Lecturer: Douglas Y. Park, Partner, Rimon, PC Starting Startups: An Integrated Business and Legal Approach Business 208 Winter 2013

Transcription

1 Lecturer: Douglas Y. Park, Partner, Rimon, PC Starting Startups: An Integrated Business and Legal Approach Business 208 Winter 2013 Course Schedule (NOTE: For weeks 2 through 8, the order of classes and topics, as well as specific readings, discussion questions, and guest speakers, are subject to change) Week 1: Use an Integrated Business and Legal Approach to Build Your Startup Course overview What every entrepreneur thinks she knows, but doesn't The 3P Approach to Building Your Startup Putting together a roadmap for your company Choice of entity REQUIRED PREPARATION: Why Lawyers Should Understand Business Strategy Douglas Y. Park strategy- why- lawyers- should- understand/ Three Business Strategy Questions to Ask Your Lawyer Douglas Y. Park business- strategy- questions- ask- your- lawyer/ First, Empower All the Lawyers Larry Downes empower- all- the- lawyers/ar/1 ASSIGNMENT/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. Why do you want to start a company? 2. What kind of company do you want to build? 3. Does it matter? And how do your answers affect your business and legal decisions? Week 2: Position Identifying and Evaluating Opportunities Evaluating ideas what makes an idea good or not so good

2 Market analysis potential, drivers of success in the market, demand Competitor analysis main challenges facing new entrants Week 3: Product Developing the Product Customer analysis profile, needs, wants Product analysis features versus customer needs Formulating a value proposition Protecting intellectual property early Week 4: People Developing and Building the Team Founders agreements and dividing the pie Leadership in entrepreneurial ventures Building and managing startup teams non- competes and employment issues Week 5: People Building The Organization Confronting problems of execution Organizational culture issues structure, process, and incentives Creating a valuable Board of Directors and Board of Advisors bylaws and working with directors and advisors Dealing with turnover and transition Week 6: Money Developing a financial plan Understanding financial needs and projections Tracking financial metrics Financing issues types of financing structures, deal terms, equity, dilution Crowdfunding and the JOBS Act Week 7: Position and Product Meet at Strategy Approaching and pitching investors Strategy issues specific to startups Developing and refining business models Linking product development to strategy 2

3 Week 8: Money Again What to do with money Dealing with problems Business plan presentations (To be determined) Wrap up 3

4 Course Materials The course does not have a required book. Most required and recommended readings will be posted online on Moodle. The reading per week will be 10 pages or less. In addition, I will ask you to purchase four or five Stanford Business School or Harvard Business School articles for the course. Each document will cost between $7 and $10. We will also have guest speakers and videos. Course Expectations We are here to learn from each other and from our guest speakers. In that spirit, please observe the following guidelines to contribute to a positive learning environment: Attend all sessions and actively participate through comments and questions. Read and think about the assigned reading. I assign reasonable amounts of reading (usually less than twenty pages per week), so you should be able to easily finish it. Respect others opinions. You may disagree with others, but please do so in a respectful manner. Course Grading 1. No grade requested No work is required. However, please follow the Course Expectations outlined above. 2. Credit/no credit To receive credit, you must attend the entirety of at least six class sessions. In addition, you must participate in class through comments and questions. If you do not attend at least six sessions, you will need to complete a five page written assignment that I must approve. 3. Students taking the course for a letter grade Students who choose this option must write a mini- business plan. The project will be completed in teams of two or more individuals of your choosing. I will help you form groups if you have difficulty finding teammates. You must receive prior permission from me to do the project yourself. 4

5 The plan can be no more than fifteen double- spaced pages. A two page description of the business plan is due in class on Week 3. You may not change topic or your group members after Week 4. Instead of writing a business plan, you may present your business plan to the class during Week 8. The business plan will detail a technology venture, including (1) the product/service idea and the business model, (2) analysis of the market potential and competition, (3) pro forma financial statements and potential sources of financing, and (4) the major challenges and risks of the venture, and how to address them. The plan must include an executive summary of one page. 5