19, 2009
Dr. Armand Gilinsky
Professor of Business
Stevenson 2026F: 707.664.2709 (W 2-4 pm & by appointment)
Sonoma State University
Rohnert Park, CA 94928 USA
Required Texts
Burlingham, B. (2005). Small Giants. New York: Penguin Books [Burl]
Timmons, J. A. & Spinelli, S. (2009) New Venture Creation, 8/E, NY: McGraw-Hill-Irwin. [T&S]
Instructor’s website: www.sonoma.edu/users/g/gilinsky/
Username: gilinsky
Password: tba
Required Readings (purchase, or on reserve in the Schulz Information Center, or download)
Arkebauer, J. B. (1995) The McGraw-Hill Guide to Writing a High-Impact Business Plan, New York: McGraw-Hill. [Due 2/28/2009]
Gilinsky, A. (1999). “Mendocino Brewing Co.,” (Download from instructor’s website) [Due 3/3]
Kawasaki, G. (2004). The Art of the Start. New York: Portfolio Penguin Books. [Due 5/12]
Levinson, J. C. (1998). Guerrilla Marketing. New York: Houghton Mifflin. [Due 4/7]
Porter, M. E. (2008). “The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy,” Harvard Business Review, 86:1, January. (Download from Business Source Premier or on reserve at Schulz) [Due 3/17]
Recommended Readings and Websites
Gilinsky, A. (2002). “Turin Networks, Inc.” [for 2/10]
Gilinsky, A. (2003). “Multimedia Live: Built to Sell?” (Download) [for 2/17]
Gilinsky, A. (2005). “The Happy Holidays Memo,” (Download) [for 3/10]
Gilinsky, A. et al. (2005). “High Tech Burrito,” (Download) [for 4/28]
For journalism-level information read Entrepreneurship or Inc. The new enterprise/small business management sections of The New York Times, Business Week, and The Economist are also highly recommended and are available at Schulz. Visit http://www.spartina.com/, which provides on-line resources for entrepreneurs, and www.DealBase.com, which is an excellent case study about starting a web-based business (its founder is coming to class on February 24th). Consider joining LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com) and forming a group, or creating a Web 2.0 network to discuss your class project using ning at www.ning.com. Interested in seeing entrepreneurs give elevator pitches? See: http://pitches.techcrunch.com/.
Course Prerequisites
You need to have successfully completed BUS 540, 560, and 570 and at least half of the required and elective MBA courses and turn in to the MBA Coordinator a completed GS01 “Advancement to Candidacy” form in order to take this course. You will also need to complete and have both the Instructor and MBA Coordinator sign a GS02 form upon completion of your culminating project (see below) at the end of the semester.
Course Objectives and MBA Culminating Project
The objective of this course is to teach you to apply the skills you have learned in the MBA core courses toward the goal of starting a business, i.e., becoming an entrepreneur. Working in teams, you will learn to identify, conceptualize, plan, finance, launch, manage and harvest new ventures. Your project is to develop a business plan and investor prospectus for a new venture of your own choosing or in consultation with an established organization. Class discussion, readings, cases, guest speakers, the venture plan, “elevator pitches,” and external judges’ feedback and evaluations are the learning tools. Your project is developed throughout this course and involves the comprehensive evaluation and presentation of an opportunity selected by your venture team. See Course Calendar, pp. 4 & 5 of this syllabus. Your venture can be: 1) a startup based upon your own idea; 2) a corporate “new venture” project or product within an existing corporation; 3) a buy-out of an existing business; 4) a spin-off from an existing corporation; 5) a business plan for a non-profit organization or public services agency; or 6) a strategic plan for an existing corporation or a family business you plan to enter. Your course project may be self-initiated or chosen from a list of possible ventures provided by the instructor or by guest speakers. As entrepreneurship is a dynamic field, you can expect that your project idea will evolve during (and most likely after) the semester.
This should be a practical experience for you. Whenever possible, contact individuals with the proper expertise, e.g., to determine the cost of capital and collateral requirements for a loan, speak to a venture capital firm or a bank; to determine the cost of a specific piece of equipment, speak to an equipment supplier; to determine the feasibility of market entry, visit competing businesses, etc. Seek out both primary and secondary sources of data, particularly for the industry and competition and marketing sections of your business plan. Create a working prototype of your product or service, do a market test, and conduct a survey or a focus group to gain necessary consumer information. You must quantify the size of your total market and target market subsets as well as your venture’s projected share. For secondary data, consult the hard copy reference books and the electronic databases (e.g., ABI/Inform, Business Source Premier, Lexis/Nexis, and Factiva) available in the Schulz Info Center, or contact our business librarian, Rick Robison, () for further information. Keep track of primary and secondary sources consulted to develop a Bibliography for your interim project deliverables (drafts) and final report.
Course Requirements & Grading
Attendance will be taken. Each student is permitted two (2) unexcused absences.
Class Attendance & Participation (see p. 9) 20% Interim deliverables (see pp. 6-8 for individual assignments and weights) 40%
Final report (see p. 8) 40%
Total 100%
Course Calendar
1 / 1/27 / The Opportunity
Preview Assn #1
Entrepreneurship as a Career / Syllabus
Intro lecture
T & S: Ch. 1
Dead Poets’ Society (video, in class)
“Small Wins Exercise” (p. 10 of Syllabus; do in class)
2 / 2/3 / The Plan and the Pitch
Why Vision & Values Precede Strategy
Ethics
Entrepreneurial Profiles
Preview Assn #2
Guests: tba / T & S: Chs. 2 & 10
“Robin Hood” case study (pp. 11&12 of Syllabus)
ASSN. #1: Résumé & Career Goals + Class Cards w/head shot photo
3 / 2/10 / The Entrepreneurial Process
Timmons’ Model/Leading Practices
How I Built My Venture
Generating Ideas
Return Assn #1; Preview Assn #3
Guests: John Webley, Turin Networks
Peter Howley, Howley Group / T & S: Chs. 3 & 5; Burl: Intro
Case: “Turin Networks, Inc.” (Download)
Prepare: Idea Generation Exercise (T & S pp. 184-186: we will go over in class)
ASSN #2: Interviews with entrepreneurs
4 / 2/17 / Screening Venture Opportunities
Building Creativity in Teams
Creating the Venture Team
Return Assn #2; Preview Assn #5
Guests: Ken Burke, MarketLive
TBA
/ T & S: Ch. 6; Bur1: Ch. 1
Case: “Multimedia Live: Built to sell?” (Download)
ASSN. #3: Venture Screen
5 / 2/24 / The Venture Plan
From Bootstrap to Scale
Return Assn. #3; Preview Assn. #5
Teams Present Project Proposals
Guests: Chris Lamela, InReachNet Sam Shank, DealBase.com / T & S: Ch. 8
Arkebauer, The Business Plan
(on reserve @ Shultz)
“Ideal Venture Plans” (pp. 13-15 of Syllabus)
Sample business plan (handout)
ASSN. #4, Creating the Venture Team (in class)
6 / 3/3 / Entry Wedges
Situation Analysis
Industry Attractiveness & Industry Forces
Resources & Capabilities
Return Assn. #5; Preview Assn. #6
Quiz on MBC case! / Porter, “The Five Industry Forces That Shape Competitive Strategy” (on reserve @ Schulz)
Case: “Mendocino Brewing Company” (Download)
ASSN. #5, Culminating Project Proposal
7 / 3/10 / Entrepreneurial Leadership, Culture & HR Issues
Technology Strategy
Crisis Management
Return Assn #5
Guest: John McHugh, Winningworkforce.net / T&S: Ch. 9
Burl: Chs. 3 & 4
Case: “The Happy Holidays Memo” (Download)
8 / 3/17 / Teams Present Industry Analyses / ASSN. #6, Industry Analysis
9 / 3/24 / Financial Analysis for New Ventures
Legal and Regulatory Issues
Return Assn. #5; Preview Assn. #6
Guest: tba / Burl: Chs. 5 & 6
T & S: Chs. 11 & 13
3/31 / Teams work on project / State holiday – No class
10 / 4/7 / The Marketing Plan
Return Assn. #6; Preview Assn. #7
Guest: Ari Smith-Cordtz, Sonoma Sparkler / Burl: Ch. 7
Levinson, Guerrilla Marketing (on reserve @ Schulz)
4/14 /
No class – Spring Break
/ No class meeting4/21 /
No class – Teams work on projects
/ No class meeting11 / 4/28 / Navigating the Speed Bumps to Rapid Growth
Franchising Strategies
Preview Assn. #8
Teams Present Marketing Plans
Guest: tba / T & S Chs. 12 &17
Case: “High Tech Burrito” (Download)
ASSN. #7, Marketing Plan
12 / 5/5 / What Lenders/Investors Want
Negotiating the Deal
Creating Executive Summaries
Return Assn. #7; Preview Assn. #9
Guest: Steve Weiss, North Bay Angels
/ T & S: Chs. 14, 15 & 16Handout: sample Executive Summaries
Review Syllabus pp. 13–15
Assn. #8, Pro forma financials and assumptions
13 / 5/12 / Harvesting Your Venture
Practicing & Perfecting Your “Elevator Pitch”
Return Assn. #8
Team conferences / T & S: Ch. 19
Kawasaki, The Art of the Start (on reserve @ Schulz)
Practice @ Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster
14 / 5/19 / Present Final Projects
Guest judges: tba
Turn in GS02 form tonight! / ASSN #6: Compilation & Present and deliver Final Projects @ Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster
ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTIONS, DUE DATES, AND WEIGHTS
Please type and double-space all assignments. Use 12 pt. (or larger) Times New Roman font for text and 12 pt. or larger (preferably) and Arial font for tables and graphs. Turn in printed copies on the evening they are due. Make enough extra copies of each assignment for your records and for your team members. Late assignments will be penalized one full grade level per day (for example, an “A” would be lowered to a “B,” and so on). Course grading weights are indicated.
1. Feb 3— Résumé and Career Goals (Grade weight = acceptable or do over)
Your résumé and career goals for the next three years and ten years are due. Also name at least two career/life role models and explain why you desire to emulate them. List your favorite book, movie, and television show. Describe a personal accomplishment of which you are most proud. What industry would you like to work in and/or start your own business? Is there a particular business for which you would like to work?
2. Feb 10 — Interviews with Entrepreneurs (Grade weight = 5%)
Each individual student must interview three (3) small business owners or entrepreneurs who were founders of three separate organizations. Use the readings in Burlingham’s Small Giants book to inspire your efforts. Your interviews should cover the following questions: 1) How did you come to perceive your personal opportunity and to act on it (and what encouraged or deterred this)? 2) What do you consider to have been the critical success (and critical *failure*) factors for your venture opportunity? For example, how important are customer relationships, social networks, access to suppliers, access to capital, competitors, human resource practices, government regulations, economic factors, etc.? 3) Do you have a business plan and if so, how often is this updated? If you do not have a business plan, for what reason(s)? Do you need a business plan? If so, is there potential for a semester-long student project and would you be willing to participate this semester? Your write-up of each interview should be no more than one (1) double-spaced and typed page, should include contact information for each interviewee (e-mail and phone number), and be submitted via e-mail. Please use separate pages for each interviewee’s responses!
3. Feb 17 — Venture Opportunity Screen (Grade weight = 5%)
Each student must do a Venture Opportunity Screen of her/his best idea. Use the idea generation exercise in Timmons & Spinelli’s New Venture Creation (pages 184-185) to help get you started. Ideas are not limited to new startups, but can include any of the venture options mentioned earlier. Individuals will be picked at random to present their ideas. Use the Venture Opportunity Screening Exercises in T & S Chapter 6 to assist you with this assignment. These guides will help you ask the right questions. Your Venture Opportunity Screen should be 4 to 5 double-spaced and typed pages and written in the form of a prose evaluation. Do not merely copy and fill-in-the-blanks of Timmons’ Screening Guide. This is not acceptable. The Screen for your opportunity should contain a section that outlines your planned Scope of Work, what key questions you believe have to be answered, and how you will go about answering them. Essentially, a Venture Opportunity Screen is a quick evaluation of an idea to determine if it represents an opportunity worth pursuing. A Screen indicating your opportunity is not worthy of further pursuit is an acceptable outcome. Begin by writing down the pros and cons of everything you know about your idea without doing any in-depth research. Try to address major “yes or no” questions that will help you determine if this is the right opportunity for you. For example: do I have or can I acquire the necessary expertise? Is this a lifestyle or rapid growth venture? Will this business allow me to keep my travel to a minimum, to live where I want to live, to come into contact with people I respect?
3. Feb 24 —Creating the Venture Team (Grade weight = acceptable or do over)
Each student must join a team composed of 2-4 students. These teams must meet and select, from the Venture Screens prepared by each student, which one opportunity the team will further develop for the rest of this course. This should be a lively session, with each group member campaigning for the selection of his/her opportunity. At some point every entrepreneur must attract other key players to their team. The ability to inspire someone to see your vision and dream your dream is a vital skill. You now need to create a venture name and a logo for your venture; these will be due next week as part of your culminating project proposal. Teams cannot be fewer than two or exceed four students without my permission.
4. Mar 3 — Culminating Project Proposals (Grade weight = 5%)
Each team must submit a printed roster of its members’ names and a planned Scope of Work for developing the opportunity. This Scope of Work must be detailed and expanded from what was submitted in the original Screen and must include the primary responsibilities of each team member. For the Scope of Work document, use the one-page Executive Summary format on p. 13 of this Syllabus as a guide. Include your team name and logo, your vision statement, your mission statement, and a preliminary situation (SWOT) analysis. Be prepared to revise those as your project evolves! Groups will be picked at random for brief oral presentations of this and later assignments.