MANAGEMENT SCIENCE & ENGINEERING 273
TECHNOLOGY VENTURE FORMATION

 
   
  Fenwick & West
   
 

Enrollment
 

FAQs
 
 

Business Plan
 
 

Course Policies
 
 

Resources
 
 

WEEK 1

IN CLASS - TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22

SESSION 1 - Course Introduction

Enrollment Forms are due at beginning of class!!! Please bring the forms typed and printed out. The teaching team will be making decisions about class enrollment right after class.

SESSION 2 - Opportunity Assessment

TAs will announce class list by midnight on the 22nd

Readings:

  • Here is a useful site that allows you to search for patents that were formed out of Lawrence Livermore National Lab's Industrial Partnerships Office. You can look in the "Entrepreneurs" section.

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TEAM MIXER I - WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 (5:00 PM) MANDATORY

Located at the patio in front of the Treehouse at Tressider. Get to know your classmates and form your team! The teams form really fast in this class, so don't miss this event. Drinks and light snacks will be provided. If you can't make it be sure to email the TAs ahead of time.

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TEAM MIXER II - THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 (5:00 PM) MANDATORY

Located at the patio in front of the Treehouse at Tressider. This will be the final session where we all get together to form teams. Drinks and light snacks will be provided. If you can't make it be sure to email the TAs ahead of time.

TAs will announce "final" class list by midnight. Waitlisted students are highly encouraged to come to the next class on September 29th since historically some spots have opened up.

ASSIGNMENT: TEAM INFO
Due via email to the TAs by 10 PM Thurs, Sept 24 (after Mixer II)
Include:

  1. The (tentative) name of your new venture
  2. Team member names (as many as you have at this point) & emails
  3. Basic business concept (3 lines or less)
  4. Your team's preferred Mentor

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ASSIGNMENT: TEAM CONCEPT MEMO
Due via email to the TAs by noon on Mon, Sept 28:
Include:

  • The name of your new venture
  • Final four team member names and emails
  • Respective team member roles (CEO, CFO, CTO, and CMO)
  • Description of your business concept in 3 lines or less
  • QuickScreen Opportunity Assessment in "Business Plans That Work" by Timmon's (see Resources). Read pgs 25-35 and use checklist on pgs 157-159. The goal is to think about your opportunity from a broader set of dimensions. There is no set format to your answers and not all of them have to be addressed at this point.
MENTOR ASSIGNMENTS SENT OUT - Monday, Sept 28 (by midnight)

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WEEK 2

IN CLASS - TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29

MENTOR INTRODUCTIONS IN CLASS - 4:15 PM

SESSION 3 - Customer Discovery

SESSION 4 - Opportunity Assessment

  • Opportunity assessment for chegg.com - Ann Miura-Ko, Osman Rashid

REQUIRED READING:

  • HBS Online Reader: “Note on Business Model Analysis for the Entrepreneur,” (HBS # 9-802-048).

OPTIONAL READING:

  • Recommended Reading: http://www.techcrunchit.com/2008/08/01/welcome-to-web-30-now-your-other-computer-is-a-data-center/
  • Optional: Textbook: "Opportunity and the Business Summary," Technology Venture, Dorf & Byers, Chap. 2.
  • Optional: "Building a Competitive Advantage," Technology Ventures, Chap. 3.
  • Optional: "Creating a Strategy," Technology Ventures, Chap. 4.

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ASSIGNMENT: LAST DAY FOR CONCEPT / TEAM CHANGES
Due via email to the TAs by noon October 5

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WEEK 3

IN CLASS - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6

SESSION 5 - SALES AND MARKETING

SESSION 6 - SALES AND MARKETING

  • Gate I presentation by G-Systems

REQUIRED READING:

OPTIONAL READING:

  • Optional: Textbook: “The Path to Epiphany: The Customer Development Model,” Four Steps to the Epiphany, Steven Blank, Chap. 2.
  • Optional: Textbook: “Customer Discovery,” Four Steps to the Epiphany, Steven Blank, Chap. 3.
  • Optional: Textbook: “Customer Validation,” Four Steps to the Epiphany, Steven Blank, Chap. 4.
  • Optional: "All Marketers are Liars," Seth Godin.
  • Optional: "The Marketing and Sales Plan," Technology Ventures, Chap. 11, p. 231-257.
  • Optional: "Marketing Planning and Organization", Robert Dolan in Harvard Business Review, 1984.
  • Optional: The Innovator's Dilemma and The Innovator's Solution by Clayton Christensen
  • Optional: Stengel Solutions overview of the marketing plan:
    http://www.stengelsolutions.com/tips_5.htm
  • Optional: Core Marketing Elements:
    http://www.marketingprofs.com/tutorials/frey1.asp
  • Optional: Adura Systems Website:
    http://www.adurasystems.com/Adura/Adura.html$

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GATE I WORKSHOP: OPPORTUNITY ASSESSMENT- SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10
( 8:30 AM - 12 PM)

 

Prepare a 30 minute team presentation of your opportunity and marketing/sales plan (described below). The instructors and guests will give oral feedback on your presentation. Timing will be enforced.

Gate I Examples:

Opportunity Description

Describe the market opportunity that your team is planning to attack.  The opportunity assessment should include the following information:

1. What is the key technical idea and/or insight that is at the core of your product?
2. What is the customer pain and how large is the market for solving that pain?  Who have you talked to that told you so?
3. Why is this problem so hard to solve?  Who have you talked to that told you so? What is your solution?
4. What is your potential customer base including your initial customer target - why did you choose this initial market?
5. What is the value chain for this initial market?  Who are you selling to versus who is the end user?  How are you distributing?  How does the money flow from you out to the end user? Who have you talked to that said this was the right channel?  How will you talk to these partners by your final presentation?
6. What is the marketing and sales plan for your team?  Are you thinking of direct sales?  Are you using a re-seller?  Who are the key product influencers?
7. What is your business model / revenue model and how does your company plan to make money (ie if it is by advertising, specify in detail how advertising revenue will be generated and scale as your business grows)
8. How are you going to test these all of these assumptions by the end of the class?  Who are you going to talk to?

Proxy Analysis

Find a similar company that you can use as a proxy for your business.
Compare their financials to yours and be prepared to explain and defend any material differences.

Note:  If you are not able to clearly articulate how the key technical idea and/or insight that is at the core of your product turns into a business idea or customer pain, we are likely to spend the bulk of the time on these slides.  Make sure you nail those before moving on to sales and marketing or business model or revenue projections.

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WEEK 4

IN CLASS - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13

SESSION 7 - INTRODUCTION TO FINANCE

SESSION 8 - FINANCIAL MODELING

REQUIRED READING:

OPTIONAL READING:

  • Web: http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/10/financial-model.html
  • Suggested reading for all aspiring entrepreneurs: http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/books_9780316118088.htm
  • Optional: Text: "The Financial Plan," Technology Ventures, Chap. 17, p. 341-361.
  • Optional: Text: "Sources of Capital," Technology Ventures, Chap. 18, p. 387-421.

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ASSIGNMENT - SUBMIT OPPORTUNITY ASSESSMENT #2
(ONLY FOR TEAMS CHANGING THEIR CONCEPTS AFTER GATE I)
Due via email to the TAs by 8 PM October 17

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WEEK 5

IN CLASS - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20

SESSION 9 - R&D PLAN

SESSION 10 - R&D PLAN

REQUIRED READING:

OPTIONAL READING:

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WEEK 6

IN CLASS - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27

SESSION 11 - R&D PLAN

SESSION 12 - CAPITALIZATION

REQUIRED READING:

OPTIONAL READING:

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ASSIGNMENT - OPPORTUNITY ASSESSMENT #2 RE-CERTIFICATION DEADLINE
(ONLY FOR TEAMS CHANGING THEIR CONCEPTS AFTER GATE I)
Due via email to the TAs by 8 PM, November 1
Must have a professor, mentor and CA sign off on the business opportunity by this date.

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WEEK 7

IN CLASS - TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3

SESSION 13 - CAPITALIZATION

  • IT (web-based) - Shawn Carolan (Menlo Ventures)
  • Cleantech - Jerry Fiddler

SESSION 14

  • IT (hardware) - Scott Weiss (Ironport)
  • Gate II presentation - Team SoundCheck

OPTIONAL READING:

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GATE II WORKSHOP: OPERATING PLAN - SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7
(8:30 AM -12:30 PM)

Prepare a team presentation of your operations plan. You will receive oral feedback from the teaching team and a CFO. Teams will have a strict 45 minutes to present and receive Q&A.

Gate II Examples:

Suggested Presentation Sections:

Think about the questions people might ask and start to build a slide that answers those expected questions (remember one slide). Include them in the appendix just in case ...

Operations Plan and Financials:

  • Describe how you plan to develop your product and bring it to market including number, timing and costs of R&D heads and all other product development costs.
  • Expand on your financials from Gate I to include detailed five year projections and your cash flow breakeven. Be sure to distinguish your product development stage from your steady state of operations.
  • Ground all of your financials with a proxy analysis. That is, identify a similar company and compare your financial projections to that company at similar development stages.
  • Be prepared to defend any material differences between your proxy and your plan.

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WEEK 8

IN CLASS - TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10

SESSION 15 - THE VC PRESENTATION

  • Mike Lyons - VC Pitch - VC Presentation Lecture & Video
  • Intellectual Property - Dan Dorosin

SESSION 16 -

  • Final Pitch - Terralytix
  • The Business Plan - Mike Lyons

REQUIRED READINGS

OPTIONAL READINGS:

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WEEK 9

IN CLASS - TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17

SESSION 17 - ENTREPRENEURSHIP: AN EXTREMELY REWARDING SPORT

  • Entrepreneurial Inspiration - Marc Andreessen

SESSION 18 - ENTREPRENEURSHIP: AN EXTREMELY REWARDING SPORT

  • Concluding Thoughts / Wrap Up - Audrey McLean & Mike Lyons

OPTIONAL READINGS:

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BUSINESS PLAN DEADLINE - NOON ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20th
Business Plans are due by noon in a box outside of Craig's office in 201 McCullough. Please submit four (4) hardcopies.

Business Plan Examples from 2007 and 2008:

Aviditek (2007)

Airways Medical (2007)

iClinical (2008)

Deep Analytics (2008)

Be sure to have a one page Executive Summary of your plan and your full business plan. Limit your business plan to 15 pages (without appendix). Please be concise and to the point.

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DRY RUN PRESENTATIONS (SIGN UP SHEET) - DECEMBER 1 & 2:
Please sign-up to do a dry run presentation AND to observe 1 dry run presentation by another team. Each presentation runs 30 minutes.

DRY RUN - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1:
Dean's Conference Room (Terman 217) from 2:30 - 6:00 pm

DRY RUN - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2:
Dean's Conference Room (Terman 453) from 2:30 - 6:00 pm

FINAL PRESENTATIONS TO VC PANEL (SIGN UP SHEET) - DECEMBER 3 & 4:
Location - Arrillaga Alumni Center - Fisher Conference Center - Lane & Lyons
Thursday Morning, Dec 3 Panel:
Kevin Efrusy (Accel)
Jean-Louis Gassee  (Allegis)
Doug Leone (Sequoia)
Tim McAdam (Trinity Ventures)
Charles Moldow (Foundation Capital)
Spencer Tall (Allegis)
Thursday Afternoon, Dec 3 Panel:
Bob Ackerman (Allegis)
Allen Beasley (Redpoint)
Philip Gianos (Interwest Partners)
Andy Rachleff (Benchmark)
Erik Straser (MDV)
Dave Whorton (Tugboat Ventures)
George Zachary (CRV)
Friday Morning, Dec 4 Panel:
Yogen Dalal (Mayfield)
Ping Li (Accel)
Jim McLean (3i)
Ted Schlein (KPCB)
Russell Siegelman (KPCB)
Robin Vasan (Mayfield)
Friday Afternoon, Dec 4 Panel:
Jim Anderson (Foundation Capital)
Shawn Carolan (Menlo Ventures)
Paul Conley (Paladin)
Doug Leone (Sequoia)
Fern Mandelbaum  (Monitor Ventures)
Andy Rappaport (August Capital)
Craig Taylor (Alloy Ventures)