MANAGEMENT SCIENCE & ENGINEERING 273
TECHNOLOGY VENTURE FORMATION

Welcome to MS&E 273 - Technology Venture Formation!

The class will meet on Tuesdays from 4:15 - 7:15pm in Yang and Yamazaki Building (Y2E2), Room 111. The first class session will be on Tuesday, September 22, 2009.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. By the first day of class, students will need to have filled out an application form. You must attend the first class to be considered for enrollment. Admission is based on an enrollment application (see the enrollment page) due at the end of the FIRST CLASS.

2. The class list of 48 students in addition to a waitlist of 12 students will be posted online by midnight on September 22nd.

3. There will be a mandatory student mixer on Wednesday, September 23th at 5PM at the Treehouse. Students will begin to form teams and select their preferred mentors.

4. There will be another mandatory student mixer on Thursday, September 24th at 5:00PM at the Treehouse. If a student who plans on taking the class cannot attend the Thursday lecture he or she needs to let the TA's know in advance via email.

Please read through the website thoroughly before the first class.

About the class--

This course provides a learning experience that simulates the process of starting a high-tech company. Students work in teams on a business plan for a start-up and present it to a panel of experienced Venture Capitalists. Course instructors, experts themselves in new venture creation, present the key issues involved in evaluating market opportunities, designing profitable business models, producing a solid business plan, raising capital, addressing legal considerations and developing a winning team. The class is limited to graduate students only.

The Stanford Bulletin description of MS&E 273--

For graduate students interested in starting a technology venture, joining a small firm intent upon rapid growth, or pursuing a career in consulting, venture capital, or the management of a technology business for larger companies. Lectures and guest speakers from Silicon Valley. Student teams write and present a business plan. All functional areas of high potential start-ups are covered. Enrollment limited. Recommended: 133 or equivalent.

MS&E 273 Alumni Quotes--

"A ton of work, and a great class!"

"I will recommend this class to someone who wants to be an entrepreneur. This is a great class, exciting, but also, it is a lot of work, and if you don't love [entrepreneurship], you won't like it."

"I absolutely would recommend this class to other students interested in starting a business. I think the class did a great job of focusing on the key aspects of starting a business without belabouring any point. It was fast-paced and challenging, which I like, and intense. It really opened my eyes to a whole world I was ignorant of before."

"I would not recommend this to anyone who is not serious about it or does not have the time commitment. That fosters really bad team relations and is unfair to other teammates. I was glad to see that you made that very explicit in the beginning, so there were no surprises."

"This was the best class I have taken at Stanford. [...] I learned a lot in the lectures, which is irregular for a non-homework type class, and learned even more working with my team. I spent probably double the time I have ever spent in any other course."