Final Grades Will Be Based Upon the Following Scale

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

Department of:
Instructor Name:
Paul Grossinger, M.S., B.A. / Course Title: Maximizing Student Entrepreneurship
Instructor Contact Information
(Campus Address, email, telephone):
773-837-1889, / Course Number:
AS.360.172.12
Distribution:
Instructor Office Hours/Location: Not yet determined / Credits:
Class Hours: 15
Classroom Location: Not yet determined / Dates: Not yet determined
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Maximizing Student Entrepreneurship is designed to immerse students in the experience of forming and operating a startup while remaining a successful full-time student through a mixture of instruction, seminar discussion, and outside viewpoints. The class will focus on six elements for success: time management, team building, networking, purpose and intrinsic motivation, product development and finances, and patience.
COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students should obtain a good working knowledge and basic understanding of the following areas:
1 / Time management
2 / Team building
3 / Networking
4 / Purpose and intrinsic motivation
5 / Product development, finances, and patience
REQUIRED MATERIALS: None
TEXTBOOKS: No textbook is required and no reading is required, however reading material will be suggested for each week to maximize the student’s internalization and appreciation of the session material (more details at end of syllabus.)
SUPPLIES: None required, no laptops
1)EVALUATION AND GRADING
Grades will be based on the following assessments: Students will have one major assignment, which will count for 50% of the course, attendance and participation the other 50%. The assignment is as follows: pick a startup founded at Johns Hopkins by an active student entrepreneur. This can be a classmate-peer, or someone from another branch of the university, but must be an active student of one of the JHU branches working on an active startup. Over the course of the class, interview the founder on each of these six topics. Create a report featuring the interview, your reflections on their comments and approach, and a writeup of your ideas, based on what you have learned and from sharing ideas with your peers, for how they can improve as a student entrepreneur and maximize both their startup and their academic experience.
ASSESSMENT TYPE / PERCENT OF FINAL GRADE
Assignments / 50% (1 described above)
Exams / None
Presentations / None, class participation strongly encouraged
Attendance / 50%

Final grades will be based upon the following scale:

PERCENT / GRADE / PERCENT / GRADE / PERCENT / GRADE
90 - 100% / A+ / 85 - 90 % / A / 80 – 85% / A-
76 – 80% / B+ / 72 – 76% / B / 68 – 72% / B-
55-68% / C
Below 55% / F
ATTENDANCE POLICY
Due to the compressed time-format of this course, one class meeting ‘counts’ for the equivalent of a full week of a normal semester. This is unfortunate but unavoidable. For this reason, and because participation is so important for the conduct of the course, you are required to attend every class meeting, with three qualifications:
1)You will be allowed 1 (one) unexcused absence. No questions asked.
2)Excused absences (for reasons of illness, family tragedy, etc) are permitted, provided that you notify me as far in advance as possible, and document these absences to my satisfaction.
3)Absences do not affect your other obligations, such as written assignments and presentations. In extreme cases, and at my discretion, the due date for assignments can be modified.
Subject to those two qualifications, each unexcused absence beyond your 1 (one) permitted absence will lower your participation grade by a full letter (i.e. a B- would become a C-, then a D-, etc). If you have 3 (three) or more unexcused absences, you will receive no credit for participation and, by definition of my grading parameters, fail the course.

JOHNS HOPKINS POLICIES AND SUPPORT SERVICES

This course is governed by the policies set forth in The Johns Hopkins University Undergraduate Student Handbook, which contains information on a wide variety of topics, such as support services, and policies relating to student rights and responsibilities. This course is governed by the policies set forth in this document.

Some JHU student support services you may find useful include:

SUPPORT SERVICE / LOCATION / PHONE NUMBER / WEBSITE
Library E-Reserves / /
Summer & Intersession Programs / 3505 N. Charles Street, Suite 101 / 410-516-4548

CLASSROOM ACCOMODATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

If you are a student with a documented disability who requires an academic adjustment, auxiliary aid or other similar accommodations, please contact The Office of Student Disability Services at , call

410-516-4720, or visit 385 Garland Hall.

STATEMENT OF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

Johns Hopkins University is a community committed to sharing values of diversity and inclusion in order to achieve and sustain excellence. We believe excellence is best promoted by being a diverse group of students, faculty and staff who are committed to creating a climate of mutual respect that is supportive of one another’s success.Through its curricula and clinical experiences, we purposefully support the University’s goal of diversity, and in particular, work toward an ultimate outcome of best serving the needs of students. Faculty and candidates are expected to demonstrate an understanding of diversity as it relates to planning, instruction, management, and assessment.

A WORD ON ETHICS

The strength of the university depends on academic and personal integrity. In this course, you must be honest and truthful. Ethical violations include cheating on exams, plagiarism, reuse of assignments, improper use of the Internet and electronic devices, unauthorized collaboration, alteration of graded assignments, forgery and falsification, lying, facilitating academic dishonesty, and unfair competition. Ethical violations on the major assignment will result in failure of the course.

Report any violations you witness to the instructor.

COURSE SCHEDULE

Please Note: Laptops not permitted. Reading materials are strongly suggested and will improve your knowledge and participation but are not required on a week to week basis.

Class 1: Time Management

Brief: This class will discuss the importance of time management to thriving as a student entrepreneur and detail effective time management methods. These methods include clear divisions of time and labor, ways to prevent procrastination, and tools for working efficiently. Twenty minute presentation by the lecturer, followed by twenty minutes seminar discussion, followed by twenty minute guest lecturer presentation, followed by question and answer discussion for the remainder of the period. This time allotment structure will be repeated for each subsequent class.

Suggested Reading: Hot Seat, Dan Shapiro

Guest Speaker: David Gutelius: David is a JHU alum, founder of Data Guild, and former Chief Scientist at Jive Software.

Class 2: Team Building

Brief: This class will discuss methods for building an ace team while on campus. In particular, it will focus on four points: recruiting fellow student entrepreneurs, external recruiting, utilizing outside tech resources, and managing offsite team members.

Suggested Reading: The Lean Startup, Eric Reis

Guest Speaker: Ed Zimmerman: Ed leads the venture practice at Lowenstein Sandler in New York City, the founder of Venture Crush and First Growth Venture Network, and is a well-respected angel and venture investor in the New York community.

Class 3: Networking

Brief: This class will detail strategies for building a superior network. The four key skills covered will be: proper methods for cold and warm outreach, maximizing events, networking etiquette and follow up, and the mutual-help methodology.

Suggested Reading: Power Connector, Judy Robinet

Guest Speaker: Elizabeth Galbut and Dan Durand: Elizabeth is a JHU Carey alum and the founder of the Social Innovation Lab and SoGal Ventures.

Class 4: Purpose and Intrinsic Motivation

Brief: Positive psychology research shows over 60% of the millennial generation is intrinsically, or purpose, motivated; they go to work for inner satisfaction rather than monetary gain or promotion. This class will examine the importance of this shift from previous generations and its effect on modern entrepreneurship.

Suggested Reading: The Purpose Economy, Aaron Hurst

Guest Speaker(s): Aaron Hurst and Arthur Woods: Aaron is the founder of The Taproot Foundation and CEO of Imperative; Arthur is the former Head of YouTube EDU for Google and founder of both Out in Tech and Compass Fellowships.

Class 5: Product Development and Financial Management

Brief: Startups are, at their core, driven by three factors: people, product-solution, and funding. The majority of this course focuses on the former, which is most important, but this class will focus on the latter two areas, and address how different startup founders have created and optimizing products on lean budgets. Topics addressed will include: Johns Hopkins resources, accelerators and incubation programs, seeking external funding, and proper financial management.

Suggested Reading: The Lean Product Playbook, Dan Olsen

Guest Speaker: Jeff Ragovin: Jeff is the co-founder of Salesforce-Buddy Media.

Class 6: Patience, Creativity, and Detail

Brief: Entrepreneurs are often driven by an unquenchable fire, but the greatest are driven also by inexhaustible patience and fortitude. Startups are a marathon, not a sprint, and successful founders must employ patience, creativity, and detail to succeed; each topics to be addressed in this class. This class will also include closing remarks and sharing between students of their assignments.

Suggested Reading: The Art of the Start, Guy Kawasaki

Guest Speaker: Richard Christiansen: Richard is the founder of Chandalier Creative, the world’s premier creative agency for brands.