COURSE INFORMATION ENTR 7336 ENTREPRENEURSHIP TUESDAYS 6pm 9pm ; Rm MH112 FALL 2013 INSTRUCTOR Keith Rassin 713-545-4531 keithrassin@yah.cm READING MATERIALS Blackbard pstings and class handuts Articles and Case Studies as assigned (see schedule belw) Helpful resurces: Sme suggested reading Purchase curse materials at https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/access/20427776 Entrepreneur Magazine (www.entrepreneur.cm) The Kauffman Fundatin (www.kauffman.rg) Past teams have fund SurveyMnkey t be helpful in gathering primary data fr their prjects. The basic service is free and prvides mst f the features yu ll need. Visit SurveyMnkey at http://www.surveymnkey.cm/ Kmisar, Randy, The Mnk and the Riddle, HBS Press COURSE OBJECTIVES The main fcus f this curse will be t expse students t the prcess f starting and grwing a business frm idea t business plan int a cmpany. Discussins will fcus n the prcess that entrepreneurs fllw and the decisins they face including the fllwing. Understanding the business prcess. Hw t identify and create business pprtunities. Hw t analyze and imprve a business mdel. Hw t identify and develp the resurces required fr a new venture. INSTRUCTIONAL PHILOSOPHY Learn by ding. I anticipate free discussin with lts f questins. If yu dn't understand smething said in class, r want mre infrmatin n hw it might apply t yur persnal situatin, speak up. Guests are welcme, and everybdy is invited t "put their tw cents in." 1
ENTR 7336 Fall, 2013 COURSE SCHEDULE Date Tpic Required Reading Assignment Due 8/27 Intr & Curse Overview Nne Nne 9/3 Creativity & Innvatin The Entrepreneurs at Twitter (Case Study) Slide fr $5 Challenge 9/10 Frm Idea t Opprtunity Hw t Write a Great Business Plan (Article) Creativity & Innvatin Challenge 9/17 Business Mdel Develpment Rm fr Dessert (Case Study) Case Study Q&A 9/24 Market Research Jint Juice (Case Study) Case Study Q&A OAP Initial Psitining Statements 10/1 Market Research Cntinued Nne Nne 10/8 Business Mdel Analysis PrfitLgic (Case Study) Hw t Pitch a Brilliant Idea (Article) Market Research Reprt Case Study Q&A 10/15 Guest Speaker Nne Nne 10/22 OAP Prject Due Finale (Case Study) OAP Write Up OAP Elevatr Pitch 10/29 Legal & Financial Aspects f Entrepreneurship Small Cmpany Finance: What the Bks Dn t Say (Article) Nne Hw much Mney des yur New Venture Need? (Article) 11/5 Building a Startup Team Smartix (Case Study) Case Study Q&A 11/12 Team Meetings with Prfessr Nne Assignment Discussin Pints 11/19 Achieving the Entrepreneurial Ideal Rubbish Bys (Case Study) Nne 11/26 N class: Thanksgiving Nne Case Study Q&A 12/3 OEP Presentatins Nne OEP Write Ups OEP Presentatins 2
ENTR 7336 Fall, 2013 GRADING Yur curse grade will have the fllwing cmpnents: Assignment Frmat Due Dates Pints Creativity & Innvatin Challenge Individual 9/10 50 Market Research Reprt Grup 10/8 100 Opprtunity Assessment Prject Grup 10/22 100 Opprtunity Executin Prject Grup 12/3 200 Attendance / Participatin Individual varius 100 At the end f the semester, these grades will be ttaled. Curse grades will be assigned accrding t pint ttals. RULES AND EXPECTATIONS In rder t prmte class discussin and facilitate participatin withut distractins, please d nt use laptps in class. Laptps may be used nly during yur presentatins. CELL PHONES AND PAGERS must be n mute during class. If yu must take r return an emergency call, please g ut in the hall t d s. Attend class unless prevented by illness r pressing matters (student must ntify instructr via email f any expected absences), and cme n time. Yu will be cunted absent if yu arrive in class mre than 15 minutes late r leave mre than 15 minutes early. The University f Hustn Academic Hnesty Plicy is strictly enfrced by the C. T. Bauer Cllege f Business. N vilatins f this plicy will be tlerated in this curse. A discussin f the plicy is included in the University f Hustn Student Handbk, http://www.uh.edu/ds/hdbk/acad/achnpl.html. Students are expected t be familiar with this plicy. The C. T. Bauer Cllege f Business wuld like t help students wh have disabilities achieve their highest ptential. T this end, in rder t receive academic accmmdatins, students must register with the Center fr Students with Disabilities (CSD) (telephne 713-743-5400), and present apprved accmmdatin dcumentatin t their instructrs in a timely manner. All wrk is due when scheduled. 3
Opprtunity Assessment and Executin Prjects ENTR 7336 Fall, 2013 Assignment Opprtunity Analysis Prject (OAP) - Due 10/22 Yu will learn hw t tell the difference between a gd idea in a drm r a lab and a great scalable business pprtunity. Yu will identify and define a market pprtunity and pitch the pprtunity in a 1 minute elevatr pitch t yur classmates. Opprtunity Executin Prject (OEP) - Due 12/3 Yu will explre hw t actually assemble a cmpany thinking thrugh hw yur team wuld sell, create demand, attract a team, and fund the prduct. Then yu will pitch the pprtunity in 15 minutes t yur classmates. Apprach Belw are five recmmended steps in the prcess f analyzing an pprtunity: 1. Identify ptential pprtunities. Cmbine yur wn persnal experiences and creativity with external frecasts and trend analysis. Hw is the wrld changing with respect t new technlgies? What is the impact f glbalizatin n current slutins? What new requirements will thse changes prduce? Recent media articles n trends are ften a gd place t start. 2. Define yur purpse and bjectives. Identify yur mst prmising pprtunity, being careful t discriminate between an interesting technlgical idea and a viable market pprtunity. Prepare an utline which will help yu t determine what types f data and infrmatin yu need t demnstrate the attractiveness f yur chsen pprtunity. 3. Gather data frm primary surces. It is crucial fr yu t btain data frm primary surces. Ptential investrs will place mre trust in well cnducted primary research than in stacks f data frm secndary surces. There is simply n substitute fr talking t ptential custmers frm the target market in rder t validate the pprtunity yu have identified. Cnsequently, we prefer that yu spend time gathering data frm primary, nt just secndary, surces. Check ut SurveyMnkey as well. 4. Gather data frm secndary surces. Cuntless secndary surces exist n the web and in UH's varius library resurces. Try nt t get t bgged dwn in financial and accunting data. 5. Analyze and interpret the results. Persuasively summarize yur results. 4
Prject Milestnes Class 9/3 Team Frmatin Deadline: This team will serve as yur term prject team. ENTR 7336 Fall, 2013 Class 9/24 Initial Psitining Statement: Fill in the tw-sentence psitining template fr yur OAP prduct r service cncept. The template is: Sentence #1 Fr (target custmer) wh (statement f the need r pprtunity), the (prduct/service name) is a (prduct/service categry) that (statement f benefit). Sentence #2 Unlike (primary cmpetitive alternative), ur prduct (statement f primary differentiatin). Create tw PwerPint slides. One slide shuld simply list the name f yur prject team with all the team members and their majrs. The secnd slide shuld have a succinct draft f yur psitining statement abve. Send t instructr via email with yur team name clearly identified by 4 PM the day f the class. Class 10/8 Market Research Reprt: Bring a hard cpy f yur reprt. The first sectin shuld prvide yur detailed apprach t cnducting market research. The secnd sectin shuld prvide a summary f yur results and yur initial interpretatin f these results. The third sectin shuld prvide a bibligraphy f surces. An appendix shuld then be included with the data gathered frm each surce. Class 10/22 Opprtunity Assessment Written Analysis and Elevatr Pitch: Bring a hard cpy f yur 750-wrd written analysis t instructr. Yur team is strngly encuraged t keep yur written analysis t 750 wrds, as this is a gd pprtunity t learn hw t be succinct in business cmmunicatins. Hwever, if it is abslutely necessary, the wrd cunt may be increased 20%, up t 900 wrds. Yur team will have 1 minute t deliver an Elevatr Pitch abut yur pprtunity. This time limit will be strictly enfrced. Class 11/12 Mandatry Instructr Meeting: Each team will have a scheduled meeting with the instructr t discuss their prject, review their prgress and address any issues that have surfaced. Class 12/3 Opprtunity Executin Presentatin: Presentatins are limited t 15 minutes per team. Slides shuld be in standard PwerPint frmat, with a recmmended maximum f 8 slides per team. The best presentatins are ften the shrtest and mst succinct. A summary at the end f the presentatin is ften very pwerful. Class 12/3 Bring a hardcpy f yur OEP written analysis t instructr in class. Yur team is strngly encuraged t be efficient in yur written analysis, as this is a gd pprtunity t learn hw t be succinct in business cmmunicatins. 5
Key Deliverables Opprtunity Assessment Prject: ENTR 7336 Fall, 2013 Yu and yur team shuld pick an pprtunity and perfrm a first analysis t understand whether yur pprtunity can be turned int a scalable business. In yur written analysis yu shuld tell the "stry" f yur prpsed venture by addressing the fllwing: Cncept. Where did yur idea cme frm (e.g., wrk, traveling)? Explain what the market pprtunity is and what yur slutin might be. What makes yur slutin particularly cmpelling? Hw des it make meaning? D yu have persnal experiences with this market? Is there existing intellectual prperty that yu must license r new intellectual prperty yu must develp in rder t pursue this pprtunity? Has anyne tried smething like this befre? If s, why did they fail r succeed, and why is the pprtunity still attractive? Market. What industry are yu addressing? Why is this market attractive? What segment f the verall market are yu pursuing? What market research data can be gathered t describe this market need? What are the ttal industry r categry sales ver the past three years? What is the anticipated grwth fr this industry? If this is a new market, what is the best analgus market data that illustrates the pprtunity? Prject the ptential market size and grwth fr yur pprtunity. Custmers. This is extremely imprtant. Yu need t have a clear idea f wh yur target custmer is. The nly way fr yu t be able t d this is t "get ut f the building" and speak with yur ptential custmers. Yu will need t answer questins such as: What des the custmer need? Why des the custmer need it? What is the custmer using tday? What is the custmer willing t pay fr yur slutin? Why? Hw will yu reach this custmer? Yu shuld include bth primary (r first-hand) research and secndary research, emphasizing primary ver secndary. Business Mdel. Nw that yu have discvered an pprtunity and talked t ptential custmers, hw will yu turn it int a business? Hw will yu make mney and when d yu expect yur venture t be prfitable? (Yu will get t think abut this mre in the Opprtunity Executin Prject.) Cmpetitin. Wh else serves this custmer need? What advantages and weaknesses d these cmpetitrs and wuld-be cmpetitrs have? What share f the market d specific cmpetitrs serve? Are the majr cmpetitrs' sales grwing, declining, r steady? What are the barriers t entry fr yu and fr additinal cmpetitrs? The list abve has n implied rder. Sme entrepreneurs start with a well-defined cncept and then try t identify a market fr their idea; thers start by studying a market and then stumble upn an idea. Als, please keep in mind that the specific data and infrmatin yu prvide will vary accrding t the type f pprtunity yu chse t analyze. 6
ENTR 7336 Fall, 2013 Opprtunity Executin Prject: The Opprtunity Executin Prject is a chance fr yur team t think abut hw t take yur idea frm a cncept n paper and turn it int a real cmpany. Fr this part, yur analysis shuld include the fllwing: Fundamental Prblem. What is the fundamental prblem yu are slving fr the end user f yur prduct? What is the fundamental prblem yu're slving fr yur custmer (if it is different frm the end user)? Give a quick recap f yur OAP - just a reminder f yur key pints and the takeaway. Business Mdel. Yu nw have had sme mre time t think abut yur pprtunity. D yu have any additinal thughts/changes abut the business mdel? Financial Statements. Include an Incme Statement, Statement f Cash Flws and Balance Sheet fr yur business that frecasts the next 3 years. The first year shuld be n a mnthly basis with the fllwing 2 years prviding an annual summary. Sales & Marketing Strategy. Hw wuld yu sell yur prduct? What distributin channels wuld yu use? Hw wuld yu create demand fr yur prduct? Risk. Regarding financial, technical, peple, and market risks; which ne is f mst cncern? Which wuld yu chse t address first and why? Hw wuld yu manage r minimize each f the high-pririty risks ging frward? Partners and Allies. Wh will be yur majr partners? Hw will yur prduct be made? Will yur cmpany prduce all f the parts, r will it use external suppliers? Hw wuld yu g abut attracting these partners and allies t wrk with yur cmpany? Team. Wh wuld yu need n yur team in rder t make this venture a success? What kind f experience and skills wuld yur team need? Hw wuld yu g abut attracting them t yur cmpany? 7