Introduction to New Ventures BAEP 551 Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies Marshall School of Business, Bridge

Hall One (lower level) University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA 90089-0801 Phone: 213-740-0641 Fax: 213-740-2976
www.marshall.usc.edu/entrepreneur

Instructor:


Section:

Dr. Andrea Belz Bio:

http://entrepreneur.marshall.usc.edu/faculty/full-time-faculty/ Email:
abelz@marshall.usc.edu 14402R
Mondays 6:30 9:30 p.m.

HOH 2

Ofce hours: Wednesdays 2-5 pm, otherwise please email for an appointment.
INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE ..........................................................................................................1 UNIVERSITY AND MARSHALL POLICIES .................................................................................................2 CLASS POLICIES .....................................................................................................................................4 COURSE ASSIGNMENTS ........................................................................................................................5

Introduction to the course

Course description and approach This course an introduction to entrepreneurial thinking and processes, exposing you to the challenges of creating, evaluating, and managing new ventures. It can stand alone or serve as the foundation for further studies in the Entrepreneurship program. Learning objectives You will learn the general framework and specic skills to understand and apply the following: Problem-solving approaches of successful entrepreneurs Processes to evaluate new entrepreneurial opportunities Corporate and social entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship through acquisition Feasibility analysis, business model evaluation, sources of capital, and other issues in launching an enterprise

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You will also develop: Critical thinking skills: Analyzing data, solving problems, and making decisions Creative capabilities in idea generation Communication skills in written and oral presentations Collaborative skills in teamwork and individual skills in task management We will use lecture, class exercises, case studies, individual and group projects, and guest lectures. This course provides students with tools to recognize and develop opportunities. It is not a spectator sport. You will benet the most from this class if you complete all the required readings and participate in class discussions. To achieve these objectives through a stimulating and active learning experience, the course will be centered on discussion rather than on lectures. We will use a variety of methods including problem-solving class exercises, case studies, individual and group activities, and guest lectures. Evaluation will focus on the use and application of content rather than the simple acquisition of content, emphasizing your ability to understand the so what? of new information. Course prerequisites None. Structure This class is highly structured but will change if the faculty discerns that students or conditions indicate the need to change. Student desires and backgrounds are considered. Special projects are encouraged, upon approval. Your expectations are important!

University and Marshall Policies

Condentiality policy Throughout the Entrepreneur Program's classes and events, students will be exposed to proprietary information from other students, guest lecturers, and faculty. It is the policy of the Entrepreneur Program that all such information is to be treated as condential. By enrolling in and taking part in the Entrepreneur Program's classes and activities, students agree not to disclose this information to any third parties without specic written permission from students, guest lecturers, or faculty, as applicable. Students further agree not to utilize any such proprietary information for their own personal commercial advantage or for the commercial advantage of any third party. In addition, students agree that any legal or consulting advice provided without direct fee and in an academic setting will not be relied upon without the enlisted opinion of an outside attorney or consultant without afliation to the Program. Any breach of this policy may subject a student to academic integrity proceedings as described in the University of Southern California University Governance Policies and procedures as outlined in S C A M P U S , and to any remedies that may be available at law. The Greif Entrepreneurship Program, the Marshall School of Business, and the University of Southern California disclaim any responsibility for the protection of intellectual property of students, guest lecturers or faculty who are involved in Program classes or events. Receipt of this policy and registration in our classes is evidence that you understand this policy and will abide by it.
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Academic integrity USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the obligations both to protect ones own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using anothers work as ones own. All students are expected to understand and abide by these principles. SCampus, the Student Guidebook, contains the Student Conduct Code in Section 11.00, while the recommended sanctions are located in Appendix A. http://www.usc.edu/dept/
publications/SCAMPUS/gov/

Students will be referred to the Ofce of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards for further review, should there be any suspicion of academic dishonesty. The Review process can be found at: http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/SJACS/ Failure to adhere to the academic conduct standards set forth by these guidelines and our programs will not be tolerated by the USC Marshall community and can lead to dismissal. Please be advised that your assignments will be randomly submitted to TurnItIn through the Blackboard system, which will generate an originality report on your paper. Bottom line: Your original thought in addition to carefully cited sources will ensure that you dont run into academic integrity issues that may affect your grade or your status at USC. Any material cited verbatim from its source should be in quotes and contain a reference to a full citation for that source. Paraphrased work should also contain a reference to the source citation. Add/Drop process In compliance with USC and Marshalls policies classes are open enrollment (R-clearance) through the rst week of class. All classes are closed (switched to D-clearance) at the end of the rst week. This policy minimizes the complexity of the registration process for students by standardizing across classes. We can drop you from our class if you dont attend the rst two sessions. Please note: If you decide to drop, or if you choose not to attend the rst two sessions and are dropped, you risk not being able to add yourself to another section this semester. You can only add a class after the rst week of classes if you receive approval from the instructor. Technology policy Laptop and Internet usage is not permitted during academic or professional sessions unless otherwise stated by the professors. Use of other personal communication devices, such as cell phones, is considered unprofessional and is not permitted during academic or professional sessions. ANY e-devices (cell phones, PDAs, iPhones, iPods, iPads, Blackberries, other texting devices, laptops, etc.) must be completely turned off during class time. Videotaping faculty lectures is not permitted due to copyright infringement regulations. Audiotaping may be permitted ONLY if approved by the professors. Use of any recorded material is reserved exclusively for USC Marshall students. Policy on accommodations for students with disabilities Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a physical, psychological or learning disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verication for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to us as early in the semester as possible (by the second week of the

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semester). DSP is located in STU 301 and is open from 8:30 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday. The telephone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.

Class policies
Attendance Attendance at all class sessions is critical to the participation component of the course and to learning in general as we will discuss material not found in any textbook; in addition, we will undertake a number of in-class exercises and strategy-building sessions that require your regular attendance. As part of the emphasis on successful teamwork, you will be evaluated on your ability to listen to and learn from others. Please arrive on time so as not to disturb the class, a guest speaker, or interrupt the professor. You will be asked to sign an attendance sheet for each class. It is your responsibility to remember to sign the sheet. You may miss one complete class for any reason with no penalty. After missing one class, your participation grade will be affected. Guests and invited speakers From time to time we may have guests or invited speakers. You are expected to be prompt so you can greet them at the beginning of class. Please also check about availability for ofce hours just before speakers' visits. We will inform you of changes as they occur. Reading list You will be able to acquire the required cases and articles at a discount from the HBS site. A link will be emailed to you so you can purchase and download the cases. The link will also be posted in Blackboard. Any additional readings and cases on issues related to the course topics are provided free of charge in Blackboard. A due date for the completion of those readings is given in the Course Plan. On the day the readings will be discussed, please come to class prepared to contribute your analysis and insights on what you have read. This will contribute to the
participation portion of your grade.

Cases and classroom exercises With one exception, there are no written assignments associated with cases in your reading list. However, the cases will be discussed actively and in detail during class sessions, particularly in small groups. These groups are different from your teams and you will be expected to change groups over the course of the semester. Your participation evaluation also depends on your participation in these exercises. English as a second language In the rare case where a student is unable to participate for language or other reasons, please consult me early in the semester. You will have an opportunity to evaluate your own participation at the end of the semester. Technology use (see University and Marshall policies) Laptops and cell phones are forbidden in class. There is no point in attending a participationintensive class if you are focused on another activity. Acknowledgment of requirements Receipt of this Syllabus and registration in this class will serve as evidence that you understand and accept the requirements of this course.

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Course Assignments
Introduction
Do not skip this section as the following guidelines apply to ALL assignments without exception. You will be penalized if you do not follow them.

Teams By Wednesday, January 16, you must join one of the 16 teams in the class. Teams must consist of 4-5 people. One team member should email me the roster by January 17 so I can verify that Blackboard is congured properly. One team member should enroll the team. If you do not have a team by January 17, email me and I will address this. No changes in team composition will be accepted after the second class. You are indeed stuck. All teammates will receive the same grade on team submissions. You will have the opportunity to evaluate your teammates in a peer review process at the end of class. Blackboard communication Course communication will take place through announcements in class, emails, and on Blackboard (blackboard.usc.edu). All emails will go through Blackboard; therefore, it's imperative that you have a fully operational Blackboard account with a current and correct email address posted. You are responsible for regularly checking Blackboard for announcements and new materials as well as to deliver your assignments. Emails rejected because your account is full will not be resent. Assignment formats No hard copies will be accepted for any work. Submit everything on Blackboard. All submissions must be in PDF les labeled as follows: Yourlastname_assignmentname_551. No other formats are accepted, including Word, Pages, OpenOfce, GoogleDoc, PowerPoint, Keynote, or others. Team submissions should be labeled by the last name that appears in an alphabetical list; i.e., a team of Adams, Jones, Schubert would be labeled as Adams_Assignment_551. If there are two Adams in the class I will ask you to add your rst initial; ie JAdams_Assignment_551. If you make an error and submit the wrong le, do not email it to me. The version on Blackboard is the nal submission. Blackboard will not accept multiple submissions. I will post all responses to your assignments in Blackboard. It is highly encouraged that you review these before the end of the semester. Documents must be written in 12 pt Times New Roman or a similar font, with 1 margins, and single-spaced. All documents exceeding 1 page in length must have headers containing page numbers and the le name on all pages. Deadlines All assignments must be posted to the Blackboard assignment page by 6:30 pm on the due date posted in the Schedule of Assignments. Note that some due dates are not the same as class meeting dates.
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If you will not be in class on the due date, your assignment must still arrive by on the due date. Teammates are encouraged to verify the timely submission of group assignments. You are certainly encouraged to submit les before the deadline. Please keep copies of all your les and emails until the end of the semester. No hard copies will be accepted. Ever!

Penalties Assignments will be accepted after the deadline with the following penalties: Assignments turned in after the required time on the due date but within 24 hourswill lose 10% of the total points possible. Papers turned in 24 hours after the due date will lose 20% of the total points possible. No papers will be accepted 48 hours after the date due. Correcting grading errors If you do not inform me of missing or incorrect grades within two weeks of the grades being posted, the grades will be assumed correct. Do NOT wait until the end of the semester to check your grades or to appeal a grade on any assignment. Evaluation of classroom participation The attendance, participation, and in-class exercises portion of the grade is 200 points and is evaluated in a number of ways. Obviously, participation requires attendance. It is impossible to earn a participation grade if you are not in class. Missing more than one class session during the semester will affect the participation grade. Evaluation scheme To achieve an A or A- in this class, you will need to go well beyond the minimum requirements as stated in the syllabus in terms of the quality of your work and your involvement in and contribution to the class. An A is a sign of superior work and, much like the efforts of entrepreneurs, reects the fact that you stood out from the crowd. Schedule of assignments
Due date 1/16 2/4 2/20 3/29 4/22 4/29 5/1 5/1 Team assignment Entrepreneurial self-assessment E-challenge Case analysis Pitch/due diligence (PDD) I PDD II Peer assessment Final self-assessment Participation Total possible points
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Assignment

Scoring

Max # of pages 1 3 3 4 slides or 2 pages 4 slides or 2 pages 1 1 1

Points

Individual Team Individual Team Team Individual Individual Individual

100 400 500 300 300 100 100 200 2,000

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Course plan
Week Date 1 1/14 Topics Entrepreneurship Critical thinking E-challenge preparation Class introductions NYT avalanche No class Can entrepreneurship be Entrepreneurial thinking taught? Opportunity identication What makes entrepreneurs Value propositions entrepreneurial? PDD assignments The Innovators DNA Discovery Skill #4: Networking Business models Speaker: Matthew Goldman, CEO, Wallaby Financial Dropbox Business models Financial analysis Is it real? Corporate entrepreneurship Xiameter Disruptive innovation Industry and market analysis No class E-challenge review Founders Dilemma Speaker: John Waller, angel investor; CEO, X1 Technologies Energy Bar Ethics Financing a company Experiential Learning Center exercise No class (spring break) Shutout Solutions No class (Passover) Pre-start analysis Shutout Solutions Models of Entrepreneurial Entrepreneurship through acquisition Acquisition Competing by Connecting Speaker: Andy Wilson, CEO, Rexter Just Us Cafe Social entrepreneurship Speaker:Vacit Arat, CEO,Vantage Surgical Pitching Early Stage Vignettes Pitch night I Sand Hill Angels Pitch night II Readings Deliverable Team selection

2 3

1/21 1/28

2/4

Entrepreneurial selfassessment

2/11

6 7 8

2/18 2/25 3/4

E-challenge

9 10 11 12

3/11 3/18 3/25 4/1

Case analysis

13 14 15 16

4/8 4/15 4/22 4/29

PDD I reports PDD II reports Peer assessments Self-assessments

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