MS&E 273

Technology Venture Formation

Enrollment

You MUST attend the first class session to be considered for admission.
The enrollment process will be open to all graduate students. The teaching team will make an effort to accommodate MS&E Masters students concentrating in Tech Entrepreneurship who are graduating in the current quarter. We expect that 25% to 35% of our 48 person class capacity will be taken by these priority students.
All other enrollment decisions will be made based on your application and your preparation and participation in the first lecture. Admission decisions for MS&E273 are NOT based on a first-come-first-served criteria. Priority for enrollment is based on the Teaching Team's subjective selection of top students who are graduating soon from a diverse mix of technical and business backgrounds.

Teams that are already formed to work around a specific business idea should indicate that on each of their applications (one app per person). Please note that interdisciplinary teams have produced superior business plans in past years, so we may prioritize those over teams where all individuals come from the same department (e.g. all MS&E or all GSB).

A word to the wise...
Year after year, the most common feedback we get is to warn the next quarter's prospective MS&E273 students about the extraordinary time commitment required for this course. Consider yourself warned! By applying for enrollment in MS&E273, you are applying for entry into a class that:

1. takes up two of your Saturday mornings this quarter
2. can and will affect your other coursework (for better AND worse!)
3. has a weird two-day finals schedule during dead week
4. has a zero-tolerance policy for absences

Policies

See the FAQ for more general policy and course information.

Students

MS&E 273 is only open to graduate students at Stanford.
There are no remote options for this course - you must take MS&E 273 on campus.
You must take the course for credit. You may not audit MS&E 273.

Attendance and Participation

There are only ten weeks in this course, which is barely enough to cover the essentials of this topic area. If you anticipate missing more than one class, we recommend that you take another course and wait on this one. More than one unexcused absence may result in a full letter grade penalty.
If you expect to miss a class, please let the teaching assistants know ahead of time via email.
It is our practice to spread participation over the class; we may cold call upon you. It is however never our intention to embarrass anyone -- if you are not prepared, let one of us know before class and we will not call on you.
We will do all that we can to use class time effectively and ask you to do the same. This includes starting and ending on time. The teaching assistants will take attendance in the first five minutes of the class and we will end on time. Do not take this class if you are habitually late!
Given the importance of class participation and its grading, we will try to memorize your names quickly. We ask that you use a name card during every session of the quarter. This is an absolute requirement. You should put your name on the front and back of the card to make it easier for everyone to see.
Please silence your cell phones before coming to class.

Communications

Feel free to discuss the course and your learning progress with the instructors at any time. We are always happy to discuss items of interest. The teaching assistants are also available for questions you have about any issue.
In preparation for case discussion, group interaction is acceptable and strongly encouraged. Notes or papers from other courses may not be used. The work to be turned in for this class must be original and may not be used for any other class.
When contacting a mentor or someone else whom you have been introduced to by one of the teaching staff for this course, please make sure to do the following:
- Copy the member of the teaching staff who gave the contact to you on the email.
- Be concise with your request and be respectful of their time. As an example, asking them to reply to you ASAP or within 24 hours in not acceptable so be sure to plan ahead to allow for a reasonable amount of time for a reply.
- Use polite language and you MUST send a thank you email to them once they have helped you with your request.
Our distinguished guest speakers are aggressive, successful, and articulate. Interrupt and ask them questions at any time! They will be forewarned. They will display an earnest desire to help you understand new ventures.

Commitment

This is a class for those who are motivated. It is very, very demanding. By accepting a place in the class, you simultaneously prohibit someone else from taking it and you establish obligations to your fellow business plan team members. Please accept this responsibility with serious intent. Students who become "free riders" on their team will receive at least a full letter grade penalty.