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BMA5108/ TR5105 – Technopreneurship

Course Outline

Aims and Objectives


This course aims to provide a hands-on introduction to the scalable venture creation
process for students with a strong interest in technology entrepreneurship
(“technopreneurship”). Technopreneurship does not necessarily mean starting a high-tech
business; it means starting a business with the potential to grow to a significant size.

Modes
Classes will consist of both lectures and interactive workshops, both of which are
compulsory. The lectures and workshops will facilitate the construction of the business
plan. Relevant topics will be covered as the plans are developed and workshops will be
used at plan milestones. Both lectures and workshops will include discussions with active
participation. Experiential and creative-thought-development in-class exercises will also
be included.

Students are expected to:

• Make several in-class presentations.


• Participate actively in class,
• Engage in problem solving and group discussions.
• Read and solve problems as part of preparation for class.
• Meet with their project teams outside of class
• Work in a team to prepare a written business plan

Prerequisites
No pre-requisites except a strong interest in being involved with a start-up.

Schedule
Session Date Day Topic

1 9-Aug Tues Course overview: Why Entrepreneurship and Ideas

2 16-Aug Tues More Ideas, Value Proposition and the Business Plan

3 23-Aug Tues Creative problem-solving and Innovation

4 30-Aug Tues Market and Competitive Analysis


5 6-Sept Tues Marketing Strategy

6 13-Sept Tues Building, Managing and Motivating teams

MTB 20- Sept Tues Mid-Term Break

7 27- Sept Tues Legal Issues, Intellectual Property and its Protection

8 4-Oct Tues Financial management, valuation and forecasting

9 11- Oct Tues Fund Raising and the Financial Markets

10 18- Oct Tues Winning Negotiations

11 25- Oct Tues Managing Growth and Going Global

12 1- Nov Tues Effective Presentations

13 13-Nov Tues Final Business Plan Presentations

Synopsis
The course provides an overview of the major elements of high technology
entrepreneurial activity, including evaluation and planning of a new business, financing,
team building, typical marketing and operational management issues, alternative models
for revenue and growth, and exit strategies

The course is fast-paced and covers a wide span of business subjects, with a strong focus
on the key challenges in starting a venture and their practical solutions. Students with no
business training are expected to read up on their own additional background materials,
or consult and learn from their classmates, where necessary.

The course utilizes lectures, class discussions of weekly assignments and guest speakers.
A team business plan for an entrepreneurial venture is required. Class sessions are
supplemented by after-class discussions during scheduled consultation hours. An
electronic discussion forum will also be established in the course website for discussion
among class participants (see below).

The course will seek to bring in regular guest speakers from Singapore as well as the U.S
who are prominent actors in high tech start-ups, including successful high tech founders,
VCs, lawyers, etc. Planned guest speakers will vary from year to year, but will typically
include founders of high tech firms, senior partners of VC firms and experienced business
angel investors, and other experienced venture support professionals like law firms
specializing in working with start-ups. Students are encouraged to recommend relevant
speakers as well. In addition to the two listed instructors, there will be several additional
adjunct teaching staff from industry who will contribute guest lectures and provide
mentoring and supervision of student teams. A teaching assistant (to be announced) will
also be appointed to assist in administrative matters. The instructors, together with
additional adjunct teaching staff, will be available during regularly scheduled hours for
counseling the class teams on the creation of their business plans. TEAMS ARE
STRONGLY ADVISED TO MEET WITH THE SUPERVISORS REGULARLY TO
IMPROVE THEIR BUSINESS PLANS AND PRESENTATIONS.
Syllabus

Guest Class
Session Date Day Topic Lecturer speaker Milestone Assigned readings Class links Exercises
Course overview: Why Team Kuratko Chap 1, 2, 4 why_entrepreneurship_0105_short.
1 9-Aug Tues Entrepreneurship and Ideas Douglas formation Lang Chap 1 ppt
new_ideas.ppt
Kuratko Chap 7, 10, 11 next_big_thing_0105.ppt
Shane Chap 1, 2, 3 Business_model_detail.doc
More Ideas, Value Proposition Lang Chap. 2 Business_plan_outline.doc
2 16-Aug Tues and the Business Plan Douglas TBD Kawasaki Chap 1,2 Business_plan_detail.doc
Creative Problem-Solving and Idea
3 23-Aug Tues Innovation Douglas submission Kuratko Chap 5 Creative_problem_solving-short.ppt
Kuratko Chap 8
Shane Chap 4, 5
Market and Competitive Moore Chap 1,2
4 30-Aug Tues Analysis Douglas Lang Chap 13 market_identification and sca.ppt
Shane Chap 6, 8
Idea Moore Chap 3,4
5 6-Sept Tues Marketing Strategy Douglas TBD approved Lang Chap 14
Kuratko Chap 16
Building, Managing and Shane Chap 9 Team building
6 13-Sept Tues Motivating Teams Douglas Weitraut & Barr Chap 4,6 teams.ppt experiential exercise
st
1 draft BP
MTB 20- Sept Tues Mid-Term Break NA due
Kuratko Chap 12, 13
Shane Chap 7
Legal Issues, Intellectual Lang Chap 3
7 27- Sept Tues Property and its Protection Douglas TBD Bagley & Dauchy Chap 3

Financial Management, Kuratko Chap 9, 14, 18 make_money.ppt


8 4-Oct Tues Valuation and Forecasting Douglas Shane Chap 10 proforma.xls
nd
Fund Raising and the Financial 2 draft BP
9 11- Oct Tues Markets Douglas due Weintraut & Barr Chap 14

Negotiation
10 18- Oct Tues Winning Negotiations Douglas experiential exercise
Managing Growth and Going
11 25- Oct Tues Global Douglas TBD Kuratko Chap 17

Presentation
12 1- Nov Tues Effective Presentations Douglas Final BP due Lang Chap 18 effective_presentations.ppt exercise

Final Business Plan


13 13-Nov Tues Presentations Douglas Final BP Pres
Assessment
The course will have no final written exam and will be 100% based on the following
continuing assessment components:

Participation (25%)
Participation marks will depend on in-class participation as well as the individual’s
contribution to the final business plan. All team members will be required to write peer
reviews.

Business Plan (50%)


Plans will be evaluated on the quality of the idea, and the thoroughness and
professionalism of the plan. A successful plan will be one that could be submitted to a
VC and would be seriously considered for funding.

Teams are required to submit 2 drafts before the final business plan. The drafts will not
be graded but any late submission will count towards penalty points in the final business
plan.

Business plans are restricted to a maximum of 25 pages.

Presentation (25%)
Presentations will be evaluated on their persuasiveness and professionalism. A successful
presentation will be one that resulted in the examiners wanting to schedule a follow up
meeting to discuss the plan.

Participation marks will be by individual. Presentation and Business Plan marks will be
by group.

Students are required to be prepared to be called on randomly in class to respond to


questions, to make presentations, etc.
Text & Readings
Textbook, Cases and Other Reading Materials
The textbooks for the course are Scott Shane’s Finding Fertile Ground: Identifying Extraordinary
Opportunities for New Ventures (2005) and Kuratko and Hodgetts’ Entrepreneurship: Theory,
Process, Practice (6th Ed). In addition to that, various articles and cases will be assigned for
additional reading and class discussion; these will either be handed out in class, or where they
are available via the internet, students will be provided with the relevant URL link via the IVLE
course website.

The following supplementary readings, while not required, are highly recommended:

Practical Entrepreneurship Guides


1. Bagley,C. and C.Dauchy(1998), The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law, West
2. Berndt,S.(1997), The 10 Commandments for Building a Growth Company (3rd Ed.),
Archipelago Press
3. Kawasaki, G. (1999), Rules for Revolutionaries, Harper Business
4. Lang, J.(2002), The High Tech Entrepreneur's Handbook, Ft.com
5. Weintraut,J.N. and C.Barr(2002), Lightspeed Business, Wiley
6. Nesheim, John L., High Tech Start Up: The Complete Handbook for Creating Successful
New High Tech Companies, The Free Press

More Scholarly Work on the Entrepreneurship Process


1. Bhide,A.(2000), The Origins and Evolution of New Businesses, Oxford University Press
2. Lee,C.M. et.al (2000), The Silicon Valley Edge, Stanford Business Press
3. Roberts,E.B.(1994), High Technology Entrepreneurship, Oxford University Press
4. Stevenson,H.H. et.al. (1999), New Business Ventures and the Entrepreneur, (5th ed.),
McGraw-Hill
5. Geoffrey Moore, Crossing the Chasm
6. Paulos, John Allen (2003), A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market, Basic Books

Journalistic Accounts of High Tech Start Ups and Silicon Valley


1. Kaplan,J.(1994), Start Up: A Silicon Valley Venture, Houghton Mifflin
2. Wolff,M.(1998), Burn Rate: How I Survive the Gold Rush Years on the Internet, Simon &
Schuster
3. Branson,P.(1999), The Nudist on the Late Night Shift and other Tales of Silicon Valley,
Broadway Books
4. Kaplan,D.(1999), The Silicon Boys and their Valley of Dreams, Perennial
5. Komisar(2000), The Monk and the Riddle: Education of a Silicon Valley Entrepreneur,
Harvard Business School Press
6. Kuo,D. (2002), dot.bomb: My days and nights at an Internet Goliath, Little Brown
7. Michael Wolff (1999), Burn Rate: How I Survived the Gold Rush Years on the Internet,
Touchstone Books
8. David Sheff (2002), China Dawn: The Story of a Technology and Business Revolution,
HarperBusiness

Time and Venue


Lectures will be held every Tuesday, 6 pm - 9 pm at Conference Room A, NUS Business
School. (BIZ 1 Building, 04-24)
Milestones and Deadlines

Session Date Day Milestone

1 9-Aug Tues Team formation

3 23-Aug Tues Idea submission

5 6-Sept Tues Idea approved

MTB 20-Sept Tues 1st draft Business Plan due

9 11-Oct Tues 2nd draft Business Plan due

12 1-Nov Tues Final Business Plan due

13 8-Nov Tues Final Business Plan Presentations

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