New & Small Business Ventures MGT 244 Spring Qt COURSE SYLLABUS

Transcription

1 New & Small Business Ventures MGT 244 Spring Qt COURSE SYLLABUS Instructor: Office Hrs.: Fernando Garcia, M.B.A., J.D. 257 AOB IV, Wednesdays, 1:30 2:45 PM, or by appt. Course Description In the post dot.com bust environment, entrepreneurs face new obstacles to new business venture formation. What lessons can entrepreneurs learn from the dot.com implosion? And, equally importantly, what must entrepreneurs do in order to succeed in this new environment? One major new obstacle facing entrepreneurs is the almost disappearance of funding available for early stage ventures. Accordingly, a central theme in the course will focus on traditional and non-traditional options available to entrepreneurs to secure financial, human capital and other resources in the current funding environment. The course s main objective is to provide students the opportunity to sit in the entrepreneur s chair in order to understand the dynamic atmosphere of a start-up, and expose them to the strategic and financial issues facing most high growth start-ups. The course pedagogue relies heavily on the case method, supplemented by other readings, lectures, and outside speakers, including previously successful entrepreneurs and new start-up entrepreneurs seeking to build their legacy in the new environment. The learning objective is to give each student a sophisticated level of understanding for the strategies and techniques employed by successful entrepreneurs in building and developing high growth ventures. In the course, we will examine new business ventures at different stages of development, from conceptualizing the business idea to harvesting or exiting the venture. In addition, we will examine the reasons, and strategies for acquiring companies as opposed to starting one. The structure of the course is broken down into the following general areas: Entrepreneurship & Start-Up Strategies Use & purpose of Business Plan; Deal Structuring, Negotiating Deal Terms, & Valuation Techniques for New Ventures The Tools and Strategies for Raising Venture Capital & Alternative Financing for New Ventures Acquisition of Private Companies Entrepreneurial Management Issues: Maintaining Control & Direction Harvesting the Venture Via IPO, Sale of the Business, or Merger Required Readings Text: New Business Ventures and the Entrepreneur, 5th Ed. Stevenson, Howard H., Roberts, Michael, and Grousbeck, Harold Irving, New York, N.Y. McGraw Hill/Irwin, Supplemental Course Reader: Harvard and Stanford Business Schools cases, and technical notes. Course Requirements A. Read All Assigned Cases/Notes/Articles. Students are required to read all reading assignments, and be prepared to discuss in class.

2 B. Two Options for Meeting Course Written Assignment Requirement: Students will have two options for meeting the MGT 244 s writing requirement. a. Option 1: Submit THREE Case Analyses During the course a total of SIX entrepreneurship case studies will be examined and discussed. One way for a student to meet the writing requirement is by submitting 3 case write-ups during the term. A student may chose any 3 cases out of the six presented. In addition to the six published cases, we will also have the opportunity to look at the live case study of SeaBridge Software, which may be included among the three case write-ups. These write-ups, at a minimum, must define the problem, present a brief factual background, present restated financial data or otherwise critically assess the financial data presented in the case, preferably in the form of an Excel spreadsheet or similar presentation structure, and present a recommended plan of action. These case studies should run in length a minimum of five pages, excluding exhibits. Students will be graded on organization, financial analysis and presentation, detail of action plan, and creativeness. The case write-ups are due at the end of the class discussion pertaining to the case write-up; late submissions will be penalized. Students may select any three cases from the SIX assigned cases. Students are encouraged to pace themselves in completing this assignment, and should avoid deferring this requirement to the later half of the quarter. b. Option 2: Participate in the Business Plan Team Project Students will self select and form a business plan team (BP Team), consisting of 3 to 5 student members. Each BP Team will develop a new business concept, and take that concept to a fully developed business plan that will be discussed on the last day of class. BP Teams must also prepare a 2 page executive summary of their business plans as well as prepare a short (15 to 20 minute) oral presentation using PowerPoint or overhead slides for their presentations. A typical business plan for this exercise should run in length about 10 to 20 pages, excluding financial projections and other pertinent exhibits. Students may develop their own new business venture concept, or obtain the assistance of the instructor to identify potential opportunities. BP Teams Timeline: 3 rd Class meeting: Team Members; Business Concept 7 th Class meeting: Rough Draft of Business Plan 9 th Class meeting: Executive Summary- Final Draft 10 th Class meeting: Business Plan Final & Presentation Course Grading: Each student s final course grade will be calculated on the cumulative points earned on all assignments, according to the following assignment-weighted formula: Class Participation: 25% Case Write-Ups OR Business Plan: 75% Instructor s Brief Bio: Fernando Garcia brings a rich background combining academic, professional, and entrepreneurial experience. Mr. Garcia is a former investment banker at Kidder Peabody & Company and Bear Stearns & Company. He has been an entrepreneur, corporate board member, advisor to founders and managements of high technology companies, and is currently raising funds for a new real estate venture fund entity. Mr. Garcia has previously taught MBA-level corporate finance, international finance & economics, and entrepreneurship courses at Haas School of Business, U.C. Berkeley, and McLaren School of Business, University of San Francisco. Mr. Garcia received B.A. and J.D. degrees from UC Berkeley, and MBA degree from Harvard.

3 Course Topics Outline and Reading Assignments: MGT 244 Course Schedule WEEK Date Topics Readings Guest 1 April 2 Introduction to Course; The Entrepreneurial Process; Start-up Strategies Stevenson, Ch. 1 Case: DAG 2 April 9 Developing Startup Strategies; The Business Plan Stevenson, Chs. 2, 4 & 6 Case: Heather Evans How to Write a Great Business Plan by William Heather Evans Video 3 April 16 The Business Plan (continue); Legal Forms of Organization; Legal Issues Primer for Entrepreneurs 4 April 23 Search for Capital I: Dealing with VCs; An introduction to venture capital; The state of venture capital funding; Valuation Techniques 5 April 30 Search for Capital II: Terms Sheets & Deal Structure; Private Placements; Angel Investors 6 May 7 Attracting Stakeholders in the New Venture; Bootstrap Financing; Alternative Sources of Financing Sahlman Stevenson, Ch. 5 Legal Aspects of Entrepreneurship-A Conceptual Framework by Constance Bagley Stevenson, Ch. 3 Note on Pre-Money & Post-Money Valuations (A) and (B) by Linda Cyr Stevenson, Chs. 10 & 11 Establishing The Venture Capital Investment Terms by Bay Venture Counsel, LLP Cases: Walnut Venture Associates (A), (B), (C), and (D); Read case (A) for background, and focus on cases (B), (C) & (D) for class discussion w/ Guest Sp. Stevenson, Chs. 7, 8 & 9 Live Case: SeaBridge Software 7 May 14 Managing the Growing Venture Stevenson, Chs. 16 & 17 Case: Gordon Biersch (in Stevenson) SKIM Case: Gordon Biersch: New Challenges & Opportunities 8 May 21 Acquiring a Private Company Stevenson, Chs. 14 & 15 Case: Allen Lane David Brogan, Co-Founder, Market Tools Don Reinke, Partner, Reed Smith, LLC Jamie Pardi, Founder, SeaBridge Software Edward Mooney, Pres., Trinity Learning Corp. 9 May 28 Harvesting the Venture; The IPO Option & Stevenson, Ch. 18 Issues; Merger and Consolidation Strategies Case: Teleswitch (A) 10 June 4 Business Plans Presentations None BP Teams

4

5