COURSE NUMBER: MBA295M.1
This course is cross-listed
with the EWMBA Program
COURSE TITLE: Business Model Innovation and Entrepreneurial Strategy
UNITS OF CREDIT: 2
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: MBA 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.