Marshall School of Business

University of Southern California

Entrepreneurship

INSTRUCTORS

Gene Miller (A+C) gene.miller@marshall.usc.edu Bridge Hall One 213.740-9081

William Gartner (B+D) wgartner@marshall.usc.edu Bridge Hall One 213.740-0648

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course provides an introductory overview of the knowledge and skills needed for the identification, evaluation, and exploitation of opportunities in a variety of circumstances and environments. The course focuses on developing a proactive and effectual way for individuals and organizations to determine and pursue their goals. We train individuals to seek innovation (Are we doing the right things?) rather than optimization (Are we doing things right?). The course is integrative and multi-disciplinary.

The course emphasizes the ways that entrepreneurs think about their situations, and how their mindset affects their ability to find opportunities. Entrepreneurs are optimistic, so students explore how optimism can be learned and applied. We study how entrepreneurs are embedded in a “social structure of opportunity” and students learn and apply networking skills as a way to find and pursue opportunities in their social networks.

We will examine how entrepreneurs undertake the tasks necessary for developing entrepreneurial ventures, both independently and within corporate settings. We explore how entrepreneurs find, screen, and evaluate ideas and new business opportunities by developing a business concept. A business concept identifies particular customers and benefits and then specifies how these benefits are provided to customers through explicit channels of distribution. The process of determining the feasibility of an entrepreneurial venture is emphasized. A feasibility analysis helps an entrepreneur determine whether the conditions are right to go forward with the business concept. Students will engage in many of the activities of feasibility analysis throughout the eight weeks of the course module.

A central portion of the course explores the entrepreneurs’ tool kit. We will study techniques that can identify customers, determine their needs, and estimate future sales. We will offer insights into entrepreneurial marketing strategies and tactics. We will also explore techniques for analyzing the financial requirements of various venture opportunities. Formal and informal sources of capital will be discussed. We will also examine how financing deals are negotiated and structured, including the task of determining a valuation for a new venture. Finally, we will cover the commercialization of technology through entrepreneurial activities as well as the process of corporate venturing.

The process of creating the organization, selecting others for involvement, developing an entrepreneurial culture, and creating the ethics, values and practices that might lead to a sustainable organization, is also covered.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

The module objectives can be summarized as follows:

To acquaint students with the entrepreneurial mindset.

To explore how entrepreneurs think.

To prepare students to recognize, define, test and exploit opportunities.

To understand and utilize the process of feasibility analysis.

To understand the purpose and structure of business plans.

To learn how to apply entrepreneurial thinking and behaviors to any business situation.

COURSE MATERIALS

Required:

• Readings Book, “RB” in course outline.

• Kaplan, J. (1996). Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure. New York: Penguin. Paperback. ISBN: 014257314

COURSE EXPECTATIONS

Your responsibilities are very simple. Treat faculty, staff, and guest speakers like you would your best customer and you will be treated in the same manner. The Greif Center faculty believes in and follows a customer-centered philosophy. Your input and participation are important and appreciated. Class meetings start promptly. Please be on time for every meeting and stay for the entire class meeting. If you are unable to attend or will be late for a class meeting, please leave a voice or e-mail with your lead professor in advance of the class.

You will need to come to class prepared, having read the required materials or completed the expected assignment. The faculty does not lecture from the readings. They always assume you’ve read the appropriate chapter or materials. Asking a question in class that is easily answered by the book wastes everyone’s time and keeps us from doing more interesting things in class. On the other hand, you are certainly encouraged to bring up issues raised in the reading materials for clarification and elaboration in class.

While we want you to take the content of the class meetings seriously and learn all that you can, we hope that you’ll maintain a sense of humor in the face of ambiguity, uncertainty. We all believe that we learn more and accomplish more when we’re having fun doing it, so please bring your sense of humor to class.

COURSE EVALUATION

Students will be evaluated based on a variety of projects and activities that span the range of student learning styles and abilities. In each instance, the activity used for evaluation tests the student’s ability to apply what has been learned from the text, readings, case studies, speakers, in-class lectures and discussion.

The grading scheme for this class will be as follows:

Class Contribution and Participation 10%

Entrepreneur Interview 45

Opportunity Evaluation Project 45

100%

The distribution of grades will closely follow the guidelines of the Marshall School of Business (an average class GPA of 3.3).

Attendance Policy

Class attendance is absolutely essential. All missed classes will be noted. The policy on missed classes is to allow each student one absence, no questions asked, no penalty. All further absences over this limit will reduce the student’s participation grade, no questions asked, no excuses of any kind accepted. Students with an excessive number of absences are at risk to fail the course. Only Official University engagements, such as scheduled debating events, sports events, are accepted. Job interviews, etc., are not excused, so choose your absence carefully. Habitual lateness (and leaving class early), for whatever reason, will be noted as evidence of low course commitment and penalized.

Course Contribution and Class Participation

Your overall commitment and attitude toward this course, and your daily active verbal participation in class discussions, will be closely monitored. In grading class participation, we will look at both the quantity and quality of your class contributions/ interventions. Class participation is obviously a function of preparation, skills, attitude, and a willingness to actively commit yourself in front of us and your colleagues.

With regard to quality, the dimensions that we look for include:

Relevance -- does the comment bear on the subject at hand? Comments that do not link up with what the discussion is focusing on can actually detract from the learning experience.

Causal Linkage -- are the logical antecedents or consequences of a particular argument traced out? Comments that push the implications of a fact or idea as far as possible are generally superior.

Responsiveness -- does the comment react in an important way to what someone else has said?

Analysis -- is the reasoning employed consistent and logical?

Evidence -- have data from the case, from personal experience, from general knowledge been employed to support the assertions made?

Importance -- does the contribution further our understanding of the issues at hand? Is a connection made with other cases we have analyzed?

Clarity -- is the comment succinct and understandable? Does it stick to the subject or does it wander?

All students will be formally called on, at random, to take the lead in various aspects of class discussions at least once or twice during the semester. If the student called upon is not present, is late, or is not sufficiently prepared to make a substantial contribution to the class discussion, he/she will lose points for class contribution. If the student makes helpful comments, he/she will accumulate points for class contribution. Since it is unlikely that there will be enough opportunities to call on each student more than once or twice, be warned that failure to be thoroughly prepared, on all occasions, can be devastating to your overall grade.

Each student will be graded for participation at the end of each class session. The simple recitation of facts from the readings or case will receive some credit toward the student’s class contribution score. Comments that do more than simply recite facts, however, will receive substantially more credit. For instance, comments that provide synthesis or raise counterintuitive points, will add much more to a student’s class contribution score. Comments that contain factual misstatements, demonstrate lack of adequate preparation, or are distracting because they come too late in the discussion, will be penalized. Attempts to dominate class discussion rarely result in consistent and significant contributions.

Your full attention is required during class discussion. There should be no use of laptops during class.

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT – Entrepreneur Interview

GROUP ASSIGNMENT – Opportunity Evaluation Project

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Please be familiar with the Grading Policy and Academic Standards section of the USC Catalogue and the information on University Governance in the SCAMPUS, particularly Appendix A: Academic Dishonesty Sanction Guidelines.

The use of unauthorized material, communication with fellow students during an in-class examination, attempting to benefit from the work of another student, and similar behavior defeats the intent of an examination or other class work is unacceptable to the University. It is often difficult to distinguish between a culpable act and inadvertent behavior resulting from the nervous tensions accompanying examinations. Where a clear violation has occurred, however, the instructor may disqualify the student's work as unacceptable and assign a failing mark on the paper.

Policy regarding returned graded work

Returned paperwork, unclaimed by a student, will be discarded after four weeks and, hence, will not be available should a grade appeal be pursued by a student following receipt of his/her course grade.

COURSE SCHEDULE

Opportunity Recognition and Discovery

Session 1: March 25 The Entrepreneurial Mindset, Expectations and Framework

Readings: What Makes Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial? (In Outlook Folder)

Session 2: March 27 Sources of Opportunity

Readings: The Discipline of Innovation (in the Readings Book, “RB”)

Session 3: April 1 Concept Development / Opportunity Drivers

Why Business Models Matter (RB)

“Chapters 1 to 3” in Kaplan, J. (1996). Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure. New York: Penguin. Paperback. ISBN: 014257314

Questions for Discussion:

You are Jerry Kaplan, at the end of Chapter 3 in the book Startup. You've got what you think is a great idea for a new product, and you have one of the industry's most successful entrepreneurs (Mitch Kapor) interested in helping you.

What is your assessment of your actions to this point?

What are the three most important things you should do now?

What is the opportunity?

Session 4: April 3 Opportunity Discovery in Context

Distribution/Value Chain/Technology

Readings: Skate to Where the Money Will be (RB)

Butler Capital Partners and Autodistribtion (RB)

Session 5: April 8 Entrepreneur Interview Cases and Discussion

Entrepreneur Interview Papers are due. (assignment presented and discussed on January 31)

Opportunity Evaluation

Session 6: April 10 The Process of Feasibility Analysis

Walk through the final paper. Provide the format for what the final paper will look like.

Session 7: April 15 Shaping the Business Concept (Customer and Competitor Grids)

Reading: VacationSpot.com & Rent-A-Holiday (RB)

Session 8: April 17 Envisioning the Business (Blind Tour and Entrepreneur’s Bet)

Exercise: To be handed out in class.

Session 9: April 22 Making the Business a Reality (Time Lines)

Exercise: To be handed out in class.

Opportunity Exploitation

Session 10: April 24 The Business Plan

Reading: How to Write a Great Business Plan (RB)

Sessions 11 + 12: April 25 – Field Work on Opportunity Projects

Session 13: April 29 Opportunity Presentations

Opportunity Papers are due.

Session 14: May 1 Opportunity Presentations

Ideas about the Opportunity Paper.

Each student in the group must come up with a concept statement. The group needs to pick one of these concept statements and indicate why this is the best of the five in the group, and offer reasons for why the group went forward with exploring this concept statement.

Three basic issues to explore:

Who is the customer?

Who are our competitors?

What is going on in the industry?