Faculty
Professors Gregg Fairbrothers, Philip J. Ferneau
Objectives
This course is designed to provide an exposure to the entrepreneurial experience. It will prepare students to successfully apply integrative, entrepreneurial execution in a variety of career and work contexts after graduation. The course is integrative and experiential in nature; it requires students to combine creativity, initiative in problem-solving, and application of a broad range of business basics learned in other Tuck classes and elsewhere.
Creativity is inherent in the full cycle of the entrepreneurial experience. From idea creation, through market research, validation, financing, and execution, to final liquidity events, judgments are made in a world of messy, incomplete, and incoherent data. Decisions must be made in contexts of imperfect information, often under conditions of difficult tradeoffs and poorly defined interdependencies. Course projects and guest speakers will provide an in-depth exposure to this less-than-deterministic side of business.
Students will formulate a plan to take an idea into execution, present and articulate elements of this plan in multiple sessions, and defend it against challenge and criticism. There will be a special effort to integrate concrete, operational and execution-related information, to define key areas an entrepreneur should be aware of, to expose students to a variety of successful entrepreneurs, and to provide a framework of “toolkit” resources relevant to startup execution.
The main focus of the class will be an in-depth project in starting and scaling an enterprise from an idea into a credible business plan and an operations plan to execute. During the semester, students will:
1) develop a startup idea in technology, research, marketing, a small business, or a non-profit
2) craft a promising execution strategy and validate market potential
3) develop a credible business plan
4) deliver effective presentations, for investors if startup capital is required, or in an alternative context if not
5) build a team of employees, partners, and investors
6) address execution challenges in managing growth while effectively executing product development, marketing, sales, and operations
Requirements
Format and Requirements
The class meets Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10:15 –11:45 AM, commencing 9/17/09 for 10 weeks, in Rosenwald Classroom, Byrne Hall, Tuck School of Business.
The course will make use of readings, lectures, case studies and invited entrepreneurs/private equity partners in a workshop environment. All students will be required to act in teams (teams need to consist of 3 to 5 members) to develop a full, credible startup business plan, working with experienced entrepreneurial and private equity mentors, and to participate in a presentation event before a panel of entrepreneurs, angel investors, and venture capitalists at the conclusion of the term on Friday, November 20th, and to join the reviewers for a mixer and dinner after the presentation event ends. (Note: please keep schedule clear from Friday, 11/20 noon through 10PM). In addition, to achieve exposure to the startup process from “both sides of the table,” all students will also conduct a due diligence exercise on another startup idea in the class.
Speakers:
The course will bring successful entrepreneurs and other relevant practitioners into the classroom to discuss important topics and share their experiences. The experiential aspects of entrepreneurship cannot be over-emphasized, so students should take full advantage in classroom discussion to interact with visiting speakers. Speakers join us without compensation out of enthusiasm to work with students and get to know them; use this opportunity to build contacts and relationships. The syllabus lists the speaker schedule that is confirmed as of the date of publication, but situations always arise in which unavoidable conflicts occur. We do our best to minimize these and have standby alternatives.
Business plans and execution:
Class activity will be focused around a full-semester project, the development of a start-up business concept and the formulation of an executable business plan, culminating with a presentation event on Friday, November 20th.
In most years, projects have entered the course at a range of early stage maturities. Some students begin the semester with business plans in hand from the IENT class and/or First-Year Projects, or even existing businesses on which they have been working for some time previously. Other students enter the class with the desire to be exposed to the entrepreneurial experience, but have not given prior thought to a project idea.
The course is designed to accommodate this range of project development. A number of existing early-stage projects from around Dartmouth will be made available to students for class projects, and students are encouraged to develop or source ideas on their own.
For those projects at more advanced stage of development upon entry to the course, in addition to refinement of a business plan and the final event presentation, an additional focus will be the execution of important concrete milestones during the semester. For such projects, the instructors and the group members will meet at the beginning of the semester to establish an appropriate work plan and set of deliverables.
Start-up groups:
All business plan and execution activity will be done in groups of 3 to 5. There is a lot of work involved in pulling together a coherent business idea within the confines of a 10-week term, so students are encouraged to avoid the temptation to operate alone. Groups are encouraged to form on their own, however we reserve the option to finalize group composition.
Class Presentations:
Each start-up team will make several class presentations during the term in order to receive feedback. All teams should prepare PowerPoint presentations to show in class, but presentation materials should not be distributed to the class. If there are non-Tuck student affiliates involved in a start-up, students should ensure that they are amenable to having the projects presented to the class and the VC/entrepreneur audience at the end of the term, particularly as this relates to potential confidentiality and intellectual property issues.
Mentors:
On an opt-in basis on the part of the student teams, we will offer to match experienced and successful business mentors with start-up groups. Mentors will be available for input, feedback, advice and networking throughout the term. It will be the responsibility of the groups to take the initiative to interact with the mentors.
In the past we have found many groups fail to take advantage of the access and resources these mentors provide. Students can benefit from the various support forms a mentor may be able and willing to provide, but only to the extent they proactively reach out and seek the same.
As in most things in life, solving entrepreneurial problems is primarily a matter of framing the right questions. Mentors can be great resources for helping identify the right questions to ask, as well as places to look for answers.
Mentors are busy people with substantial demands on their time, so groups are encouraged to respect their willingness to devote time to the class process, and to make every effort to use what time they spend with mentors constructively and efficiently.
Final Class Presentations:
All students will be required to participate in a final start-up presentation event before a panel of entrepreneurs, angel investors, and venture capitalists at the conclusion of the term on Friday, November 20th, and to join the reviewers for a mixer and dinner after the presentation event ends. (Note: please keep schedule clear Friday, 11/20 Noon through 10PM).
Due Diligence Reports:
To provide an exercise in looking at projects from “the other side of the table,” students will work in pairs to do a due diligence review on another team in the class and provide a written recommendation to an investor (or in the case of bootstrap, a previously agreed alternative context) based on a due diligence examination of the business opportunity.
Materials
Required Readings
Books:
Required (available from Wheelock Books or Dartmouth Bookstore to purchase 10 days prior to course start OR on 24 hour reserve at Feldberg): Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath; Random House, 2007.
Articles:
Bastiat, Frederic. Introduction to That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen, 1850; Waking Lion Press, the Editorium, LLC.
Stevenson and Gumpert. "The Heart of Entrepreneurship" Harvard Business Review (March-April 1985).
Sarasvathy, Saras D. "What Makes Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial?" Darden Business Publishing (September 13, 2005).
Wasserman, Noah. "The Founder's Dilemma" Harvard Business Review (February 2008).
Cases:
Bagley and Lane. "X-IT" and Kidde(A)" HBS Case 9-803-041 (May 20, 2003).
Wasserman and McCance "Founder-CEO Succession at Wily Technology" HBS Case 9-805-150 (October 10, 2007).
Resources
Books:
Bagley, Constance E., and Craig E. Dauchy. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Business Law, West Educational Publishing Co., 1998 (1st ed), 2003 (2nd ed.), or 2007 (3rd ed.)
Bygrave, William D. (editor) and Andrew Zacharias (editor). The Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship, 3rd Edition. John Wiley and Sons, 2004.
Dorf, Richard C. and Thomas H. Byers. Technology Ventures, McGraw Hill, 2005.
Kawasaki, Guy, The Art of the Start, Portfolio, 2004.
Kawasaki, Guy. Reality Check The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition, Penguin Group, 2008.
Robbins, William L., Seed-Stage Investing, Apspatore Books, 2006. (Bill Robbins is a Dartmouth ’83 who has worked in large corporations, startups and venture investing in the medical technology sector. Bill is currently an overseer at the Thayer School.)
Stoller, Gregory. Strategies in Entrepreneurial Finance, Northcoast Publishers 2006.
Timmons, Jeffry A. New Venture Creation: Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century, 8th edition, Irwin/McGraw-Hill, September 2008.
Timmons, Jeffry A., Leonard E. Smollen, and Alexander L. M. Dingee, Jr. New Venture Creation: A Guide to Small Business Development: R.D. Irwoin, 1977.
Timmons, Jeffry A. New venture creation : Entrepreneurship for the 21st century, 5th edition. Irwin/McGraw-Hill, 1999.
Winter 2008 Introduction to Entrepreneurship Course DVD Collection: Introduction & Company Presentations, The Need and the Market, Business Models and Execution, Business Plans, Financing, Intellectual Property, The People, Putting It Together, Final Presentations.
Articles and selected readings (on reserve at Feldberg, and/or online access):
Bhide, Amar. “Bootstrap Finance: The Art of Start-ups” Harvard Business Review (Nov/Dec 1992, Vol. 70 Issue 6): p. 109.
Bhide, Amar and Howard H. Stevenson. “Why Be Honest If Honesty Doesn't Pay” Harvard Business Review, (Sept/Oct 1990, Vol. 68 Issue 5): p. 121-129.
Gumpert, David E. and James McNeill Stancill. “How Much Money Does Your New Venture Need?” Harvard Business Review (May/June 1986, Vol. 64 Issue 3): p. 122.
Sahlman, William A. “How to Write a Great Business Plan” Harvard Business Review, July-August, 1997, pp. 98-108.
Tuck Honor Code and Intellectual Property
The Tuck Honor Code applies to your work in this course. If you have any questions concerning the application of the Honor Code in this course please do not hesitate to ask my advice.
During the course, you may be exposed to confidential information or proprietary materials from guest lecturers, class members, and the instructor. Improperly disclosing such information could cause competitive harm and reputation damage to Tuck. By enrolling in this course, you commit to safeguard the confidentiality of proprietary information and you commit not to disclose such materials outside of the course – including to peers not taking the course.
Please discuss with the instructor in advance any concerns you may have regarding public disclosures of potentially patentable concepts or inventions. The treatment of public disclosures, and their consequences, differ in US and international jurisdictions, and under certain conditions you may forfeit the opportunity to sustain a patent filing due to a public disclosure.
Laptop Policy
In order to promote class discussion and facilitate participation without distractions, please do not use laptops. Laptops may be used only during your presentations.
Attendance
Students are expected to attend every class session. Tuck policy does not recognize recruiting trips as excused absences from class. Per the Tuck Attendance Policy, please notify the instructor before class by email or phone if you are unable to attend a session due to illness, emergency, or an unavoidable conflict. Please contact the instructor at least a day in advance if you will be absent for non-emergency reasons. All excused absences, approved in advance by the instructor, will require the student to review the class session on videotape and submit to the instructor a thorough, written review of the material covered in class and takeaways relevant to the student’s class project. Missed Classes due to “unexcused” absences will negatively affect your class participation grade. Please see below a schedule of classes and topics. Check TuckStreams regularly for changes, primarily to visitors, whose schedules are subject to change. Class members will have first priority on access to visitors for office hours and meals.
Class Preparation and Participation
Class interaction is integral to the structure of the class; students are dependent on each other for attendance and participation. The value of this class experience is directly related to your level of preparation and active participation in each class session. Quality and quantity of participation are both important.
Grading
25% Preliminary drafts, plan sections – written sections and in-class presentations; market validation interviews; preliminary operations, financial and etc. sections
15% Due diligence reports
20% Final elevator pitch sheet, executive summary, business plan, and PPT presentation
20% Final presentation
20% Regular class participation
Peer Reviews
Two thirds of the grade in this class derives directly from the group project work. We will be doing two group dynamics assessments during the term for two reasons: we are interested in evaluating the group dynamics and learning more about how groups function, and we hope the assessment will be a factor in making for more effective group work.
To make the assessments, we will be using the spring peer survey (see Appendix 1, attached to hard copy of syllabus). Midway through the semester and again at the end, all group members will complete online a survey similar to the one you used in the first-year fall study group, and again with your FYP team. You will also be asked to allocate 100 points to your teammates based on each individual's contributions to both team process and deliverables, and also provide free-form comments to your fellow members. NOTE: the instructors will not see the results of the midterm assessment; each team member will only see results about him or her. We are doing this with the intention that these results be used to help improve group dynamics and performance. At the end of the semester, individuals will again see only their own results; the instructors will see the quantitative results of the survey, but not the comments.
If there are free-rider issues within groups, make every attempt to resolve them yourselves. Functional and productive team dynamics are critical in the start-up environment: dysfunctional team dynamics will be interpreted as evidence of failure to demonstrate successful mastery and application of the key content of the course. The value that individuals make to a team performance are important, and we will review survey results closely. Noticeably lower scores on the questions that assess team performance will have a direct impact on overall course grades. This may result in some variation in grades within a project team.
Grading
25% Preliminary drafts, plan sections – written sections and in-class presentations; market validation interviews; preliminary operations, financial and etc. sections written
15% Due diligence reports
20% Final elevator pitch, executive summary, business plan, and PPT presentation
20% Final presentation
20% Regular class participation
Schedule
09/17/2009
Class 1: Introduction and Case History, Tuck to Startups
Gregg Fairbrothers, D'76
Why are you taking this class and what do you hope to get out of it?
Course content and objectives
The startup process and the business plan assignment
Guest presentations: Tracy Sun T'05, Co-Founder, Established Today (www.EstToday.com)
G-Sport - Tuck, 2004-2005
Brooklyn Industries, 2005-2008
Make It My Own, EST Today, 2008-2009
Define idea-pitch project
Pitches in class of ideas by any students seeking team members
Teams self-select and organize
Prior to class Thursday, 9/17/09 read:
"The Heart of Entrepreneurship" (Stevenson and Gumpert, Harvard Business Review, March-April 1985)
The introduction to That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen (Bastiat, Frederic, 1850; Waking Lion Press, the Editorium, LLC)
09/18/2009
Class 2: Case History, Onyx and Animoto
Guest presentation: Brad Jefferson D'98, CEO & Co-Founder and Jason Hsiao D'98, President & Co-Founder, Animoto
Onyx
Animoto
Assignment: Prior to class Wednesday, 9/23/09, read "What Makes Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial?" (Sarasvathy, Saras D., Darden Business Publishing, 9/13/2005)
09/23/2009
Class 3: What Can You Do With Ideas?
Lecturer: Visiting entrepreneur, Mac Dougherty T'09, Co-Founder & CEO, Cognitive Electronics and Professor Gregg Fairbrothers D'76
Interplay of:
opportunity
markets
validation
business models
execution challenges
financing
and risk
Assignment: Due by 9:00AM, 9/24
Define project team and a startup idea
Limit of 3-5 members per team
Draft a preliminary idea summary (1 page), drop in electronic course folder (Word format, not PDF) PDFs will not be accepted.
Comments will be returned electronically
After this date, definition of projects will be considered committed and final for the duration of the term
Assignment: Prior to class Thursday, 9/24/09, read "X-IT and Kidde(A)" (Bagley and Lane; HBS Case 9-803-041, May 20, 2003) and prepare X-IT spreadsheet (available in course folder)
09/24/2009
Class 4: Intellectual Property and Execution: The Case of X-IT and Kidde
Lecturers: Professors Andy King and Gregg Fairbrothers D'76
Strategy: patents, trademarks and copyright
Execution and selling the company (or not)
NOTE: No class Wednesday, September 30, 2009. Class moved to Monday, October 5, 2009 3:00-4:30 p.m. to accommodate Professor Anderson.
Assignment:
PRIOR TO CLASS ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 5 Please read and be prepared to discuss Divers Delight case which is available in the course folder.
10/01/2009
Class 5: Financing
Lecturer: Professor Phil Ferneau D'84, T'96, Managing Director & Co-Founder, Borealis Ventures
Private Equity Financing
Capital Structures
Term Sheets
10/05/2009
Class 6: (SPECIAL SCHEDULE) CLASS WILL BE HELD FROM 3:00-4:30 PM IN STONEMAN ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 5 Sales, Marketing, Go-To-Market Strategies
Lecturer: Professor Howard Anderson, Senior Lecturer, Tuck; Founder, The Yankee Group; Co-Founder, Battery Venture Capital (Bill Porter Professor of Entrepreneurship at MIT, Professor Anderson teaches at MIT Wednesdays and Thursdays)
Developing a go-to-market strategy
Direct vs. indirect (channel) sales
Pilot customer programs
Sales pipelines and forecasts
Building and managing a sales team
10/07/2009
Class 7: Team Presentations and Feedback
Class session: presentations by teams of preliminary market section of plans
Who is the customer?
Market opportunity
Value proposition
Identified competition
Validation plan
Class feedback and discussion
Assignment: Due by 9:00 AM, 10/7
Need, market and market validation sections of the business plans (written and PPT) and written market validation interview summaries handed in at beginning of class.
Market validation interview summaries handed in at beginning of class (see #2 in assignments section above).
Drop in the electronic course folder (Word format, not PDF). PDFs will not be accepted. Comments will be returned.
10/08/2009
Class 8: Competing with Goliath
Lecturer: Matt Bolduc T'08
Assignment: By 9:00 AM, Wednesday, 10/14/09, read "Founder-CEO Succession at Wily Technology" (Wasserman and McCance; HBS Case 9-805-150, October 10, 2007) and "The Founder's Delimma" (Wasserman, Noah - Harvard Business Review, February 2008)
10/14/2009
Class 9: Case History - Wily & New Relic
Guest presentation: Lew Cirne D'93, Founding CEO, Wily Technology and New Relic
Case history, Wily Techonoly
Discussion, HBS case, "Founder-CEO Succession at Wily Technology" and "The Founder's Dilemma"
Presentation, New Relic
10/15/2009
Class 10: Liquidity Events - Selling Companies
Guest presentation: Peter Murphy D'84, CEO & Founder, Wentworth Capital Management, Apollo Management, L.P.
Selling to the strategic buyer
Perspectives from both sides of the table
Inegrating the purchased company - life after purchase
Assignment: Due by 5:00 PM, 10/15
Due diligence teams formed and target company allocations finalized. (see #3 in assingment section above).
Brenda Gray will maintain a listing for matching due diligence teams and companies.
October 19-23, 2009 - Break
October 19-23, 2009 - Break
Assignment: Due by 9:00 AM, 10/28/09
Financial, team, competition, and operations sections (written and PPT) handed in by 9:00 AM.
Drop in the electronic folder (Word format, not PDF). PDFs will not be accepted. Comments will be returned.
10/28/2009
Class 11: Toolkit Mini-Sessions
Class session: Three 25-minute mini-sessions by outside entrepreneurs, experts, and service providers on subjects of importance in entrepreneurial implementation. Pizza lunch and mixer after class.
Students will rotate between rooms to catch multiple sessions. Teams are encouraged to split up to cover more sessions.
Building a board (Byron Kalogerou D'83, McDermott, Will & Emery)
Venture term sheets (Phil Ferneau D'84, T'96, Borealis Ventures)
Attracting angel investment (Bob Molinari D'74, T'79, Medstars)
Online advertising (Matt Rightmire T'96, Borealis Ventures)
Incorporation (Rainey Hoffman D'93, The Carlyle Group)
Patent basics (Bill Loginov D'85, Loginov & Associates)
Copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets (Thomas Kohler, Downs, Rachlin & Martin)
Key legal agreements (Billie Audia, Zermatt Legal Group)
Compensation and HR basics - recruiting, hiring and compensation, splits (Peg Blout, Hypertherm)
10/29/2009
Class 12: Team Presentations and Feedback
Class session: presentations by teams of preliminary financial and operations section of business plans
Operating plan to execute
Competition and barriers-to-entry
Go-to-market strategy
Timeline
Capital raise (if applicable): sources and uses
Financial model:
operating, sales and major cost assumptions
pro forma I&E
cash flow/cash balance projection
Class feedback and discussion
11/04/2009
Class 13: Case History on RISK
Guest presentation: Dave Mott D'86, General Partner, New Enterprise Associates; Former President & CEO, Medimmune
Wall St. and biotech IPOx
Leaving Wall St.
Medimmune - startup biotech, to public company, to successful sale
Venture capital as a third career
11/05/2009
Class 14: Team Presentations and Feedback (continued)
Class session: presentations by teams of preliminary financial and operations section of plans
Operating plan to execute
Competition and barriers-to-entry
Go-to market strategy
Timeline
Capital raise (if applicable): sources and uses
Financial model:
operating, sales and major cost assumptions
pro forma I&E
cash flow/cash balance projection
Class feedback and discussion
Assignment: Prior to class Wednesday, 11/11/09, read Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath; Random House, 2007.
11/11/2009
Class 15: Presenting and Articulating
Lecturer: Gregg Fairbrother D'76
Made to Stick
Drivers of presentation success
Presentation exercises
11/12/2009
Class 16: Building Companies and Dealing with Investors
Guest presentation: Dick Kiphart D'63, Head of Corporate Finance, William Blair & Company
How to attract financing
Assessing risks intelligently
Monitoring progress to identify problems
Analyzing potential in real time
Defining failure points and reacting
When to change strategy or stop
How to shut down effectively
Lessons-learned: learning from mistakes
Assignment: Due by 9:00 AM, 11/11
Due diligence report
Preliminary elevator pitch sheet, executive summary, business plan, and PPT presentation handed in by 9:00 AM
Drop in the electronic course folder (Word format, not PDF). PDFs will not be accepted.
11/18/2009
Class 17: Case History: GlycloMimetics, Inc.
Guest presentation: Rachel King D'81, Co-Founder & CEO, GlycloMimetics, Inc.
Big pharma to VC to repeat-offender in startups
Med-tech entrepreneurship - special considerations
Assignment: Due by 5:00 PM, 11/18
Final versions of elevator pitch sheet (half page max), executive summary (one page preferred, two pages max), a written business plan and a PowerPoint presentation(10 slides max).
Handed in by 5:00 PM for inclusion in the presentation briefing book and loading to system.
Drop in the electronic course folder (Word format, not PDF). PDFs will not be accepted.
Note: this is a firm deadline as team materials need to be copied for briefing booklets assembled for each reviewer. Minor changes can be made after this deadline, but will not be incorporated in the booklets given to reviewers.
11/19/2009
Class 18: Case History: Putting it Together
Guest presentation: John Bello T'74, Founder JoNa Ventures; Co-Founder and Former CEO, SOBE
How to prepare to build successful companies and sell them successful
Life story:
Time in Corporate America
NFL Properties
SoBe - the Comeback Kid
Repeat offender
Venture captialist
11/20/2009
Final Presentations
Final Presentations: All student teams are required to present to a review panel of industry experts (entrepreneurs, VCs and angel investors) and attend the mixer and dinner following student presentations.
Friday, November 20, 2009, Noon to 5:00 PM - Presentations
Friday, November 20, 2009, 5:00-10:00 PM - Mixer & dinner with reviewers, Norwich Inn (more details to come)
The mixer and dinner is an opportunity not only to continue learning outside the classroom, but it is a great networking opportunity as well. Students considered last year's final event and dinner to be the capstone of the course.
Assignment: Due by Noon, 11/20
Each student team load presentation documents to the Tuck drive and be prepared to access in assigned classroom.
