Intro to Entrepreneurship & Innovation

ENTR200 Spring 2008

Be Disruptive

Henry (Hank) Feeser, Ph.D.

YABI.biz, ecloset.biz, wikigroupwriter.com , thinkbeta.com, entr200.com, feeser.net, nesep.com, marathonconnection.com, entr201.com, cyopatabbas.org

Course blog: www.thinkbeta.com/blog

Course Web Site:  www.entr200.comConcept Map

Detailed Course Material (Moodle) www.entr200.com/moodle

Course e-mail:  hank@entr200.com

Office & Hours: BDM Center 220B - Tues/Thurs by appointment; Ph: 494-1314

Required Textbook: Entrepreneurship: Successfully Launching New Ventures Second Edition (2008), Barringer & Ireland (ISBN: 0-13-224057-2)

Overview: This syllabus is designed to be a guide for ENTR200.  As we go along, I will be updating the web site to reflect changes in scheduling, readings, etc. Iwill often distribute class materials, extra material, or references via the class web site, specifically, www.entr200.com/moodle.  This may include PowerPoint slides, video clips and/or links, required assignments, and other timely material.  Moodle is as much a part of your course requirements as textbook readings or class discussion.  In general, we will discuss the background provided in the assigned reading in the textbook on Tuesday, followed by application via discussion, team presentations, and case/class discussion on Thursday. Starting our second meeting, in rotation, two teams per class meeting will be making a stand-up ad hoc five minute presentation on subjects that I assign. In general, the topics will be new startups. Teams will be expected to discuss their product/service offering, is it ten times better than what’scurrently out there, how they appear to be making money, and would the team invest in the startup, given the opportunity. The assignments for this activity are linked from Moodle.

Course Objectives: This course exposes students to fundamental concepts involved in entrepreneurial thinking, followed by the formulation and execution of successful business startup strategies.This course has a substantial communications component.  Entrepreneurial ideas are useless without the ability to communicate them clearly and concisely. The majority of successful entrepreneurial firms are a direct result of team effort. Therefore, we will have teams making both oral and written presentations in support of their analysis of entrepreneurial activity. Our model of entrepreneurial activity is based on extant strategic management concepts employing a global perspective. The course will operate real-time, using current business examples throughout to illustrate entrepreneurship concepts. ENTR200 is the first course in the 5-course sequence leading to a Certificate in Entrepreneurship.

Grading Policy:                                                        

A > 900 points                                                       

B: 800-899 points             

C: 700-799 points             

D: 600-699 points

F: < 600 points

Graded Assignments:

Chapter Quizzes:                       150 points, 10 each, 15 chapters (individual)

Failure Case Quizzes:              100 points, 10 each, 10 cases (individual)

Concept Statement:                    100 points (team) - due week six

Primary Research:                        100 points (team) - due week six

Mid Term:                       150 points (100 team presentation interview, 50 individual paper)

CCS:                                100 points (team effort, 50 points presentation, 50 written)

Cases-failure:                    100 points (50 points oral, 50 points written/Failure Mode paper)

Cases-success:                            100 points (all oral, 50 team, 50 individual)

Class work & participation: 100 points (50 blog participation, 50 my perception)

Total possible points: 1000

Exams: The Mid-Term exam will consist of both a team effort and an individual component. The team effort is a video interview with an entrepreneur resulting in a 5-7 minute video posted on www.viddler.com. Teams will present their interviews in class, and the class will vote on the most impressive effort. Grades will be based on ranking of class votes. Individuals will submit a 5-7 page paper on what they learned from the interview. The final exam due the last regular class meeting is a Comprehensive Concept Statement (CCS) which is also to be prepared by assigned teams. Teams will make a 6 minute presentation to class of the CCS last day of class. Grades will be based on class ranking (50 points) and paper (50 points). Details are linked in Moodle.

Cases: Ten teams will be formed. Team membership will be assigned due to students having a class standing of freshman to Ph.D. student, and coming from all colleges. Team assignments will be posted on Moodle. Starting with Tucker on Thursday, 2/7/08, teams will present their analysis of the assigned cases addressing as a minimum items 1-5 below. The analysis should be timed to cover all salient points within a half an hour time limit. I will critique the team’s analysis following their presentation. Evaluation will be based 50% on the overall team presentation, and 50% on individuals, i.e., 25 points total for the team, and 25 points total for the individual, for a total of 50 possible points per student. Each team will:

a. Research their assigned company, and write a "Failure Mode" paper covering as a minimum the following:
      (1) Intro with time line
      (2) Solved what problem & how
      (3) Better than what was available? 10X?
      (4) Specific analysis why succeeded/failed
      (5) Lessons learned/what could-should have been done differently
      (6) Bibliography
     

The paper is weighted 50 points for each team member, should be 5 pages in length, and is due the day of the team’s oral presentation.
   b. The teams will be required to make a presentation based on their paper and research.
   c. A quiz for all class members will be posted on Moodle and is required.

   d. On the same date, teams will start presenting the assigned cases from the book. The presentations should be keyed toward the questions presented, but are not limited to same. It is expected that teams update the material provided in the text cases to the best of their abilities.

The same format will be followed for the success cases, except no paper is required.

Quizzes: We will be covering all 15 chapters in the text. Every Tuesday (first week Thursday) of the week during which a chapter is covered in class there will be a ten question, ten point quiz available on Moodle. All students are required to take this quiz. In addition, there are 10 quizzes covering the 10 failure cases. You will have to stay current in both the textbook assignments AND studying of Failure Cases. There are a total of 250 points based on quizzes.

Participation: Your participation is the single most essential factor in determining the success of this class. I prefer to talk “with” the class rather than “to” the class.   This class is very unique and a team of students will be much more productive than a group of individuals. Therefore, Iwill be relying on you to help develop an environment that is conducive to learning. I expect you to arrive on time and prepared. Most importantly, I expect you to take an active role in the discussion by asking good questions, raising interesting points, and taking part in individual and team assignments. Making meaningful comments and active involvement in the provided blog is considered to be part of your required participation in this class. Participation is evaluated as follows:

General Rules:

While I find that most students are eager to contribute to an atmosphere of learning, I do have a few guidelines I expect to be met as a minimum:

1.              Please, do not be late for class.  It is very disrupting to have students coming into class after we have started.  If you have a schedule conflict that regularly prevents you from being punctual, please see me. I realize that Jischke/BMED is distant from the main campus – fly to class!

2.              If you need to miss class for some legitimate reason, please do not contact me to find out what we did, or are going to do.  You should contact a classmate/team member to find out what we covered.  Do not contact me to find out if it is “OK” to miss class.  As an entrepreneur, you cannot skip business meetings, be unprepared, or otherwise flake out. Anyone with health or personal problems that requires absence from multiple classes should notify the Dean of Students Office. Regardless of your situation, you are expected to complete all required class work as scheduled. Letters from the Dean of Students are NOT “magic” passes.

3.              Attendance is your decision.  Absenteeism is a problem when you miss more than two classes per semester. You have one absence of your choice (sick, whatever); you will be docked one full letter grade for each absence thereafter. Attendance may be taken in unique ways – biometric, Purdue Student ID scan, quiz, by teams……

4.              Late papers, assignments, projects, etc. will not be accepted at all except for prearranged medical, family emergency, and University-sanctioned reasons (sports, etc.) 

5. If you need to make an appointment with me to discuss a business idea, be ready with a elevator pitch – what’s the problem you are solving, how are you solving it, why is your solution 10X better than existing solutions, etc. Be prepared!

6. If I cannot decipher your handwriting, that’s your problem, not mine. Write legibly!

Class Rules: You are expected to deport yourselves in class as if attending an important VC or board meeting. This means: no reading of outside material, listening to tunes on iPods, no disruptive behavior, no cell phones, etc. Violators will lose class points and may be asked to leave. There will be no cheating and no plagiarism of material – cite all references! Violators will receive a zero on the assignment, and the Dean of Students’ Office will be notified in conjunction with university policy on academic dishonesty.

Just about all new businesses today have web sites associated with their launch. It is important that entrepreneurship students understand at least the basics of what web sites are all about. Teams are requiredto mash up a basic web site supporting their proposed business concept captured in the Comprehensive Concept Statement (CCS) submitted at the completion of this course. More details will be provided on Moodle and in class.

  Weekly Course Schedule (See Moodle for updates)