COURSE TITLE: New Venture Finance

UNITS OF CREDIT: 2

INSTRUCTORS: Jerome S. Engel and Mario Rosati

E-MAIL ADDRESS: Engel: engel@haas.berkeley.edu

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Thursday 5:00-8:00 pm

PREREQUISITE(S): The course is open to second year MBAs. It will be taught at an advanced level and will require a familiarity with the subject matter and competency at new venture business planning as a prerequisite. Completion of BA295A/E295 "Entrepreneurship" and BA203/E203 "Introduction to Finance" is a prerequisite. Exception from this policy is with instructor approval only.

CLASS FORMAT: The class will meet for ten three-hour sessions. Each session will have two sections, 5:00-6:30pm and 6:40-8:00 pm mixing the case study, lecture, and guest speaker formats. Emphasis will be given to presentations by successful entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and those who support them, such as attorneys, and investment bankers. Written reports and oral presentations are required, usually on a team basis.

REQUIRED READINGS :

Reading materials will be posted on the BA295d Sunsite.

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE :

Class participation 40%. This will include both attendance at class session and at the UC Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum. Team project and presentation 60%

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:

This is a course about financing new entrepreneurial ventures. Consistent with the Haas School's strategic direction, we will focus on high potential firms that have the possibility of creating a national and/or international impact. This is not exclusive to, but may often mean, ventures that are financed by venture capital funds and exploit high technology and/or participate in new or emerging markets.

We will take two perspectives: that of the entrepreneur and that of the investor. Therefore, this course is of interest to those who wish to be entrepreneurs and/or investors. We will place a special focus on the venture capital process, including how venture capital firms are formed and managed, accessing the public markets,mergers and strategic alliances.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
 
 

JEROME S. ENGEL is Founder and Executive Director of the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business. He is also Director of Haas' Entrepreneurship Program and lectures in the MBA program in Entrepreneurship and New Venture Finance. Mr. Engel has been involved with the formation and start up of technology related ventures for over twenty years. He specializes in the creation of high potential ventures, including opportunity assessment, capital formation, corporate strategy, management organization and recruiting, with an emphasis on telecommunications, the Internet, computer software and biotechnology. He is a founding partner of Kline Hawkes California, LP, a $100+ million venture capital fund organized to support the growth of California-based entrepreneurial enterprises. He was founder and Partner in Charge of Ernst & Young's Entrepreneurial Services Group in the Bay Area, which

specializes in assisting high potential start-ups. Mr. Engel was also the National Director of Capital Resources, where he directed the firm's efforts in raising capital for its emerging business clients nationwide.Mr. Engel serves on the boards of directors or advisory boards of a number of entrepreneurial ventures and advises several major corporations in business incubation strategies. He is the co-founder of AllBusiness.com [recently acquired by NBCi] and Electrascan, Inc. where he serves as Chairman. He previously served as Board Member of Maxis Software [which went public and was subsequently acquired by Electronic Arts], Micronet Technology [acquired by Ampex] and Transoft Inc.[acquired by Hewlet Packard]. In addition, he has served as a board member for several non-profit organizations focused on social venturing, youth development and the environment.Mr. Engel is a Certified Public Accountant and a graduate of Penn State University and the Wharton School.

Mario M. Rosati is a partner of the law firm of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto, which he joinedin 1971. Initially he headed the firm's Estate Planning and Probate Department, but since 1978 he has specialized in Corporate Law, especially as it relates to high technology companies. Mr. Rosati participated on the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Task Force to the office of the then-President Elect, Ronald Reagan, and in 1992-93 served as a Special Consultant to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Transportation. Mr. Rosati has sat as Judge Pro-Tem in the Superior Court, State of California, San Mateo County. Mr. Rosati is a director of Genus, Inc., Mountain View, California; Ross Systems, Redwood City, California; CATS Software Inc., Palo Alto, California; and Meridian Data, Inc, Scotts Valley, California - all publicly traded companies; and a number of privately held companies, including Aehr Test Systems, Mountain View, California; Diagnostic Reagents, Inc., Mountain View,

California; Focus, Palo Alto, California; and Pro-Log Corporation, Monterey, California. Mr. Rosati is a member of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati's Executive Committee, and is Managing Partner of WS Investments, an investment partnership composed of the members of the firm and a trust for certain associates for the firm. Mr. Rosati has a BA (History), UCLA and JD, Boalt Hall UC Berkeley.