Description
On this detailed information in regard to entrepreneurship and new venture creation dr. benyamin b. lichtenstein.
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
1
COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT – University of Massachusetts, Boston
Spring Semester, 2015
MBA-MGT 667
Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation
Dr. Benyamin B.
Lichtenstein
Thursdays 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Wheatley, 1
st
floor, Room 12
Office: McCormick Hall, 5/214 Office Phone: 617/287-7887
Email: [email protected] Home Office: 617/923-3092
Office Hours: Wednesdays 1:30 pm – 4:45 pm; Thursdays 2:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Always via e-mail or by phone.
Course Description:
Entrepreneurship is about creating value; identifying an opportunity and organizing a
venture that can capitalize on it. In this class we will learn and enact the entrepreneurial
process, especially through the identification and feasibility of an opportunity, and the
construction of a business model that can leverage that potential market into a sustainable
business. Students will learn how to analyze the feasibility of a venture idea, how to
mobilize resources, create different forms of new ventures, and build a top management
team for the growth of the venture. The course centers around the writing of a professional
business plan for a business you are – or could – create.
Required Text:
Bill Aulet, 2013. Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful
Start-Up. Wiley Press. [Available at the bookstore or online, e.g. Amazon]
Additional Texts:
George Kawasaki, 2004. The Art of the Start. Portfolio – Penguin Books
William Bygrave & Zach Zacharachas (Eds), 2001 Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship
(4
th
edition). John Wiley & Sons. [Available In Library Reserves]
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
2
Learning Objectives & Skill Development:
This course will draw on and extend everything you have learned in marketing,
management, operations, MSIS, finance, and accounting, and equally, on your professional
experiences and knowledge. The course will develop your skills in creative problem solving,
business research, market analysis, financial projection (creating a full, three-year pro-
forma income statement). The primary goal is an experiential understanding of how
business models are created and how they operate, and how to develop and pursue a new
endeavor with a compelling business case. In addition, you will work on your own or in a
team, pursuing a venture idea through an experiential and technical analysis of its
feasibility.
Through taking the course, students will:
Understand what it takes (in action and in skills) to get a new initiative ‘off the ground’
Gain insight into the seven core process of new venture creation: Opportunity Tension,
Customer Profiles, Value Proposition, Distribution and Exchange, Business Model, Minimum
Viable Product, and Scaling.
Use these to analyze the feasibility of proposed Business Model.
Produce a complete Business Plan for one venture, including full pro-forma Income
Statement. The venture can be a potential company, a new initiative, a new product line, or
a social innovation.
Deliverables for the Course:
Assignments Week Due Deliverable % of Grade:
Individual | Team
Innovation: A Solution/Idea Week 3 10%
Feasibility (Re)Analysis Week 5 20%
Class Contributions; Professionalism Throughout 20%
Full Business Plan
& Presentation
Week 13 40%
10%
TOTAL: 50% 50%
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
3
Course Rules and Expectations:
Please BE ON TIME to class – OR alert me by 5:00 pm that you’ll be late.
For me this is (a) an issue of respect of your classmates who DID plan ahead enough to get
here on time, and (b) really helps me with the flow and momentum of the lecture and
discussion. You may alert via e-mail, or telephone.
Cell phones: NO RINGS in class. You may check phones during the break.
Your writing should be clear, concise, and business appropriate. It’s really unacceptable as
MBAs to have any spelling or grammatical errors.
All assignments are in syllabus, attached. Clarifications and Improvements to each one are
forthcoming, within 2 weeks before their due dates.
I’m positive you’re all here to learn, so consider this a great opportunity. My aim is to create
and launch as many businesses as possible out of this class, with support from the new
Entrepreneurship Center – so let’s aim for professional, high-end business proposals.
Group Work: You are expected to contribute fully as a team member. At the end of the
semester we will each evaluate our own degree of participation in our teams, and each
others’ participation in teams; these evaluations form part of your overall individual
participation grade. Remember your work in MGT 650: If there are any issues with the
group’s dynamics, PLEASE work them out, and contact me if you want some consulting
support.
Assignments are DUE in class (at the start of class) on the dates listed in the syllabus. If
you are traveling or face a printer error, Please attach the file to an e-mail, as long as the
message is received before class time. Emergencies must be communicated to me BEFORE
class begins – see “staying in integrity” above.
Professor Benyamin reserves the right to modify syllabus in consultation with the class.
Grading and Evaluation
As a graduate student, you’ve come to expect nothing less than a B+ for your management
courses, and that is appropriate. However, my grading is a bit more stringent. In my mind,
virtually all students should be able to earn a B+, which means “Nice Job, you understand the
material. In order to get an A in any given assignment in the class, you have to teach me
something: show me something I’ve not heard before; surprise me in some way. I am
teachable, but you have to really apply yourself to get to that level in this course.
In the same regard, you will learn exactly as much as you’re willing to put into the course.
Grade Equivalents:
A = 92% or above
A- = 90% - 91%
B+ = 88% - 89%
B = 83% - 87%
B- = 80% - 82%
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
4
Internet Resources
Blackboard course for MBA MGT 667:https://learning.umassonline.net/webct/urw/lc26226.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct
Library Research website for MBA 667:http://umb.libguides.com/MBAMGT667
Academic Honesty:
Academic honest involves (a) citing any and all resources you use in your research and writing,
and (b) having integrity in your work, which most obviously includes not cheating.
Plagiarism includes copying someone else's words and claiming them as your own, paraphrasing
someone else's words and/or ideas and claiming them as your own, or collaborating excessively
with another person or persons and claiming the work as solely your own. If you are unclear
about what constitutes plagiarism, please see me for an explanation. Plagiarism on any
assignment will, at minimum, result in an "F" for the assignment. I reserve the right to pursue
further disciplinary action if appropriate (e.g., any student caught cheating on an exam will
receive an "F" for the course). I strongly recommend students maintain a record of the
preparation of their assignments. For further information, refer to the Code of Student Conduct
section listed in the University Catalog, the Student Handbook, or athttp://www.umb.edu/life_on_campus/policies/regulations/academic_dishonesty
-=-=-=
Disabilities:
If you have a disability and expect to need accommodation to complete the course
requirements, please contact the Ross Center for Disability Services (M-1-401) at (617) 287-
7430. For more information see:http://www.rosscenter.umb.edu
CM Writing Guide:
For the CM writing guide and other useful information please see:
Incompletes
A final grade of “Incomplete” will be granted only rarely. To receive an “Incomplete” you must
formally request this grade from me, providing substantial justification. I will then evaluate your
request and make a decision. If the request is granted, guidelines for completing the work will
be arranged in a mutually agreeable plan. Although completing a feasibility analysis may seem
daunting, much much much more difficult is NOT completing it, and trying to get back to it.
JUST FINISH IT UP!!
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
5
OUTLINE FOR COURSE
Professor reserves the right to change this schedule, with at least 1 week notice to all students.
TOPIC – READING IN PREPARATION DELIVERABLES, PROJECTS
Week 1
January 29
th
Value Creation and the Dynamic States of Business
Types of Entrepreneurship / Innovation
Week 2
February 5
th
Opportunities, Trends, and Opportunity Tension
Disciplined E’ship: Getting Started (through page 22).
Art of the Start – first 4 chapters
Opportunity Exercise
Week 3
February 12
th
Analyzing Feasibility
Art of the Start – all other chapters
Guest Speaker: __________________________
Innovation Idea DUE
Create Teams
Week 4
February 19
th
I. Who Gains Benefit: Customer Profile and TAM
DisciplinedE’ship: Steps 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Teams report initial business idea
Week 5
February 26
th
II. Value Proposition
Disciplined E’ship: Steps 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
Feasibility Re-Analysis DUE
Week 6
March 5
th
III. Customer Acquisition
Disciplined E’ship: Steps 12, 13, 18
Guest Speaker: __________________________
Venture Teams ‘pitch’; get feedback
Week 7
March 12
th
IV. Business Model
Disciplined E’ship: Steps 15, 16, 17, 19
March 19
th
Spring Break Working on your venture…
Week 8
March 26
th
V. Minimum Viable Product.
Disciplined E’ship: Steps 20, 21, 22, 23
Guest Speaker: __________________________
Week 9
April 2
nd
VI. Growth and Scaling. ProFormas
Disciplined E’ship: Step 24
Draft ProFormas (12 months) in Excel
Week 10
April 9
th
Entrepreneurship as a Career
Guest Speaker: __________________________
Week 11
April 16
th
Sustainability Entrepreneurship
Draft of Entire Plan via email to
Professor, by Monday 13
th
Week 12
April 23
rd
Guest Speaker: __________________________
Week 13
April 30
th
Final Presentations I
COMPLETE BUSINESS PLAN DUE
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
6
Week 14
May 7
th
Final Presentations II
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
7
INNOVATION: SOLUTION/IDEA
Due: Week 3 — January 27
th
Worth: 10% of course grade
Deliverable: Really cool venture idea, presented in class
Many of you came into the class with a business idea you want to pursue. Some are
thinking about it for the first time; others have been engaged for many months or
longer. You may have an idea for a social innovation, i.e. a venture that generates
enough revenue to support an initiative that makes a positive difference in society.
As everyone knows, ideas are a dime a dozen—anyone can have a good idea, but rarely
do ideas in and of themselves create value, and certainly they won’t start a business. In
entrepreneurial terms, behind every good idea is a solution to a problem, a satisfaction
of a need, a way to make something ‘better-cheaper-faster.’ The core to an opportunity
is this problem that (a lot of) people face, or a new technology/business model that
makes life easier. Find that, and you have a good idea.
In this exercise, you will develop and present an initial idea for a venture. The idea
should capitalize on (or create) an entrepreneurial opportunity, and will likely be focused
at a certain segment of society (a market). You will make a short ‘pitch’ to the class,
five minutes or less (preferably no power point). Just give us the essence of the idea,
why it is a good idea, and why you care about it. We’ll get to ask a question or two,
and everyone will present.
These innovation ideas will be the source of the teams for the class; teams will form
around the most compelling of the ideas. If you want to pursue yours on your own, that
is perfectly fine; groups of 2, 3 and 4 are welcome.
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
8
FEASIBILITY RE-ANALYSIS
Due: Week 5 – Wednesday February 26
th
Worth: 20% of grade.
Deliverable: A written paper. (8-12 pages double-spaced)
The goal of this exercise is begin to learn how to evaluate business opportunities; specifically, to
understand how to determine the feasibility of a venture. Feasibility includes:
Opportunity Tension: A contribution or solution that capitalizes on a real business
opportunity, and drives you with some passion
A clear identification of the target market, and a compelling case that these people will
actually buy the product,
The likelihood of sustainable sales (based on the business plan), and the potential for
high margins and relatively low costs,
The expertise of the team to actually deliver on their value proposition, i.e. can they do the
activities necessary to make customers happy,
The resources that the team currently has – including access to partnerships and social
networks – which would allow them to pursue the business, and
The overall cost structure, including the investments needed to maintain positive cash flow
during the start-up of the business.
Each student will choose one of ten business plans to analyze – these have been written by
teams of U-Mass Boston students from one of my recent Entrepreneurship courses (MBA and
undergrad). Each plan includes the text and an Excel file; all cases are loaded on Blackboard.
The students themselves have already aimed to prove the feasibility of the opportunity and
business idea; some were more successful than others. The first step in this assignment is
doing a “due diligence” analysis of this business plan, to make YOUR assessment as to its
feasibility. More importantly, you will then improve their business model, i.e. through increasing
the value of the offering, expanding the market, developing new revenue streams, creating new
partners and collaborations, etc. Conclude with the next steps you would take in organizing the
venture.
Start by reading the plan, carefully reviewing the spreadsheet numbers. Do some of your own
research on the idea, the opportunity, the customer profile. In particular:
1) Examine the assumptions, including the number of potential customers, the rate of sales,
and the projected earnings for each month. Do these assumptions make sense, given
what you’ve read and researched on your own? If not, experiment with making changes
to their projections based on your own assumptions.
2) Take another look at their marketing plan. Will their approach be effective at reaching
their target market, both now and into the future? Have they put together a smart
combination of outreach, advertising and promotions in order to get the kinds of sales
they’re projecting? What other sales methods should they pursue?
3) Look at the cost of goods sold. Are those numbers realistic? How are they sourcing their
materials? Do they already have networks in place, or are they ‘hoping’ to figure it out
as they go? How would you re-design or extend their value chain?
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
9
4) What about the rate of growth – what are they projecting? Does this follow from their
assumptions, and their analysis of the potential market? If they grow slower than they
say, what happens to their cash flow and overall viability of the business? New Revenue
models?
5) Consider the start-up costs, and the entire amount of capital they’ll need. Most
businesses need around $20,000 to $50,000 to get started. Some require more than
$100,000. Whatever they need, ask how feasible this amount is? What is their plan to
get the money? Do you believe they can do it? How might they restructure the plan so
they they’d need less money?
6) Take a step back and ask: Who are the founders? Look at their resumes or bios. Does
one of them have expertise in the industry they’re entering? Does anyone on the team
have experience working in a small business or a start-up? Given their skills and
experience, do you think they can pull this off? If not, how might you augment their
expertise – who would you bring on to help, or how would you alter the plan to take
advantage of the experience they do have?
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
10
PROFESSIONALISM, AND CLASS CONTRIBUTIONS
Due: Throughout Semester
Worth: Professionalism – 10% of course grade
Class Contributions – 10% of course grade
Your participation grade will be based on the following elements:
High Professionalism throughout the course
a) Staying in “integrity” with me and your classmates, through good communication,
and being on time to class.
b) Being accountable and responsible in the class and with your deliverables and the
business plan project.
Engagement Contributions
c) Class preparation, and contribution to discussions and overall
d) Addition or tags or RSS feeds that reflect your entrepreneurial interests and the
themes of the course
e) Engagement and value brought to your business planning team.
Personal effort and value to your team (business plan)
f) Individually scored evaluation at conclusion of course
g) Group scored evaluation at conclusion of course
h) Quality of group dynamics, e.g. effectiveness; shared workloads, etc. (Prof. scored)
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
11
FULL BUSINESS PLAN & PRESENTATION
Due: Week 13 – April 30
th
Worth: Written & Spreadsheet = 40% of grade.
Presentation = 10% of grade
?Graded as a group, with exceptions
Deliverable: Plan, tentative outline below.
Excel spreadsheets, with 3 years of monthly income / costs
Compelling Presentation to the class.
This outline is drawn from numerous sources. It includes all the information that any investor or
key stakeholder will want to know about your venture, and represents a degree of
professionalism that is expected in world-class organizations.
The text we’re now using will likely lead to another outline. Be flexible on this, knowing that all
these questions have to be answered, but the process of gaining the information is substantively
different in the MIT model than the most accepted models from Babson or Univ. Colorado.
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
12
Business Plan – Complete Framework: Table of Contents
Please use this as a general structure for the contents of your plan.
Executive Summary (write LAST)
Opportunity
Current Situation:
? Market Size; Growth; Trends
? Changes in Industry, Technology, Society…
? Compelling Need
? Points of Pain
? Opportunity = demand, seeking a solution…
Company and Product Description
? Company mission, history, current status
? Product: Features, Benefits
? Proprietary Rights
? Stage of Development
Competitive Advantage of Company
? Competitive Advantage of Product
? Business Model – innovation, sustainability
? Risk factors and possible solutions (see pg.
131+ of Portable DisciplinedE’ship)
Industry, Customer & Competitor Analysis
? Target Market
? Industry Structure\Competitive environment)
? Competition (competitor analyses)
Marketing Plan
? Target Market Strategy
? Product/Service Strategy
? Pricing Strategy
? Distribution Strategy
? Advertising, Promotion
? Sales Strategy
? E-commerce
? Overall Revenue Model
Operations Plan
? Operations scope and strategy
? Ongoing operations
? Development Plan
? Development Strategy and timeline
Management Team
? Team – Bios and Roles
? Advisors, Directors, Strategic partners
? Compensation, Equity
Financial Plan
? Financial Projections
? Key assumptions
? Sources and uses of funds
? Funding requirements and strategies
? Offering
Appendices:
? Resumes (2 pg. max) of founders, principles
? Any figures, tables, etc. that will help
illuminate and sell your project
Excel Workbook with:
? Key financial assumptions
? 3-year income statement
? 3-year cash flow
? 3-year balance sheet
? Key Success Metrics
? Additional analyses
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING,
2015
13
doc_849318372.pdf
On this detailed information in regard to entrepreneurship and new venture creation dr. benyamin b. lichtenstein.
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
1
COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT – University of Massachusetts, Boston
Spring Semester, 2015
MBA-MGT 667
Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation
Dr. Benyamin B.
Lichtenstein
Thursdays 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Wheatley, 1
st
floor, Room 12
Office: McCormick Hall, 5/214 Office Phone: 617/287-7887
Email: [email protected] Home Office: 617/923-3092
Office Hours: Wednesdays 1:30 pm – 4:45 pm; Thursdays 2:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Always via e-mail or by phone.
Course Description:
Entrepreneurship is about creating value; identifying an opportunity and organizing a
venture that can capitalize on it. In this class we will learn and enact the entrepreneurial
process, especially through the identification and feasibility of an opportunity, and the
construction of a business model that can leverage that potential market into a sustainable
business. Students will learn how to analyze the feasibility of a venture idea, how to
mobilize resources, create different forms of new ventures, and build a top management
team for the growth of the venture. The course centers around the writing of a professional
business plan for a business you are – or could – create.
Required Text:
Bill Aulet, 2013. Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful
Start-Up. Wiley Press. [Available at the bookstore or online, e.g. Amazon]
Additional Texts:
George Kawasaki, 2004. The Art of the Start. Portfolio – Penguin Books
William Bygrave & Zach Zacharachas (Eds), 2001 Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship
(4
th
edition). John Wiley & Sons. [Available In Library Reserves]
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
2
Learning Objectives & Skill Development:
This course will draw on and extend everything you have learned in marketing,
management, operations, MSIS, finance, and accounting, and equally, on your professional
experiences and knowledge. The course will develop your skills in creative problem solving,
business research, market analysis, financial projection (creating a full, three-year pro-
forma income statement). The primary goal is an experiential understanding of how
business models are created and how they operate, and how to develop and pursue a new
endeavor with a compelling business case. In addition, you will work on your own or in a
team, pursuing a venture idea through an experiential and technical analysis of its
feasibility.
Through taking the course, students will:
Understand what it takes (in action and in skills) to get a new initiative ‘off the ground’
Gain insight into the seven core process of new venture creation: Opportunity Tension,
Customer Profiles, Value Proposition, Distribution and Exchange, Business Model, Minimum
Viable Product, and Scaling.
Use these to analyze the feasibility of proposed Business Model.
Produce a complete Business Plan for one venture, including full pro-forma Income
Statement. The venture can be a potential company, a new initiative, a new product line, or
a social innovation.
Deliverables for the Course:
Assignments Week Due Deliverable % of Grade:
Individual | Team
Innovation: A Solution/Idea Week 3 10%
Feasibility (Re)Analysis Week 5 20%
Class Contributions; Professionalism Throughout 20%
Full Business Plan
& Presentation
Week 13 40%
10%
TOTAL: 50% 50%
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
3
Course Rules and Expectations:
Please BE ON TIME to class – OR alert me by 5:00 pm that you’ll be late.
For me this is (a) an issue of respect of your classmates who DID plan ahead enough to get
here on time, and (b) really helps me with the flow and momentum of the lecture and
discussion. You may alert via e-mail, or telephone.
Cell phones: NO RINGS in class. You may check phones during the break.
Your writing should be clear, concise, and business appropriate. It’s really unacceptable as
MBAs to have any spelling or grammatical errors.
All assignments are in syllabus, attached. Clarifications and Improvements to each one are
forthcoming, within 2 weeks before their due dates.
I’m positive you’re all here to learn, so consider this a great opportunity. My aim is to create
and launch as many businesses as possible out of this class, with support from the new
Entrepreneurship Center – so let’s aim for professional, high-end business proposals.
Group Work: You are expected to contribute fully as a team member. At the end of the
semester we will each evaluate our own degree of participation in our teams, and each
others’ participation in teams; these evaluations form part of your overall individual
participation grade. Remember your work in MGT 650: If there are any issues with the
group’s dynamics, PLEASE work them out, and contact me if you want some consulting
support.
Assignments are DUE in class (at the start of class) on the dates listed in the syllabus. If
you are traveling or face a printer error, Please attach the file to an e-mail, as long as the
message is received before class time. Emergencies must be communicated to me BEFORE
class begins – see “staying in integrity” above.
Professor Benyamin reserves the right to modify syllabus in consultation with the class.
Grading and Evaluation
As a graduate student, you’ve come to expect nothing less than a B+ for your management
courses, and that is appropriate. However, my grading is a bit more stringent. In my mind,
virtually all students should be able to earn a B+, which means “Nice Job, you understand the
material. In order to get an A in any given assignment in the class, you have to teach me
something: show me something I’ve not heard before; surprise me in some way. I am
teachable, but you have to really apply yourself to get to that level in this course.
In the same regard, you will learn exactly as much as you’re willing to put into the course.
Grade Equivalents:
A = 92% or above
A- = 90% - 91%
B+ = 88% - 89%
B = 83% - 87%
B- = 80% - 82%
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
4
Internet Resources
Blackboard course for MBA MGT 667:https://learning.umassonline.net/webct/urw/lc26226.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct
Library Research website for MBA 667:http://umb.libguides.com/MBAMGT667
Academic Honesty:
Academic honest involves (a) citing any and all resources you use in your research and writing,
and (b) having integrity in your work, which most obviously includes not cheating.
Plagiarism includes copying someone else's words and claiming them as your own, paraphrasing
someone else's words and/or ideas and claiming them as your own, or collaborating excessively
with another person or persons and claiming the work as solely your own. If you are unclear
about what constitutes plagiarism, please see me for an explanation. Plagiarism on any
assignment will, at minimum, result in an "F" for the assignment. I reserve the right to pursue
further disciplinary action if appropriate (e.g., any student caught cheating on an exam will
receive an "F" for the course). I strongly recommend students maintain a record of the
preparation of their assignments. For further information, refer to the Code of Student Conduct
section listed in the University Catalog, the Student Handbook, or athttp://www.umb.edu/life_on_campus/policies/regulations/academic_dishonesty
-=-=-=
Disabilities:
If you have a disability and expect to need accommodation to complete the course
requirements, please contact the Ross Center for Disability Services (M-1-401) at (617) 287-
7430. For more information see:http://www.rosscenter.umb.edu
CM Writing Guide:
For the CM writing guide and other useful information please see:
Incompletes
A final grade of “Incomplete” will be granted only rarely. To receive an “Incomplete” you must
formally request this grade from me, providing substantial justification. I will then evaluate your
request and make a decision. If the request is granted, guidelines for completing the work will
be arranged in a mutually agreeable plan. Although completing a feasibility analysis may seem
daunting, much much much more difficult is NOT completing it, and trying to get back to it.
JUST FINISH IT UP!!
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
5
OUTLINE FOR COURSE
Professor reserves the right to change this schedule, with at least 1 week notice to all students.
TOPIC – READING IN PREPARATION DELIVERABLES, PROJECTS
Week 1
January 29
th
Value Creation and the Dynamic States of Business
Types of Entrepreneurship / Innovation
Week 2
February 5
th
Opportunities, Trends, and Opportunity Tension
Disciplined E’ship: Getting Started (through page 22).
Art of the Start – first 4 chapters
Opportunity Exercise
Week 3
February 12
th
Analyzing Feasibility
Art of the Start – all other chapters
Guest Speaker: __________________________
Innovation Idea DUE
Create Teams
Week 4
February 19
th
I. Who Gains Benefit: Customer Profile and TAM
DisciplinedE’ship: Steps 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Teams report initial business idea
Week 5
February 26
th
II. Value Proposition
Disciplined E’ship: Steps 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
Feasibility Re-Analysis DUE
Week 6
March 5
th
III. Customer Acquisition
Disciplined E’ship: Steps 12, 13, 18
Guest Speaker: __________________________
Venture Teams ‘pitch’; get feedback
Week 7
March 12
th
IV. Business Model
Disciplined E’ship: Steps 15, 16, 17, 19
March 19
th
Spring Break Working on your venture…
Week 8
March 26
th
V. Minimum Viable Product.
Disciplined E’ship: Steps 20, 21, 22, 23
Guest Speaker: __________________________
Week 9
April 2
nd
VI. Growth and Scaling. ProFormas
Disciplined E’ship: Step 24
Draft ProFormas (12 months) in Excel
Week 10
April 9
th
Entrepreneurship as a Career
Guest Speaker: __________________________
Week 11
April 16
th
Sustainability Entrepreneurship
Draft of Entire Plan via email to
Professor, by Monday 13
th
Week 12
April 23
rd
Guest Speaker: __________________________
Week 13
April 30
th
Final Presentations I
COMPLETE BUSINESS PLAN DUE
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
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Week 14
May 7
th
Final Presentations II
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
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INNOVATION: SOLUTION/IDEA
Due: Week 3 — January 27
th
Worth: 10% of course grade
Deliverable: Really cool venture idea, presented in class
Many of you came into the class with a business idea you want to pursue. Some are
thinking about it for the first time; others have been engaged for many months or
longer. You may have an idea for a social innovation, i.e. a venture that generates
enough revenue to support an initiative that makes a positive difference in society.
As everyone knows, ideas are a dime a dozen—anyone can have a good idea, but rarely
do ideas in and of themselves create value, and certainly they won’t start a business. In
entrepreneurial terms, behind every good idea is a solution to a problem, a satisfaction
of a need, a way to make something ‘better-cheaper-faster.’ The core to an opportunity
is this problem that (a lot of) people face, or a new technology/business model that
makes life easier. Find that, and you have a good idea.
In this exercise, you will develop and present an initial idea for a venture. The idea
should capitalize on (or create) an entrepreneurial opportunity, and will likely be focused
at a certain segment of society (a market). You will make a short ‘pitch’ to the class,
five minutes or less (preferably no power point). Just give us the essence of the idea,
why it is a good idea, and why you care about it. We’ll get to ask a question or two,
and everyone will present.
These innovation ideas will be the source of the teams for the class; teams will form
around the most compelling of the ideas. If you want to pursue yours on your own, that
is perfectly fine; groups of 2, 3 and 4 are welcome.
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
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FEASIBILITY RE-ANALYSIS
Due: Week 5 – Wednesday February 26
th
Worth: 20% of grade.
Deliverable: A written paper. (8-12 pages double-spaced)
The goal of this exercise is begin to learn how to evaluate business opportunities; specifically, to
understand how to determine the feasibility of a venture. Feasibility includes:
Opportunity Tension: A contribution or solution that capitalizes on a real business
opportunity, and drives you with some passion
A clear identification of the target market, and a compelling case that these people will
actually buy the product,
The likelihood of sustainable sales (based on the business plan), and the potential for
high margins and relatively low costs,
The expertise of the team to actually deliver on their value proposition, i.e. can they do the
activities necessary to make customers happy,
The resources that the team currently has – including access to partnerships and social
networks – which would allow them to pursue the business, and
The overall cost structure, including the investments needed to maintain positive cash flow
during the start-up of the business.
Each student will choose one of ten business plans to analyze – these have been written by
teams of U-Mass Boston students from one of my recent Entrepreneurship courses (MBA and
undergrad). Each plan includes the text and an Excel file; all cases are loaded on Blackboard.
The students themselves have already aimed to prove the feasibility of the opportunity and
business idea; some were more successful than others. The first step in this assignment is
doing a “due diligence” analysis of this business plan, to make YOUR assessment as to its
feasibility. More importantly, you will then improve their business model, i.e. through increasing
the value of the offering, expanding the market, developing new revenue streams, creating new
partners and collaborations, etc. Conclude with the next steps you would take in organizing the
venture.
Start by reading the plan, carefully reviewing the spreadsheet numbers. Do some of your own
research on the idea, the opportunity, the customer profile. In particular:
1) Examine the assumptions, including the number of potential customers, the rate of sales,
and the projected earnings for each month. Do these assumptions make sense, given
what you’ve read and researched on your own? If not, experiment with making changes
to their projections based on your own assumptions.
2) Take another look at their marketing plan. Will their approach be effective at reaching
their target market, both now and into the future? Have they put together a smart
combination of outreach, advertising and promotions in order to get the kinds of sales
they’re projecting? What other sales methods should they pursue?
3) Look at the cost of goods sold. Are those numbers realistic? How are they sourcing their
materials? Do they already have networks in place, or are they ‘hoping’ to figure it out
as they go? How would you re-design or extend their value chain?
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
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4) What about the rate of growth – what are they projecting? Does this follow from their
assumptions, and their analysis of the potential market? If they grow slower than they
say, what happens to their cash flow and overall viability of the business? New Revenue
models?
5) Consider the start-up costs, and the entire amount of capital they’ll need. Most
businesses need around $20,000 to $50,000 to get started. Some require more than
$100,000. Whatever they need, ask how feasible this amount is? What is their plan to
get the money? Do you believe they can do it? How might they restructure the plan so
they they’d need less money?
6) Take a step back and ask: Who are the founders? Look at their resumes or bios. Does
one of them have expertise in the industry they’re entering? Does anyone on the team
have experience working in a small business or a start-up? Given their skills and
experience, do you think they can pull this off? If not, how might you augment their
expertise – who would you bring on to help, or how would you alter the plan to take
advantage of the experience they do have?
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
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PROFESSIONALISM, AND CLASS CONTRIBUTIONS
Due: Throughout Semester
Worth: Professionalism – 10% of course grade
Class Contributions – 10% of course grade
Your participation grade will be based on the following elements:
High Professionalism throughout the course
a) Staying in “integrity” with me and your classmates, through good communication,
and being on time to class.
b) Being accountable and responsible in the class and with your deliverables and the
business plan project.
Engagement Contributions
c) Class preparation, and contribution to discussions and overall
d) Addition or tags or RSS feeds that reflect your entrepreneurial interests and the
themes of the course
e) Engagement and value brought to your business planning team.
Personal effort and value to your team (business plan)
f) Individually scored evaluation at conclusion of course
g) Group scored evaluation at conclusion of course
h) Quality of group dynamics, e.g. effectiveness; shared workloads, etc. (Prof. scored)
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
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FULL BUSINESS PLAN & PRESENTATION
Due: Week 13 – April 30
th
Worth: Written & Spreadsheet = 40% of grade.
Presentation = 10% of grade
?Graded as a group, with exceptions
Deliverable: Plan, tentative outline below.
Excel spreadsheets, with 3 years of monthly income / costs
Compelling Presentation to the class.
This outline is drawn from numerous sources. It includes all the information that any investor or
key stakeholder will want to know about your venture, and represents a degree of
professionalism that is expected in world-class organizations.
The text we’re now using will likely lead to another outline. Be flexible on this, knowing that all
these questions have to be answered, but the process of gaining the information is substantively
different in the MIT model than the most accepted models from Babson or Univ. Colorado.
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING, 2015
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Business Plan – Complete Framework: Table of Contents
Please use this as a general structure for the contents of your plan.
Executive Summary (write LAST)
Opportunity
Current Situation:
? Market Size; Growth; Trends
? Changes in Industry, Technology, Society…
? Compelling Need
? Points of Pain
? Opportunity = demand, seeking a solution…
Company and Product Description
? Company mission, history, current status
? Product: Features, Benefits
? Proprietary Rights
? Stage of Development
Competitive Advantage of Company
? Competitive Advantage of Product
? Business Model – innovation, sustainability
? Risk factors and possible solutions (see pg.
131+ of Portable DisciplinedE’ship)
Industry, Customer & Competitor Analysis
? Target Market
? Industry Structure\Competitive environment)
? Competition (competitor analyses)
Marketing Plan
? Target Market Strategy
? Product/Service Strategy
? Pricing Strategy
? Distribution Strategy
? Advertising, Promotion
? Sales Strategy
? E-commerce
? Overall Revenue Model
Operations Plan
? Operations scope and strategy
? Ongoing operations
? Development Plan
? Development Strategy and timeline
Management Team
? Team – Bios and Roles
? Advisors, Directors, Strategic partners
? Compensation, Equity
Financial Plan
? Financial Projections
? Key assumptions
? Sources and uses of funds
? Funding requirements and strategies
? Offering
Appendices:
? Resumes (2 pg. max) of founders, principles
? Any figures, tables, etc. that will help
illuminate and sell your project
Excel Workbook with:
? Key financial assumptions
? 3-year income statement
? 3-year cash flow
? 3-year balance sheet
? Key Success Metrics
? Additional analyses
MBA 667 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION SPRING,
2015
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doc_849318372.pdf