MGT+386+Fall+2014

=media type="custom" key="26133220"= toc Link to Week 14 = Overview = Foundations of Entrepreneurship is a survey class intended to introduce students to the topic of entrepreneurship. This course combines declarative knowledge related to the content of the phenomenon of entrepreneurship with experiential frameworks, principles, and hands-on activities dedicated to creating and operating a startup organization. =Getting started=
 * Click on "JOIN" in the upper right corner of this screen and become a member of this wiki. **** If you are already a student member and are trying to access the "projects" of this wiki, sign in. Make sure your user name is your first name and last name separated by an underscore (firstname_lastname)! If you're using Safari as your OS (e.g., iPads), click on "Menus" at the top of your screen to access projects. **

= Syllabus = This is the contract between you and me regarding what you will do in this course, how you will be assessed, and what communications and works are expected from you. We will "go over the syllabus" on the first day of class, but I will not read it word for word. You are responsible for reading this syllabus and following its guidelines. The syllabus posted below is probably 99% correlated to what we will do fall semester. updated syllabus, October 6, 2014

Content
I am organizing ** course content ** in such a way that you learn the fundamental concepts of entrepreneurship, pitching skills, and forming new venture teams, followed by the concepts of the lean startup, customer development, the business model canvas, and crowdfunding. You will have a strong foundation in each of these concepts at the end of the semester.

Books and Reference Materials
For what it's worth, the Small Business Handbook for doing business in the state of Alabama from the Small Business Development Center of your CBA

Context
I am organizing the course context such that you will work on teams on a value-creating, scalable project for real customers. Your customers are primarily grades 9-12 teachers in Alabama. You will find out what educational products or services they might use to solve a big problem or fix an unmet need, form into new venture teams to create a value proposition that satisfies that need, survey and interview customers to determine their true needs and who is truly the customer segment, design the product or service, create a business model canvas for operating the venture, and create a crowdfunding campaign to finance implementation of the product or service. I know this sounds complicated, but I'm going for a win-win-win-win here. At the end of this summer session you should have created an educational product or service that is so cool that you can brag about it on your resume.

= Objectives = Students who complete Foundations of Entrepreneurship will = Graded Assignments = = Assignment Submittal Policy =
 * 1) Effectively incorporate the five components of a pitch into a compelling narrative about their idea for a new venture
 * 2) Be able to produce a persona development worksheet that provides unique insights into a segment of early adopters/first customers
 * 3) Be able to produce a unique value proposition based on unmet needs and potential gains for a segment of first customers
 * 4) Produce a set of testable hypotheses for each of the nine components of a business model canvas
 * 5) Become proficient in performing the multiple activities needed to conduct a successful crowdfunding campaign
 * Quizzes: 10 quizzes each worth 5% (50%)
 * Start your own $10 business (10%)
 * Elevator pitch (this is STRICTLY an individual task) (5%)
 * Two opportunity registers (10%)
 * Persona Development Framework and Value Proposition Templates (5%)
 * Business Model Canvas (10%)
 * Crowdfunding Campaign (10%)
 * All assignments are due by midnight on the listed date. For example, each of the five online quizzes you will take are due by midnight on the scheduled days, but you are welcome to submit them early.
 * When you submit team assignments by email cc: your teammates so that they know you have submitted.
 * I will not accept late submissions unless the circumstances are truly exceptional.

= Attendance Policy = Come to class! =Meanwhile, check out Keynotopia!= = Schedule =

Week 1
August 21

Week 2
** Theme **** : "The constructs of entrepreneurship" ** Read:
 * August 26 **
 * Opportunities
 * The four constructs of entrepreneurship
 * Entrepreneurs, opportunities, resources, and uncertainty


 * [[file:Entrepreneurs and opportunities with Snappy Auction for Summer I 2014.ppt]]
 * August 28 **
 * A word (or two) about your $10 business projects **
 * whatever you choose to do must be "legal" - it would not be a good idea to put yourself out there too publicly unless you are OK with buying a business license
 * I expect you to put in around 2-4 hours a week on this project, more if you are rocking it and enjoying the project

Read Paul Graham on Ideas for Startups; Y Combinator’s list of [|ideas they’d like to fund]

and Read: Jeffrey Timmons on opportunity recognition Entrepreneur: Brian Morgan --> Discussion questions: Then: Brian Morgan in Inc Magazine, 2009 Now: [|Adventure Life "Our Team"] Video Link: Panama Travel Adventure
 * 1) What insights led Brian to “discover” this opportunity?
 * 2) Why was (or was not) Brian the right person to pursue this opportunity?
 * 3) What was his mindset regarding the use of resources early in the venture?
 * 4) How did Brian deal with uncertainty?
 * 5) How did the opportunity change over time?

media type="custom" key="26485788"
 * Announcement  I just emailed quiz 1. If you did not receive the quiz then I need your email address as soon as possible. Send it to MGT386@gmail.com. **

Week 3

 * September 2 **
 * Theme: More insights into opportunities**


 * In class: Teams create customer persona development charts**


 * Related readings**
 * Luxr's Persona Development Framework
 * Luxr.co - Startup Tutorial: 5 types of research

Customer validation and development //**Questions for Quiz 2 will come from these two PPT files. **// Read: Steve Blank and Bob Dorf's Customer Development Manifesto
 * September 4 **
 * We'll do this next week Theme: Insights into UX (user experience)**

//** Questions for Quiz 2 will come from this reading **//

**Week 4**

 * Weekend Reading! Paul Graham on Delighting Customers **
 * also Boot camps for programming **
 * $10 business diaries due by midnight, September 12. You will receive the form by email, but it's also available here.**

September 9 You must be able to answer these questions:
 * Topic: Customer Development**
 * Have I identified a problem a customer wants solved?
 * Does our product solve these customer needs?
 * If so, do we have a viable and profitable (sustainable) business model?
 * Have we learned enough to go out and sell?

And you must find your earlyvangelists, identifiable by these questions:
 * The customer has a problem
 * The customer understands she has a problem
 * The customer is actively searching for a solution and has a timetable for finding it
 * The problem is painful enough that the customer has cobbled together an interim solution
 * The customer has committed, or can quickly acquire, the budget dollars to solve the problem[1]

Webvan Promotional Videos
media type="youtube" key="3StIOV14hrM" width="420" height="315" One of a series from Webvan in 2000 that tries to point up how unpleasant the grocery store experience is.

media type="youtube" key="O7PRoReIUVE" width="420" height="315" And yet another video illustrating the unpleasant experience of the grocery store.

The Business Model Canvas
 * September 11**

//**Questions for Quiz 3 will come from the slides on customer development and the business model canvas **//

Week 5
For your consideration: "Why Amazon has no profits and why it works" (a16z.com, 9/5/14) September 16 and 18 Dan Sullivan "Fake it 'til you make it," Harvard i-Lab talk from November, 2013 media type="custom" key="26548566" Craig Armstrong's notes from Dan's talk
 * September 16 - no in-class lecture **; you are responsible for watching Dan Sullivan's excellent presentation at Harvard's iLab, embedded below:

Meanwhile, here is your cheat sheet for the dreaded final exam in GBA 490 media type="youtube" key="GyV_UG60dD4" width="560" height="315"


 * 18-Sep - back in the classroom**
 * Topic: Lean startup principles**

Autoshop on business model canvas
 * Second $10 business diaries due by midnight, September 19**

** Week's Topic: Lean Startup **
23-Sep 25-Sep
 * 1) ** You will solidify and confirm your new venture team memberships this week **
 * 2) ** Every one of you needs to read Some Notes about the Business Model Canvas **
 * 3) and then watch Eric Ries on the Lean Startup

Your team will use a google site I set up to create a page for your new venture team project: []

10 Conversion Psychology Resources That Will Make You a Smarter Marketer
**Link **: @http://unbounce.com/conversion-rate-optimization/10-conversion-psychology-resources/

Google Sites
media type="youtube" key="PnXjaOgPw5U" width="560" height="315"

Google Analytics
Read this site to get started - Getting Started with Google Analyticxs - Please pay particularly close attention to this overview on installing the code and for more how-to videos on Google Analytics, visit this link

Optional: visit @http://theleanstartup.com/ to sign up for the Lean Startup newsletter and find out more about this framework

Week 7
Roster for Teams Project choices for your team - http://edtechforalabamaeducators.wikispaces.com/ Link to google sites project: @https://sites.google.com/site/crimsonleanstartups/ 30-Sep 2-Oct On your own in teams - I expect you to use lecture time to do team work
 * BUILD - MEASURE - LEARN - ITERATE **


 * WATCH **: CBS 60 Minutes - Jack Dorsey the Innovator (founder of Twitter and Square, 13:14)

media type="youtube" key="pLNQZegq7KA" width="560" height="315"
 * and also watch Marc Andreessen in this video interview**

Week 8
7-Oct 9-Oct On your own in teams - I expect you to use lecture time to do team work

media type="youtube" key="EtdJI2sxQKw" width="560" height="315"
 * BUILD - MEASURE - LEARN - ITERATE **

Week 9
14-Oct 16-Oct Chazz Romeo pitch guest on Tuesday Student pitches on Thursday

Week 10
21-Oct 23-Oct You will form into the new venture teams that will carry you through the rest of the semester (in terms of team assignments). Check out the possible teams on the [|google site for this part of the semester]and join one of them as soon as possible - we will discuss in class. Helpful information for this week and beyond
 * Professor Armstrong's New Venture TookKit (you need to be a member of this wiki to view)
 * MGT 386 Fall 2014 Team Projects
 * Watch Dan Sullivan's crazy-good Harvard i-Lab talk (posted above)

media type="custom" key="26730728"
 * Indiegogo campaign from a fellow U of A student**

Week 11
media type="youtube" key="p26e4M5OMvM" width="560" height="315" No one wins in business plan competitions Peter Thiel on the value of monopolies Followed by in-class team project work Use the crimsonleanstartup templates and frameworks to move your projects forward
 * 27-Oct (last quiz of the semester)**
 * Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic leads the charge for privatized space travel**
 * Reading**
 * In class**

**Pre-Fall Break Happy Place**
One of you emailed me late yesterday (Oct 28) and made me very happy. Here is more or less the content of the message: > Dear Professor Armstrong,

Per your request, I looked at my grades on Blackboard and would like to make up the following if possible:


 * Quiz 1:** I was not originally sent the link, you then sent it, I took it, but have received no grade in the gradebook. I am happy to take this again


 * Quiz 9:** I had tests that week/early this week and the quiz got buried in email.


 * Diary 5:** I was in XXXXXXXXX ( Thursday - Sunday ) with a class trip the weekend that this diary was due. I submitted it late, but I have no grade for it. I am happy to submit it again.

Regards,
 * Needless to say, I checked this student's claims and updated his/her Blackboard scores. If you think I've missed anything on your Bb scores please let me know. Do not wait until Dead Week...**

**Week 12**
Still think Podcasts are "still so 2004?" Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures says it's inevitable that podcasts will take over the audio streams in your cars. Read more in this USV blog post by Fred.
 * November 4 - 6**
 * Lecture Topic: People Issues**


 * Compensation in high-potential ventures
 * Compensation planning for entrepreneurs
 * Hiring a CEO (//possible case: Vermer Technologies: Hiring the CEO//)
 * A venture formula for winning CEOs (from Russell Reynolds, an executive search and succession consultancy)
 * Start-up teams (videos from Stanford's ECorner)
 * For agility, a shift to freelancers (Entrepreneur.com, 9/12/13)
 * Hiring an Independent Contractor (Entrepreneur.com)
 * Employee or Independent Contractor: Watch Your Classifications ( Entrepreneur.com, 8/12/10)
 * Bob Sutton: [|"Never knowingly hire an @$#0LE"]
 * //Wall Street Journal// Accelerators Discussion: Pros and Cons of Co-Founders (July 22, 2013) Word Doc compilation -->





[[file:Compensation incentives for new ventures.pptx]]
Side bar: Valuations

Side Bar Two: What's it like to be Pinterest's Chief Engineer?

Week 13

 * November 11 - 13**


 * Customer persona development and value proposition - see crimsonleanstartups**

**Value Proposition and Business Model Canvas**

Alex Oserwalder walks you through the business model canvas for **Nespresso**
media type="custom" key="26820418"


 * READ BEFORE CLASS: **
 * The most effective value proposition template (Spikelab.org)
 * [|How to use the business model canvas correctly] (Spikelab.org)
 * Combining business model prototyping, customer development, and social entrepreneurship - Business Model Alchemist
 * IN CLASS **
 * Alexander Osterwalder on Nespresso's business model
 * Spikelab.or on how to use the business model canvas correctly
 * Business model canvases for your ed tech opportunities
 * Some notes about the business model canvas **
 * A **customer segment** is the group of people for whom you are solving a big pain or unmet need
 * Your **value proposition** solves the problem for your customer segment through a very focused set of attributes or features; however, you should focus first on the **BENEFITS** your value proposition you are delivering to your customer segment.
 * **Channels** are the touchpoints involving communications with your customer segment. They focus on the ways you help your customer become //aware of//,//evaluate//, and //purchase// your product or service. They may also include a post-purchase channel, such as offers for replacements, upgrades, etc. You can help a potential customer //evaluate// your product or service by offering, e.g., a 30-day free trial period. Note that this is also a form of //acquiring a customer//because you have begun to start a relationship with a potential customer.
 * **Customer relationships** deal with the //acquisition//, //retention//, and //upselling// of your customer segment. Loyalty programs such as frequent-flyer miles or purchase points help businesses to retain customers. Referral programs serve as both acquisition and retention mechanisms. The classic example of upselling is "Would you like fries with that?" E-commerce sites like Amazon.com upsell to their customers by showing you products similar to the ones you just purchased online.
 * The logic of how your value proposition satisfies your customer segment's needs and through what relationships and channels you engage them determines your **revenue model**.
 * **Key activities** are those "to-do" things that you can or should do best on your own. Building a brand, promoting your offering, developing proprietary intellectual property you can patent, and delivering your value proposition are typically key activities that you would not want to contract out to a partner. Think of key activities as a "to-do" list for the core functions of your company.
 * **Key resources** are those assets ("things") that your business absolutely must own or control in order to deliver the value proposition. Nespresso's stores promote the product's brand as prestigious and thus worthy of a higher customer price. Facebook's platforms are crucial to its continued growth in revenues from advertising. Nick Saban is a key resource for the University of Alabama because he helps the program attract top recruits and coaches, brings national attention and promotion to the program, and generates sales of game tickets and UA-branded sportswear.
 * **Key partners** are those organizations with whom you contract, joint venture, or ally to deliver aspects of your value proposition that you do not perform in your key activities. Amazon.com, for example, relies on UPS as a key partner for fulfilling its guaranteed 2-day delivery "Amazon Prime" offering to customers. An internet-based company might partner with a company like Rackspace to host its website and back end IT functions.
 * Finally, your **cost structure** should be a function of how you structured your key resources, activities, and partnerships. As most of you found during our BM canvas exercise today, the cost structure is //the last thing you complete on the canvas//. Most importantly, your cost structure should be "congruent" with your revenues. You should be able to relate each cost you have to incur directly or closely-but-indirectly to your sources of revenue. Otherwise, you may have a flawed business model!

media type="youtube" key="fzlbOIvCXZ4" width="560" height="315"
 * Monetizing Music with Eric Wahlforss of SoundCloud - 10/24/2014**

Week 14

 * November 18 and 20**
 * Crowdfunding campaigns: Complete your business model canvas and get started on your crowdfunding campaigns this week**
 * View**

View before class: Finn Apparel Kickstarter Campaign Read: Combining business model prototyping, customer development, and social entrepreneurship (Alex Osterwalder)

Update prototypes and finalize business model canvases in class - // some of you have not achieved the "minimum" bar for your minimum viable product // // You now need to strengthen the link between your value proposition and your MVP. // You must be able to answer these questions: And you must find your earlyvangelists, identifiable by these questions:
 * 1) Have I identified a problem a customer wants solved?
 * 2) Does our product solve these customer needs?
 * 3) If so, do we have a viable and profitable (sustainable) business model?
 * 4) Have we learned enough to go out and sell?
 * 1) The customer has a problem
 * 2) The customer understands she has a problem
 * 3) THe customer is actively searching for a solution and has a timetable for finding it
 * 4) The problem is painful enough that the customer has cobbled together an interim solution
 * 5) The customer has committed, or can quickly acquire, the budget dollars to solve the problem [1]

Week 15
There is no in-class lecture for November 25 (your choice). Instead, you will need to view this video of an interview with Mark Zuckerberg from Startup School 2013. Be sure to complete the form I sent you by email to receive credit for participating. Enjoy! media type="youtube" key="MGsalg2f9js" width="560" height="315" Here is a link to the form is you can't find it in your email: []
 * November 25**

Bonus reading: Paul Graham on the "philosophy" of startups