COURSE NUMBER: MBA 295T.2

Please note the unorthodox format of this course which meets all day on two Saturdays.

COURSE TITLE: The Other "F" Word: Failure & Its Importance to Innovation and Entrepreneurship

UNITS OF CREDIT: 1.0

INSTRUCTOR: John Danner

E-MAIL ADDRESS: danner@haas.berkeley.edu

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

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Saturdays 9:00AM – 5:00PM on February 9 and April 27*.

*The second session was originally schedule for February 16, which is part of a 3-day Holiday weekend. This meeting has been rescheduled to April 27.

PREREQUISITE(S): None

CLASS FORMAT: A mix of mini-lectures, case discussions, in-class exercises, and guest speakers

REQUIRED READINGS (Not a list of specific readings but a statement of whether you will use a textbook, cases, course reader, readings on reserve, or a mixture.): Cases, articles and videos

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE (midterm, final, paper(s), project(s), class participation, or a mixture): Obviously, given our topic I'm tempted to suggest that grading be on a pass/fail basis; but I'll resist it in favor of a mix of class participation (25%) and a "final" presentation in our 2nd class (75% - could be either individual or team, depending on our enrollment)

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES: This is a 1-unit experimental exploration into the unspoken world of failure. Key facts: most new ventures fail, as do most acquisitions, mergers, major IT projects, new products and many other efforts in business. In a very real sense, most of the time we live in and with failure of different varieties and severity; but we persevere. People usually don't cite their failures on their resumes, and few corporations mention them in their annual reports. But failure is often essential to success. This short course will look at failure, its various forms and how you can anticipate it, prepare for it and - most importantly - learn from it. We will look at failure through the lens of other disciplines as well - from engineering and science to art and architecture (with probably a few examples from athletics and warfare thrown in for good measure). Come prepared for a collaborative and candid learning experience. My intention is not to encourage you to fail, but to improve your odds of success in your efforts to be an innovative leader and/or creator of a new venture. While failure may be inevitable, success is also possible.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: Mr. Danner is Senior Fellow of the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship. An experienced entrepreneur, he has also consulted across a number of industry and organizational settings. He has advised senior executives of multi-billion-dollar international enterprises on issues of strategy, value management and business growth; as well as management teams of emerging ventures on matters of competitive positioning, marketing and product strategy. His clients over the years have ranged from leading companies in the healthcare, energy, entertainment, food products, telecommunications and information sectors to startups in newer markets like biotech, personal digital assistants, e-commerce and supply chain integration.