COURSE NUMBER: MBA295.1

COURSE TITLE: Startup Lab

UNITS OF CREDIT: 2.0

INSTRUCTORS: Whitney Hischier

E-MAIL ADDRESSES:  hischier@haas.berkeley.edu

CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION: http://bspace.berkeley.edu

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Mondays, 2:00PM – 4:00PM

PREREQUISITE(S): Completion of Core

CLASS FORMAT: classes will be a mix of lectures, guest speakers and focus on outside client project work.

REQUIRED READINGS: no required readings

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Assignments, participation, final project.

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:

The Startup Lab is a project-based experiential learning course that teams UC Berkeley students with local venture-backed startups in an effort to execute consulting projects that identify, frame and address strategic business challenges. Throughout the course, students will gain experience working within agile and dynamic startup environments while applying their academic knowledge in an entrepreneurial context. This course fulfills the BILD requirement for the MBA.

By the end of the course, students will have:

• Learned and refined consulting skills and project management;

• Developed a strong understanding of good stakeholder management;

• Applied the business principles learned in core classes to a real-world global setting

• Developed industry knowledge in a focused area;

• Worked in a dynamic team environment;

• Built a solid network in the Silicon Valley venture-backed startup space.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

Whitney Hischier is a lecturer at Haas, a coach for the IBD program, a mentor for the Lean Launchpad program, and a Faculty Advisor to the Center for Executive Education. Previously, she was the Assistant Dean for Executive Education at Haas where she built a $20m organization. Prior to Haas, Whitney was a consultant in the US and Europe for KPMG, ABN Amro Bank, and Deloitte on systems implementation and change management. She holds a BA in International Relations from Stanford University and an MBA from Haas with a Certificate in Healthcare Management.