Note: this is a course description from a previous semester. The Spring 2014 description will be updated as soon as it is available.
COURSE NUMBER: EWMBA295I.1
This course is cross-listed
with the Full-Time MBA Program
COURSE TITLE:
Entrepreneurship Workshop for Start-ups
UNITS OF CREDIT: 2
INSTRUCTOR: Mark
Coopersmith
E-MAIL ADDRESS: mark@coopersmith.net
MEETING DAY(S)/TIME:
Tuesdays, 6:00-9:30PM
COURSE OVERVIEW VIDEO FROM MARK COOPERSMITH
[Course will meet 10 times over
the 15 weeks of the semester, exact dates TBD.]
PREREQUISITE(S): MBA 295A or
consent of the instructor; must have general understanding of the
entrepreneurial process and requirements of launching a business, and
actively be investigating or developing a business; must be willing to share
sufficient business details with classmates, instructor and mentors as
appropriate for such a workshop class; teams of 2 or 3 or more strongly
encouraged.
CLASS FORMAT: Highly
interactive including much peer discussion, collaboration and input. Short lectures; guest speakers and
panels; in-class working groups and problem-solving sessions; student/company
presentations with in-class analysis, critique and working sessions; extensive
incorporation of outside mentors and resources; student breakout groups.
READINGS: Targeted
excerpts from: Kawasaki -"The Art of the Start"; Komisar “Getting to Plan B”; Ries
– “The Lean Startup”; Blank – “Startup Owners Manual”
BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE:
Grades will depend on the
student's progress in developing his or her team project, level and quality of
participation in class discussions, working sessions and presentations, and the
quality of their peer‐to-peer advising and consulting for other students’
projects along with how well the student incorporates and/or responds to input
from instructor, mentors and fellow students.
Venture progress – 40% of final
grade. At the start of the class you will be required to describe the current
state of your vision/venture/company and your goals for making progress on your
startup during the semester. Your progress grade will be based on the actual
work you perform and report to class in achieving goals and adapting to the
changing circumstances facing your venture. Fast iteration, evolution and
development of products and business models; customer discovery and
development; team building; and ability to concisely present your venture will
all contribute to this assessment.
Participation – 40% of final
grade. Your grade for participation includes topical presentations about your
company and your efforts in starting the company. You will be required to
prepare presentations to the class on a number of major subject areas, and
especially those that are most relevant/critical to
your venture, such as Product Demo/Concept, Positioning, Business Model, and
Financing. You will also be evaluated on the quantity and especially the
quality of your in‐class questions and comments in instructor-led
discussions and also providing feedback to your fellow students in broad class
sessions and breakout groups. Attendance will be a component of this portion of
the grade.
Consulting – 20% of final grade.
During the semester, each student will act as a consultant to another student
and venture in the course. This means that you will have the opportunity to
offer insights and advice to another student and their venture. In a similar
vein, all students will also be clients receiving advice from fellow students.
You will be judged on the quality of the advice you provide and how you deliver
it (how actionable is the advice, how comprehensive and well thought out, how
creative?). You will also be evaluated on your ability to be a good client,
including how you receive the advice and integrate or act upon it.
ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:
This course takes the study of entrepreneurship
well beyond business plan writing and opportunity recognition. We will
actively investigate and undertake actions and activities that create
successful and scalable ventures. Students explore methods to build and evolve
new ventures with activities and learnings based
around businesses that each of them is actively developing. Disciplines covered
include customer and market research, team development, product development,
positioning, business experimentation, customer discovery and development,
go-to-market activities, financing strategies and other activities related to
their own venture and to the ventures of others in the class. Fast iteration
and accelerated development are actively investigated incorporating
“lean-startup” methodologies and activities.
This workshop is intended for
students who have their own venture project already under development. Teams of
2, 3 or more class participants are strongly encouraged, though some solo
projects may be allowed with the professor's approval. Students may be from any
graduate degree program across campus and must have already invested
substantial thinking and work into the development and evolution of the concept
and business plan, intellectual property, product or service demonstrations and
related materials. The venture may be in startup mode or further along in its
evolution, but in any case ventures should be well beyond the “opportunity
recognition” and initial “concept development” phases. In past courses students
have, for example, launched and evolved products, attracted customers,
generated revenues and obtained funding during the semester.
Deciding mid-semester that you
don’t want to pursue your venture may impact your grade, but “failing fast” and
developing a more promising “Plan B” may occur with some ventures over the
semester. How well the student navigates these issues and responds to adversity
and changing conditions will count substantially toward their grade. This class
is – after all – about experiencing the entrepreneurial process at a
fundamental level. Students must be willing to discuss their project in-depth
and openly with others in the class including students, mentors and
instructor(s). You should not take this course if you are not willing to share
details about your venture.
This course is structured around
the major elements of the business plan as a framework, and there are a number
of related deliverables, although it is not a specific requirement of the
course to produce a formal business plan. The course is conducted as a highly
interactive workshop, exploring issues in real-time that are faced by student
entrepreneurs in converting their ventures and concepts into successful
companies. Each class member is expected to contribute actively in the
discussions and presentation critiques. Students will also act as consultants
to one another.
Guest speakers, mentors and other
participants will frequently be incorporated in the class to add start-up
experience, domain expertise and perspective. Attendance at the Berkeley
Entrepreneur Forums and other entrepreneur and startup oriented activities both
on and off campus will strongly reinforce the material presented in the
class. One or two class meetings may be held off-site in an
entrepreneurial environment such as a new venture accelerator or shared
workspace.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: A leader and innovator in consumer products, technology, media and branding, Mark Coopersmith has spent more than 20 years launching, building and restructuring high-growth global businesses. As Managing Director of The Argonauts Group, Mark works with client companies, investors and other stakeholders to bring about fundamental change, accelerate revenues and drive enterprise value at companies ranging from VC-backed ventures through Fortune 100 corporations. Previously he led the $300mm Global Technology Brands group at consumer products company Newell Rubbermaid; co-founded and built a $150mm consumer products and online commerce division for Sony.; and served as President of Strategy for brand consultancy Addis Creson. He was the founding CEO of pioneer online payments company WebOrder (now part of Motorola); and earlier in his career was a strategy and M&A consultant with Ernst & Young. Mark has advised global enterprises such as Intel, DirecTV, T Rowe Price and Sony, and has also worked with and served on the boards of many innovative earlier stage companies. Mark teaches Entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, where he also mentors many students and their ventures. He is an alumnus of UC Berkeley, where he earned his B.A. and MBA degrees.
John Danner is a Senior Fellow of The Lester Center for Entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, where he usually teaches the core MBA course on entrepreneurship, as well as other graduate courses on business model innovation and strategies for startups. He is Faculty Advisor to the Global Social Venture Competition, and launched UC’s campuswide undergraduate course on entrepreneurship and global poverty. He also teaches entrepreneurship in the Berkeley-Columbia Executive MBA Program, and is a Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship at Princeton University each fall. He began his entrepreneurial career as an undergraduate at Harvard, appropriately enough (for this I290 course) in a venture called IGS (Information Gathering Service); and has since been involved in startups of various types as entrepreneur, advisor and investor. In addition, he has worked as a management consultant, lawyer or senior executive in the private, nonprofit and public sectors - in fields from education and healthcare to telecommunications and energy. A frequent speaker on innovation and entrepreneurship at conferences and seminars around the world, he is also senior moderator with the Aspen Institute’s executive and global leadership programs, as well as the Federal Executive Institute. For those of you are fans of TED, he’s also the guy who came up with the idea for TED University; and gave a mini-TED talk at last summer’s TEDGlobal event in Edinburgh. He received his JD, MPH and MAEd degrees from UC Berkeley.