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  • 1.  Integrating venture capitalists into an experiential entrepreneurship Capstone Course?

    Posted 02-05-2009 20:01

    Dear all,

     

    I currently teach a 2-semester experiential entrepreneurship Capstone Course sequence.  In the 1st full semester ('formulation'), students form teams to identify entrepreneurial opportunities, craft business proposals and make loan presentations to our local bank to acquire real-life funding (historically, up to $3k).  In the 2nd full semester ('implementation'), funded teams gather resources, launch, generate revenue, and exit.

     

    While the entrepreneurial opportunities identified by my students is OK, I can't help but think that the opportunities may be more sophisticated if they were to commercialize innovations from available technologies, or more generally, if they were better informed on a deeper level about the consumer problems/pains/needs or inventions/services that are available in particular industries.

     

    *Has anybody here had any experience substantially integrating venture capitalists or industry experts into an experiential entrepreneurship Capstone Course?*  So generally, my idea is that a venture capitalist or industry expert would visit my class and give a short presentation or elevator pitch regarding a consumer problem/pain/need and a possible basic technology/business model addressing it.  And ideally s/he would also have access to resources or capabilities that could help implement the resulting business plan.  The student team choosing to tackle that venture would then present to the venture capitalist/industry expert instead of the bank, and if satisfactory, that individual would fund the operation of the venture.  (Of course, I'm still picturing an implementation time 'window' of 3-4 months for the venture/project, and seed funding on the order of only thousands of dollars.)

     

    I'm familiar with some formal university-sponsored competitions that are structurally similar in nature, but not precisely the same.

     

    Curious whether anybody is actually offering a course that implements a feature like the one that I describe above... Would love to here any thoughts or see any syllabi, can send to hsiehc@mst.edu...

     

    Cheers!

    -CMH

    ------------------------------------------
    Dr. Chihmao Hsieh
    Assistant Professor
    Department of Business and Information Technology
    <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Missouri</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place> of Science & Technology
    email: hsiehc at mst dot edu
    http://www.mst.edu/~hsiehc

     

     


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  • 2.  Integrating venture capitalists into an experiential entrepreneurship Capstone Course?

    Posted 02-06-2009 17:05
    Chihmao-

    I urge to to contact your local SCORE chapter. It may have members from
    backgrounds that would meet your needs.

    Regards, Marty

    Martin Asdorian Jr., Ph.D.
    SCORE Counselor


    -----Original Message-----
    From: Hsieh, Chihmao <hsiehc@MST.EDU>
    To: ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Sent: Thu, 5 Feb 2009 7:01 pm
    Subject: [ENTREP] Integrating venture capitalists into an experiential
    entrepreneurship Capstone Course?






























    Dear all,



     



    I currently teach a 2-semester experiential entrepreneurship
    Capstone Course sequence.  In the 1st full semester (‘formulation’),
    students form teams to identify entrepreneurial opportunities, craft
    business
    proposals and make loan presentations to our local bank to acquire
    real-life
    funding (historically, up to $3k).  In the 2nd full semester
    (‘implementation’),
    funded teams gather resources, launch, generate revenue, and exit.



     



    While the entrepreneurial opportunities identified by my
    students is OK, I can’t help but think that the opportunities may be
    more
    sophisticated if they were to commercialize innovations from available
    technologies,
    or more generally, if they were better informed on a deeper level about
    the
    consumer problems/pains/needs or inventions/services that are available
    in
    particular ind
    ustries.



     



    *Has anybody here had any
    experience substantially integrating venture capitalists or industry
    experts into
    an experiential entrepreneurship Capstone Course?*  So
    generally, my idea is that a venture capitalist or industry expert
    would visit
    my class and give a short presentation or elevator pitch regarding a
    consumer
    problem/pain/need and a possible basic technology/business model
    addressing it.
     And ideally s/he would also have access to resources or capabilities
    that
    could help implement the resulting business plan.  The student team
    choosing to tackle that venture would then present to the venture
    capitalist/industry
    expert instead of the bank, and if satisfactory, that individual would
    fund the
    operation of the venture.  (Of course, I’m still picturing an
    implementation time ‘window’ of 3-4 months for the venture/project,
    and seed funding on the order of only thousands of dollars.)



     



    I’m familiar with some formal university-sponsored competitions
    that are structurally similar in nature, but not precisely the same.



     



    Curious whether anybody is actually offering a course that
    implements a feature like the one that I describe above… Would love to
    here
    any thoughts or see any syllabi, can send to hsiehc@mst.edu...



     



    Cheers!



    -CMH



    -----------------------
    -------------------

    Dr.
    Chihmao Hsieh

    Assistant Professor

    Department of Business and Information Technology

    Missouri University of Science & Technology

    email: hsiehc at mst dot edu

    http://www.mst.edu/~hsiehc



     



     









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    2/4/2009 4:35 PM



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    **************************************
    This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management.

    Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list.

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    Ventures HO!


  • 3.  Integrating venture capitalists into an experiential entrepreneurship Capstone Course?

    Posted 02-06-2009 17:44

    Chihmao,

     

    Your mission to further advance MBA education is not only valid but sorely needed by industry and many of smaller chaotic environments where they will find themselves employed. There a two parts to my comments:

    1.     Of late, my observations are that MBA entrepreneurship courses over emphasize the business plan and how to present to VC's. The current state of the venture capitalist and corporate R &D behavior is to become more risk averse and thus conservatively move their funding to later stage deals – meaning those with fully developed products and most likely achieving reasonable revenue. Their perspectives may be far, far away from a possible innovation or consumer want/need. Therefore, opinions your students will hear from guest VC's or industry experts will certainly be biased. Additionally, venture capital funds typically do not fund nascent "innovations" thus their comments would not be coincident with novel ideas the students may find or be asked to consider. Recall, the  definition of innovation is an idea that may provide new value BUT has not been proved feasible to pursue. So, adding a new component such a VC's may be a mis-match with your objectives.

     

    2.     You could consider inviting product development managers of several disciplines to describe their methods to sort through novel ideas they must process, steps taken to compare the idea's potential value with existing methods, milestones and indicated performance that must be achieved to meet corporate risk/reward criteria and funding to reach feasibility, development, business planning and launch. Any employer would be very excited to hire an MBA that understands this part of enterprise building. Obviously, these actions apply for investor – angel or VC funding. The chart below, taken from my blog – http://pocmanagers.blogspot.com illuminates the very torturous path a novel ideas must travel.

     

                        

               Event

        Timetable

      Investment

    Survival Rate

    # of Projects

    Novel idea

    Immediate

    Zero

    100%

    1,000

    Rejected - too early/late

    4 weeks

    Listen time

    40%

    400

    Sifting for Reality

    3 months

    $5 - 10K

    50%

    200

    Proof of Concept

    1/2 - 2 yrs

    25 - 100K

    60%

    120

    Development

    1 - 2 yrs

    250K - 2M

    50%

    60

    Pre-Market -Beta

    6 - 9 months

    1M

    80%

    50

    Product Launch

    3 - 9 months

    1 - 2M

    75%

    40

    Revenue/Growth

    2 - 4 yrs

    3 - 5M

    30%

    12

    Cash-Out – from launch

    5 – 7 yrs

    40%

    5

    Cum Totals

    9.5 yrs

    $7.2 million

    0.50%

                 (C) The Proof of Concept Institute, Inc. 2008                                      Estimates based on author's 40+ years of experience

    Hope I have added to your considerations to improve the courses.

     

    Jack Savidge

    The Proof of Concept Institute, Inc

    La Jolla, California

    jsavidge@pocinstitute.org

     

     

    From: Entrepreneurship Division Listserv [mailto:ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Hsieh, Chihmao
    Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2009 5:01 PM
    To: ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: [ENTREP] Integrating venture capitalists into an experiential entrepreneurship Capstone Course?

     

    Dear all,

     

    I currently teach a 2-semester experiential entrepreneurship Capstone Course sequence.  In the 1st full semester ('formulation'), students form teams to identify entrepreneurial opportunities, craft business proposals and make loan presentations to our local bank to acquire real-life funding (historically, up to $3k).  In the 2nd full semester ('implementation'), funded teams gather resources, launch, generate revenue, and exit.

     

    While the entrepreneurial opportunities identified by my students is OK, I can't help but think that the opportunities may be more sophisticated if they were to commercialize innovations from available technologies, or more generally, if they were better informed on a deeper level about the consumer problems/pains/needs or inventions/services that are available in particular industries.

     

    *Has anybody here had any experience substantially integrating venture capitalists or industry experts into an experiential entrepreneurship Capstone Course?*  So generally, my idea is that a venture capitalist or industry expert would visit my class and give a short presentation or elevator pitch regarding a consumer problem/pain/need and a possible basic technology/business model addressing it.  And ideally s/he would also have access to resources or capabilities that could help implement the resulting business plan.  The student team choosing to tackle that venture would then present to the venture capitalist/industry expert instead of the bank, and if satisfactory, that individual would fund the operation of the venture.  (Of course, I'm still picturing an implementation time 'window' of 3-4 months for the venture/project, and seed funding on the order of only thousands of dollars.)

     

    I'm familiar with some formal university-sponsored competitions that are structurally similar in nature, but not precisely the same.

     

    Curious whether anybody is actually offering a course that implements a feature like the one that I describe above... Would love to here any thoughts or see any syllabi, can send to hsiehc@mst.edu...

     

    Cheers!

    -CMH

    ------------------------------------------
    Dr. Chihmao Hsieh
    Assistant Professor
    Department of Business and Information Technology
    Missouri University of Science & Technology
    email: hsiehc at mst dot edu
    http://www.mst.edu/~hsiehc

     

     

     

    No virus found in this outgoing message.
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    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu. Ventures HO!

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu. Ventures HO!


  • 4.  Integrating venture capitalists into an experiential entrepreneurship Capstone Course?

    Posted 02-09-2009 18:32
    Dear Chihmao
     
    I had VCs and entrepreneurs as an integral part of the teaching team. I would generally look after the theoretical and some practical aspects (I used to be an entrepreneur). Then VCs would break down initial presentations (and analysis) and help students rebuild their proposals/plans to a much more meaningful level.
     
    Hope this helps. Please feel free to contact me if you need more specifics.
     
    Cheers
    Bill
     
    Dr. Želimir William Todorovic
    Division Chair, Entrepreneurship and Family Division, Administrative Sciences Association of Canada
    Guest Editor, Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business
     
    Richard T. Doermer School of Business and Management
    Indiana - Purdue University, Fort Wayne
    2101 E. Coliseum Blvd.
    Fort Wayne, Indiana, 46805-1499
    Web:http://users.ipfw.edu/todorovz/
    (260) 481 6940
    ----- Original Message -----
    Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2009 8:01 PM
    Subject: [ENTREP] Integrating venture capitalists into an experiential entrepreneurship Capstone Course?

    Dear all,

     

    I currently teach a 2-semester experiential entrepreneurship Capstone Course sequence.  In the 1st full semester ('formulation'), students form teams to identify entrepreneurial opportunities, craft business proposals and make loan presentations to our local bank to acquire real-life funding (historically, up to $3k).  In the 2nd full semester ('implementation'), funded teams gather resources, launch, generate revenue, and exit.

     

    While the entrepreneurial opportunities identified by my students is OK, I can't help but think that the opportunities may be more sophisticated if they were to commercialize innovations from available technologies, or more generally, if they were better informed on a deeper level about the consumer problems/pains/needs or inventions/services that are available in particular industries.

     

    *Has anybody here had any experience substantially integrating venture capitalists or industry experts into an experiential entrepreneurship Capstone Course?*  So generally, my idea is that a venture capitalist or industry expert would visit my class and give a short presentation or elevator pitch regarding a consumer problem/pain/need and a possible basic technology/business model addressing it.  And ideally s/he would also have access to resources or capabilities that could help implement the resulting business plan.  The student team choosing to tackle that venture would then present to the venture capitalist/industry expert instead of the bank, and if satisfactory, that individual would fund the operation of the venture.  (Of course, I'm still picturing an implementation time 'window' of 3-4 months for the venture/project, and seed funding on the order of only thousands of dollars.)

     

    I'm familiar with some formal university-sponsored competitions that are structurally similar in nature, but not precisely the same.

     

    Curious whether anybody is actually offering a course that implements a feature like the one that I describe above... Would love to here any thoughts or see any syllabi, can send to hsiehc@mst.edu...

     

    Cheers!

    -CMH

    ------------------------------------------
    Dr. Chihmao Hsieh
    Assistant Professor
    Department of Business and Information Technology
    <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Missouri</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place> of Science & Technology
    email: hsiehc at mst dot edu
    http://www.mst.edu/~hsiehc

     

     


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    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu. Ventures HO!
    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu. Ventures HO!


  • 5.  Integrating venture capitalists into an experiential entrepreneurship Capstone Course?

    Posted 02-10-2009 11:27
    Co-teaching has been an integral part of almost all of our entrepreneurship classes at Saint Louis University. We've used people from VC and private equity firms, high-tech businesses, and regular small businesses. The original thinking behind this was published as Katz,  J.A.  (1995).  Managing practitioners in the entrepreneurship class. Simulation & Gaming, September, 26 (3), 361-375 and the latest version is presented at the Experiential Classroom in the Fall. When possible, we recruit co-teachers from people who have done a good job in the preparatory sequence (mentoring students, judging student projects, and finally lecturing in the class). We also take referrals from successful co-teachers sonce they know what we are looking for.

    We also have established regular pipelines of ideas - from our university's tech transfer office, from the engineering school and medical school, and through our board and teaching team to the larger community. As the Wall Street Journal mentioned a couple of weeks ago we charge businesses like Solutia and start-up entrepreneurs (but the amounts differ, see http://www.slu.edu/x17909.xml for details). BTW, the funds go into the program fund to support co-teachers, student travel and other class costs. Realize there is a real advantage to the plans our students can do. As professors, we can cold call leading experts (folks a start-up entrepreneur might not have the nerve or money to call) and ask them to advise or judge a business plan being done by students for an entrepreneur. Note that we get clearance from our entrepreneur or corporate client before contacting any potential judge - we want to make sure we protect proprietary information as best we can. The experts are usually very positive about helping out. In addition, with the professor, co-teacher and judges/advisors adding their 2-cents, the idea will get a much fuller treatment than is typical.

    Hope this helps.
    Jerry

    Jerome A. Katz
    Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship
    John Cook School of Business, Saint Louis University
    3674 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis MO 63108 USA
    314-977-3864w; -1484f; 314-275-8721h; -7513h/f
    katzja@slu.edu, http://eweb.slu.edu
    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu. Ventures HO!