Growth Venture Creation Joint Capstone ENTU501

Transcription

1 Growth Venture Creation Joint Capstone ENTU501 Professors John Friar & Marc H. Meyer Friar: Meyer: Hayden Hall Tuesday-Friday, 3:25-5:05pm 330 Dodge Course Description The focus of this capstone course is to prepare a business planning for new ventures. Students will learn the different parts of a business plan, how to do the research and analysis for each section, and how to integrate the entire plan for the best result. Students will also learn the written and oral communication skills needed for business plan presentations. Entrepreneurial team formation and entrepreneurial finance are also important parts of this course. For students determined to start their own businesses, either now or in the future, this is the course for you! This offering of ENT501 has student teams work on technology prototypes developed by engineering students. Students will be working on early stage concepts, trying to define the following: Is there a market need for the innovation? Is that need compelling? What type of business might be developed from the innovation? Given that type of business, how much money is required to get started, and then to grow? Prerequisites: ENTU201, ENTU301, ENTU401

2 Course Objectives This course provides students with the conceptual foundations and detailed methods for developing different aspects of a business plan. These include: Performing market and competitive analyses, Extracting perceived and latent needs from buyers and users, Creating product and service strategies and development plans, Developing appropriate business models and financial statements Working with investors to finance new businesses. Perhaps most important, the course teaches students how to integrate these different dimensions into a cohesive, effective written plan and oral presentation. The term project for the course will focus on developing business plans for actual products and systems being developed by Engineering students in their own capstone courses. Professors from Engineering will participate in certain aspects of this course. Course Materials 1. Addison, Edwin, Leveraging the Horizon, Writers Advantage, New York, The Northeastern University Business Planning Guide (on Course Blackboard site) 3. Supplemental readings package available at Gnomon Copy under the Course Name. Course Structure The course is a combination of class lecture and field work. The class lectures will cover methods for performing research and analyses on key parts of the business plan. The field work will be team-based, with regular meetings with the professor/coach assigned to each team. You are expected to attend classes regularly and to complete your term project work on the dates specified in the syllabus. For three of the class sessions, all students are strongly encouraged to participate in meetings of the Entrepreneurship Club on campus. Members of the Northeastern Venture Advisory Board (consisting of entrepreneurs and venture financiers) will talk to the Entrepreneurship Club during three activity periods. These periods are: Wed, 1/28 11:30am Traditional High Growth Business

3 Wed, 2/18 11:30am Wed, 3/10 11:30am Franchiser Small Business Entrepreneur Students from other Entrepreneurship classes will be in attendance as well. This allows us to build a community of entrepreneurship practice. You will meet fellow aspiring entrepreneurs, as well as real-life entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Lunch will also be served. Discussions and exercises in the classes following these meetings will focus on the presenters, their successes, and their current challenges. Students who cannot attend these three special meetings must inform the instructor ahead of time, and must be prepared to write an additional paper on a topic related to that meeting's topic. Grading and team meeting participation 10% Written business plan 50% Plan Presentation 20% Peer Review 20%

4 Term Project The term project for this course is the preparation and presentation of a business plan. s will be formed to work on products and systems being prototyped as part of the College of Engineering Capstone course. The ground rules are as follows: Each team will be responsible for managing its activities. Each team will have a professor as a coach and mentor. All members of a team will work diligently on that aspect of the plan for which they are responsible. Since the nature of these projects is to find markets and customers for the engineering prototypes, and to assess the business potential of the innovation, student teams cannot receive a high grade if they do not perform active, in-depth market research. This includes talking to potential customers and channel partners, and understanding the existing competition. A peer review by fellow team members will be administered at the end of the project, and will be an important element of the final grade. s will be responsible for both written business plans and PowerPoint presentations of their work. This project is not just a market research exercise. One of the primary goals of the project is to determine if the technology prototype can serve as the basis for a real business. If it can, the business plan should reflect whether that potential is for a small, micro-business or for a dynamic growth venture. Each type of business requires a different type and level of investment. The financial models in the final business plan must reflect this. If the team feels that the prototype has no potential for either, it must still do all the research and analyses of a regular business plan, but in writing the plan itself, they must justify their conclusions where appropriate in each section of the business plan document.

5 Course Schedule: ENTU501-Joint Capstone Week Venue Topic Assignments and Deliverables Wk 1 1/9 Introduction to the Course Wk 2 1/13 Business Plans: Microbusiness versus Growth Ventures Review examples and implications of each. Addison, Chap 1, 2, 6 1/ Dodge 11:45 Engineering Product Presentations Posted on Blackboard: 1/16 roles and responsibilities Assignment of s Northeastern Business Plan Guide Template Project Schedule Template Wk 3 1/23 Meet with teams and define project work. Meet with Engineering teams (Bus. teams, eng teams, prof/coach) Define your work schedule Addison, Chap 3, 4 Wk 4 1/27 1/30 Opportunity assessment? Is it a good target market? Market Segmentation, Market Dynamics, and Positioning a New Business s identify potential target segments and competitors in those segments -- a first cut at defining the market. Deliverable: 1/27 template, Project schedule template Timmons (Reading package) Addison, Chap 5 Wk 5 Who is the customer, what do they need, and what will they pay? 2/3 Customer Research: Interviews, Focus Groups, On-line Methods Interviewing customers: Friar 2/6 Design of methods for your project with Professor. Begin application. Online Study: Meyer M&M Wk 6 2/10 2/13 Interview customers, channels, competitors. Design and apply customer and competitor research methods. check in with Professor.

6 Wk 7 Interviewing customers, channels, competitors. 2/17 Apply research methods. checks in with Professor. 2/20 Wk 8 Gather size and projected growth rates for the best target segment. 2/24 Analysis of results of market segment, customer, and competitor research. 2/27 Presentation of findings to Hand-in presentations to Professor Wk 9 Product strategy: is it a "onesie" or a product line with a platform. 3/9 3/12 Product and Systems Platforms and Product Line Strategies Application of concepts to your projects Start writing Market Section of Business Plan Look at examples on Prof Meyer's Web site. Addison, Chap 7 Wk 10 Defining competitive advantage in technology 3/16 3/19 Managing Intellectual Property in Growth Ventures Start writing Product Section of Business Plan Allen, Chap 5 and 7 Reading Package Wk 11 Defining the business model: is it a micro-business or a growth venture, or not worth pursuing at all? 3/23 3/26 Types of Businesses, Financial Models, Investor, and Exit Strategies Determine your type of business and develop the business model suitable for it. Start developing Financial Projections Cornwall, Chap 4, 5, 6 Reading package Wk 12 Defining investment strategies 3/30 Types of Businesses and Investor Strategies Addison, Chap 8, 9, 10 4/2 Begin integration of Complete Business Plan Wk 13 4/6 4/9 Complete first draft of your Business Plan Wk 14 4/13 Meet with Professor Coach, review draft of Business Plan Revise/Complete Business Plan, Develop Presentations Wk 15 4/20 Presentations of Business Plans Hand in Completed Business Plans And Presentations

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