COURSE NUMBER: EWMBA 295M.1

This course is cross-listed with the FTMBA Program

COURSE TITLE: Business Model Innovation and Entrepreneurial Strategy

UNITS OF CREDIT: 2 units

INSTRUCTOR: David Charron

EMAIL ADDRESSES: david.charron@berkeley.edu

MEETING DATES: Meets the first 10 weeks of the semester (8/22 - 10/31. No class session on 9/5 due to University Holiday)

PREREQUISITES: EWMBA Core Curriculum

CLASS FORMAT:  Case discussions, lectures and guest speakers

COURSE CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES
Business Model Innovation is open to all potential entrepreneurs looking to explore new venture concepts and members of corporations interested in tracking market forces and entrepreneurial activity. The class uses business models, innovation and strategy as foundational building blocks for you to dig deeply into these issues. You define the companies and markets of interest for the course deliverables. Students have previously looked at fintech, healthcare, gaming, education and a wide-array of other verticals.

This class is grounded in understanding business models as strategy for new venture creation and growth. The business model, the set of constructs that define a business, can dramatically affect the venture’s chances of durable success. I focus on new ventures in our ecosystem to keep the class timely and relevant. In addition I will review the historical context and evolution of markets with the aim of anticipating future opportunities.

To cover the material, the class maintains a fast pace. We will cover techniques to efficiently construct and test business models to determine how they might succeed in the market. The course shows how business models differ across industries and phases of a firm’s growth, from high-tech to social ventures and from the earliest start-up phases through realization of significant value. You will learn about specific business model decisions that entrepreneurs make when building a company and how they drive the value capture process.

This course uses case studies, with short lectures and occasional guest speakers to reinforce frameworks and showcase real business examples. Your preparation, attendance and active participation is critical and required for your success in the course. You will be provided with opportunities to present to the class.

REQUIRED READINGS
We do not have a textbook for the class but will use study.net. I strongly recommend that you read Osterwalder’s Business Model Generation book. The readings are extensive, covering theory and background foundations, and the most up to date cases are chosen for discussion.

GRADING
You will be graded on these elements:  Class attendance and participation; two business model snapshots; and, one in‐depth business model analysis. All projects will focus on a company of your choosing. The third and final project is for a team and is larger in scope than the first two and is the final deliverable for this 10-week class.

IS THIS APPLICABLE TO YOUR CAREER? 
This course is applicable to entrepreneurs and corporate innovators. Rapid prototyping and testing of new business concepts, the core of innovation, requires you to be facile with modeling and analysis core concepts. You will also learn how to innovate to create differentiated business models and to prepare for market entry and growth.

INSTRUCTOR BIO:
David Charron is a member of the professional faculty at UC Berkeley. He teaches several courses in innovation and entrepreneurship during both semesters. Mr. Charron started UC Berkeley’s National Science Foundation’s I-Corps program as Faculty Lead and continues to teach the Lean Launchpad methodology to entrepreneurs through various programs and train-the-trainer programs. He is lead instructor in the National Institute’s of Health I-Corps program. Mr. Charron is a serial entrepreneur, investor in and consultant to startups, corporations, inventors and entrepreneurs. He has worked in and studied the field of technology commercialization and entrepreneurship for over 25 years. Mr. Charron’s experience in this field has been at corporations such as Xerox PARC, academic institutions including MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley and UCSF, and the national labs such as LBNL, LLNL and Sandia. He holds a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from UC Berkeley.