ENTR 6020 Business Formation (4 cr.) This course focuses on issues that are important at the launch and development of a business from concept development through business entry, either as a startup or through an acquisition. It covers opportunity identification and evaluation, entry strategy, competitive analysis and business planning, forecasting and budgeting from a “blank slate,” resource markets and resource assembly, and problems/ opportunities from concept stage through establishment of a viable business. The goals of this course are to develop the ability to:
- Spot, select, and evaluate business opportunities for independent, and corporate, ventures.
- Understand how to evaluate the competitive advantage (or lack of it) and forecast potential revenues of the business concept.
- Develop marketing, operating and financing plans, identify types and levels of resources required to launch and monitor the business venture.
ENTR 6021 Preparing and Implementing the Business Plan (2 cr.) Students work collaboratively under the direction of the course instructor to develop and implement business plans for their “own” business venture launch. The course includes weekly class meetings where each team of students presents aspects of their business plan: at various times these may include the 'elevator pitch,' company mission, product/ service value proposition, customer and market segmentation, competitive analysis, business strategy, marketing plan and financial projections. Students analyze and provide feedback on each other’s plans. Students without a business concept will be grouped with others who have business ideas that they wish to pursue in the “real world”.
ENTR 6023 Financing Business Ventures (4 cr.) This course is designed for students who are interested in the venture field as potential entrepreneurs interested in starting, joining or acquiring their own businesses; as an intermediary/consultant; or as a financier. The course objectives are to help students achieve an understanding of how America ’s financing system works for all types of business ventures – with an emphasis on financing of high-growth ventures. Students will learn how to translate a business plan to a financing plan; to develop alternate financing plans for a specific business/plan; choosing the “best” one based on financial and non-financial criteria; types of non-Fortune 1,000-type businesses – as financiers view them; financial institutions in the U.S., what they finance and their financing criteria; financing instruments used to finance business ventures in the U.S. – when to use them and why. Methods used: cases, exercises, developing financing plans, guest speakers.
ENTR 6036 Growing the Independent Business (2 cr.) This course deals with the unique challenges posed by rapid growth and change in newly-formed independent startups, including infrastructure development, radical changes in strategy, continuous needs for substantial additional resources. Intellectual work in the course emphasizes analysis of factors accelerating and impeding growth; and review and creation of "growth strategies," which may present issues different from strategy decisions typical of established firms. Integration of concepts from strategy, operations, marketing, finance, and human resource management. Focus is on the small fraction of new firms that grow to account for most of the wealth created by new businesses. Intended for students who plan to manage their own businesses or to hold senior management positions in new, rapidly growing firms. Format includes cases, short group projects, guest speakers.
ENTR 6037 Corporate Venturing (2 cr). Formation and/or acquisition of new businesses within established corporations. Focus on the entrepreneurial role of top management in maintaining and increasing stakeholder value of corporations through the formation or acquisition of new businesses, new products, or new markets. Examination of strategic role of corporate venturing in survival and prosperity of corporation, and analysis and development of strategies for successful venturing. Integration of concepts from quality, marketing, strategy and finance. Intended for students interested in career paths aimed at positions in new product and business development, corporate venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, or management consulting. Format includes cases, guest speakers, short group projects.
ENTR 6041 New Product Design and Business Development (6 cr.—2 semesters**)This is a nine-month intensive course on new product design and business development. Engineering and business students work in teams on “real” product development projects sponsored by business organizations to design prototype products and develop business plans for their commercialization. Students gain “hands-on” experience and develop skills in technology management under close supervision of a faculty advisor and executives from the sponsoring company. In an interactive setting, students learn about the new product development process, project management, information sharing and collaboration. “Short-cycle” development process is emphasized. Methods used: Lectures, workshops, guest speakers, team meetings, company visits and project work. This course is a university-wide initiative offered jointly by the Carlson school of Management and the Institute of Technology for preparing students for leadership positions in a cross-functional environment. It is team-taught by six full-time faculty and experts from industry, drawing on a wealth of classroom and industry experience. The course is designed for students interested in general management or business consulting. It is particularly appropriate for engineers interested in management career or business students interested in technology intensive companies. The course is strongly recommended to students interested in new product development/technology management and/or marketing.
MBA 6503 Carlson Ventures Enterprise (6 cr.**- 2 1/2 semesters) The course provides highly-motivate students with the skills and knowledge to identify and screen new business opportunities, evaluate the value proposition, and present concepts to prospective investors. Students learn to develop the potential of the venture so that it better meets the needs of formal sources of funding. Students run the course as their own early stage investment company; they take a direct hand in the selection of, management of, and exit from a portfolio of equity investments. Career tracks for those focusing energy in and around the Carlson Ventures Enterprise include angel, private and corporate venture capital; investment banking, high-potential venture consulting, and corporate investor positions. This course is offered only to a select group of the most highly qualified full-time students each year. The best students are chosen from across all functional majors.
ENTR 6090 – Topics in Entrepreneurship: New Technology Sales (2 cr.) The company must not only understand the sales process but also embrace the fact that the ability to sell is the single most critical success factor of any new enterprise. This course does not approach sales from the vaunted perspective of ‘strategy’. It gets right into the very practical and tactical ins and outs of how to sell technical products to a sophisticated marketplace. Then it moves into the more complex subject of how to build and manage a sales force and covers subjects such as building compensation systems for a sales force, assigning territories, resolving disputes, and dealing with channel conflicts.
ENTR 6090 – Topics in Entrepreneurship: Managing Venture Capital (2 cr.) This is a entrepreneurial management course that gives students an overview of the venture capital industry and the issues facing venture capitalists (VCs) and entrepreneurs (Es) engaged in the venture capital process. The course will essentially follow the venture capital fund creation, screening, disbursement, and exit cycle. While we will discuss financial issues important to the calculation of returns to investors and entrepreneurs, our focus is more on the managerial issues that underlie the creation of financial instruments and on the choice of instruments to employ. We focus on the roles played by the various parties involved in the venture capital process and on what is known about how these parties deal with issues in the venture-building process. Lecture topics will include structuring a VC firm and raising capital, developing deal flow, evaluating investment opportunities, structuring and negotiating deals, working with portfolio companies, serving on a board of directors, dealing with problem investments, and exiting investments. Lectures, case studies, and guest speakers will be used to convey core subject matter. The course emphasizes early stage investing (i.e. seed, start-up and first stage investing). As a result of this course, the student should have a basic understanding of how to work with venture capital firms, both from the perspective of someone working within a VC firm and from the perspective of a firm that has or seeks to receive venture capital financing.
