ENTREPRENURSHIP
Program
Bachelor program
Instructor
Department
Galina Shirokova, Professor, shirokova@gsom.pu.ru
Strategic and International Management
Teaching assistant
Tatyana Tsukanova, tsukanova@gsom.pu.ru
Course status
Elective
Specialization
All
Year
3 year
Term
Spring 2013
Workload:
6 ECTS, 45 hours of classes
Prerequisites:
Business planning
Course abstract
Entrepreneurship course is an introductory course intended to provide
students with a solid foundation in terms of the vital role played by
entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in the 21st century global economy.
During this semester, we will assess, explore, critique, and celebrate the
phenomenon of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is approached as a
way of thinking and acting, as an attitude and a behavior. Our emphasis
is on entrepreneurship as a manageable process that can be applied in
virtually any organizational setting. Moreover, our interest is in
sustainable entrepreneurship, or entrepreneurship over the life cycles of
people’s careers, the life cycles of organizations as they evolve from
start-up enterprise to sizeable corporation, and the developmental cycles
of societies as they move from undeveloped to post-industrial. However,
our principal focus will be on the creation of new ventures, the ways that
they come into being, and factors associated with their success. This is
a course of many ideas and questions, and you will be encouraged to
develop and defend your own set of conclusions regarding each of these
issues. It is also a course that integrates a number of different disciplines,
ranging from sociology and psychology to economics, finance,
marketing, and human resource management. Further, it is a course that
mixes theory with practice, and you will be challenged to apply
principles, concepts and frameworks to real world situations.
Course aim and
objectives:
The course is built around a number of core objectives. By the end of the
semester, students should be able to:
• Recognize the entrepreneurial potential within themselves and others in
their environment;
• Appreciate the role of entrepreneurship within society, at the level of
the organization, and in the personal life;
• Grasp the fundamental importance of key values in explaining
entrepreneurial success;
• Understand the process nature of entrepreneurship, and ways to manage
the process;
• Identify the many ways in which entrepreneurship manifests itself,
including start-up contexts, corporate contexts, social contexts, public
sector contexts, and others;
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• Develop an appreciation for opportunity, how to recognize it, and how
to evaluate it;
• Appraise the nature of creative new business concepts and business
models that can be turned into sustainable business ventures.
Knowledge and
skills
Course content:
Students gain knowledge on entrepreneurship process and how to
develop a successful new venture in the turbulent business environment.
Students will be able to evaluate a business model of organization and
develop recommendations for improvement the combination of the key
components of the business model.
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Teaching Methods:
Grading Policy:
Topic 1.
Introduction to Course and to the Nature of
Entrepreneurship.
Topic 2. “Who” is the Entrepreneur?
Topic 3. Understanding The Nature of Opportunity
Topic 4. Developing a Great Business Concept and Business
Model
Topic 5. Feasibility analysis and ecosystem analysis
Topic 6. Getting to Plan B: Breaking through to a Better Business
Model
Topic 7. Growing the Venture
Lectures, guest lectures, case studies, group work, presentations of group
projects.
A participative approach is used to enable learning by discovery
Final evaluation
Pitch book report (extended presentation
of the business concept + business model)
Class participation
Final test
Pass/Fail
Final grade
100%
Pitch Book Report evaluation
Requirement of handing in report in time
The quality of the report
Pitch presentation (Business concept +
business model)
Students should bring the Pitch Book
Report on the 29th of May into the
classroom before their presentations
100%
10%
50%
40%
30%
20%
50%
Evaluation system
Class participation
Class participation will be assessed in several key aspects: group
exercises, case discussions, peer-review participation. Each case and
exercise is graded in points [0-10].
Pitch Book Report model
Each team of students will come up with an original business idea,
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translating the idea into a well conceptualized business concept, and then
turn the concept into a formal business model following the business
model canvas. This business model must demonstrate the basic market
and economic feasibility of the proposed business idea. Pitch Book is an
extended presentation which should include:
 Executive summary
 Problem
 Business idea
 Customer value proposition (incl. USP)
 Market (incl. characteristics, i.e. customer segments)
 Competition (analogies & antilogies)
 Revenue streams (incl. pricing)
 Key resources/Key partners
 Cost structure
 Conclusion
Pitch presentation should include the following parts:
 Cover Slide: name, presenter‘s name, tagline
 Problem (Size) & Opportunity Slide: make it clear that there is
a big important problem
 Solution & Benefit Slide: Describe what you are offering to the
target market and concentrate on key benefits for the customers
(customer value proposition)
 Revenue Model Slide: Describe how you will make money (e.g.
your pricing) and how you will go to market.
 Financial Projections Slide: 3-5 years forecasting, describe the
key elements that drive your revenues, expenses and growth (e.g.
customers, unit sales). Outline profit, cash flow and break-even.
The presentation will be assessed based on the originality of the business
idea and feasibility analysis of the business concept and interrelation of
all elements of the business model. The presentation should last 10 min
and is graded in points [0-10].
The Interview and the Entrepreneurship Diary:
Students can earn up to five points in order to add to their final grade if
they missed classes for good reasons by interviewing an entrepreneur.
This must be done individually. The interview must follow the outlined
structure provided in class and found in the Coursepack at the
Blackboard. Selected entrepreneurs must have ventures at least two
years old with a minimum of five employees and preferably ten or more
employees. Students can also earn up to five points when missing classes
for good reasons by keeping a personal diary of business ideas. There
should be at least one entry (an idea for a new business) in your diary for
each week in the course. These ideas can come from anywhere, including
reading various business publications, your own life and work
experiences, or things you observe in everyday life that could be done
differently or better. For example, is there a good or service that you
desire but cannot readily obtain? Are there goods or services that are of
poor quality or
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delivered poorly? Ideas can also come from observing friends and
relatives. As you proceed through the course, you should develop the
ability to judge the potential of each idea. When it comes time to produce
the Original Concept and Business Model, the best ideas in your diary
will be potential concepts.
Required reading:
Type
Textbook
Optional reading
Title
Number
Number of
of
copies in
students GSOM
Library
Bruce R. Barringer and R. Duane
Ireland, Pearson Prentice Hall.
Entrepreneurship: Successfully
Launching New Ventures, (2011)
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1. Blank S. The Four Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies
for Products that Win, 2007, Cafepress.com.
2. Blank S., Dorf B. The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-ByStep Guide for Building a Great Company, 2010.
3. Mullins J., Komisar R. Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a
Better Business Model, 2009. Harvard Business Press.
4. Osterwalder A., Pigneur Y. Business Model Generation: A
Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers,
2010. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
5. Read S., Sarasvathy S., Dew N., Witbank R., Ohlsson A-V.
Effectual Entrepreneurship, 2011, Routledge.
6. Reis E. The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use
Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful
Businesses, 2011. New York: Crown Publishing Group.
7. Timmons J.A., Spinelli S. New Venture Creation:
Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century, 2008, McGrawHill.
Participation Policy
Students are required to be involved in all the weeks on the course by
reading the assigned material, preparing the cases, going through the
PowerPoint slides, and participating in the class discussion. Failure to
meet these responsibilities each week is not acceptable except in highly
unusual, emergency situations. In these cases students are able to have
additional assignments mentioned as extra-credit: interview with
entrepreneur and entrepreneurship diary.
Usage of online
resource databases
at GSOM
Blackboard
Computer Software
MS Power Point, 2010
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Course Structure and Reading Assignments
Please note that we may at times move at a slower or faster pace depending upon class
circumstances, student questions, and comprehension
Topic 1. Introduction to course and to the nature of entrepreneurship
Class 1. 6 hours
Time:
April
15, Lecture, guest lecture, video and discussion.
Monday
Key points:
10.45 – 16.15
 Defining entrepreneurship
 What is an entrepreneurial mindset?
Auditorium
 The entrepreneurial process: different approaches
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 Why approaching entrepreneurship as a process is central to the
course and the concept?
 An integrative model of entrepreneurship
 Forces in the environment that facilitate and constrain levels of
entrepreneurship in a society or community
 How to encourage greater levels of entrepreneurship (results of
GEM project)
 Why students want to become entrepreneur: the main results of
GUESSS project
 The main elements of Rocket pitch presentation
Learning outcomes. By the end of this topic students should be able
to:
 Explain entrepreneurship and discuss its importance
 Explain the entrepreneurial mind set and key elements of
entrepreneurial framework
 Outline the entrepreneurial process and the main stages of this
process
 Understand the different approaches in entrepreneurial process:
casual rationality versus to effectuation reasoning
 Understand the integrative model of entrepreneurship
 Explain the main forces in the environment that facilitate and
constrain levels of entrepreneurship in a society or community
 Learn the basic principles of the pitch presentation
Guest lecture: Igor Rozdestvensky, director of business incubator
Ingria
Exercise 1. Warm-up: Marshmallow challenge.
Exercise 2. Group discussion on the definition of entrepreneurship.
Exercise 3. Group discussion on the entrepreneurial process elements
based on video.
Exercise 3. Case discussion on Mark Juarez case and presentations of
the results to the class.
Exercise 4. You as entrepreneur. Rocket pitch of innovative business
idea inside Smart city concept.
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Guest lecture: Igor Rozdestvensky, director of business incubator
Ingria
Video: Entrepreneurial process: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSrHcNynAQ
Blank S. The Startup Owner's Manual: Cracking the Code of
Entrepreneurship: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMqR1Vh3BvM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyZpWOa6v-E
Entrepreneurial professor: http://entreprofessor.info/
Good examples of pitches: www.pitchenvy.com
Read textbook: Bruce R. Barringer and R. Duane Ireland, Pearson
Prentice Hall. Entrepreneurship: Successfully Launching New
Ventures, (2011), Chapter 1
Additional readings:
1. Read S., Sarasvathy S., Dew N., Witbank R., Ohlsson A-V.
Effectual Entrepreneurship, 2011, Routledge. (Chapter 1)
2. Timmons J.A., Spinelli S. New Venture Creation:
Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century, 2008, McGrawHill.
(Chapter 3)
Home task:
 Read the case “ONA Clinic”
 Create a team of 4-6 people and prepare the pitch presentation
of your business idea (1.5 min)
Topic 2. “Who” is the entrepreneur?
Class 2. 6 hours
Time: April 22,
9.00 – 14.30
Monday
Auditorium
302
Lecture, guest lecture, video and discussion.
Key points:
 The different types of entrepreneurs
 Sociological and psychological characteristics of entrepreneurs
 Creativity as a main driver of entrepreneurship
 The main reasons for being entrepreneur
 Differences between entrepreneurs and corporate managers
 Effectuation vs rationality: the basic principles of effectuation
 What managers can learn from entrepreneurs?
 Idea enrichment: dashboarding
Learning outcomes. By the end of this topic students should be able
to:
 Explain the five common myths regarding entrepreneurship
 Discuss three main reasons people decide to become
entrepreneurs;
 Identify four main characteristics of successful entrepreneurs;
 Explain the five common myths regarding entrepreneurship
 Learn the basic principles of effectuation
 Learn how to use dashboarding tool for idea enrichment
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Guest lecture: Dmitry Knatko, entrepreneur.
Exercise 1. Warm-up on creativity. How to come up to a creative
solution in a team? (Draw 10 pictures in 3 min).
Exercise 2. Why become an entrepreneur? Characteristics of successful
entrepreneurs.
Exercise 3. The similarities and differences between entrepreneurs and
corporate managers.
Exercise 4. You as entrepreneur. Presentations of the business idea
using dashboarding tool.
Exercise 5. Case discussion on the case “ONA Clinic”.
Video: Saras Sarasvathy [video] on entrepreneurship at BigThink.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GEqdsCHt-g corporate
effectuation – what managers can learn from entrepreneurs
Read textbook: Bruce R. Barringer and R. Duane Ireland, Pearson
Prentice Hall. Entrepreneurship: Successfully Launching New
Ventures, (2011), Chapter 1.
Additional readings:
1. Read S., Sarasvathy S., Dew N., Witbank R., Ohlsson A-V.
Effectual Entrepreneurship, 2011, Routledge. (Chapter 1, 7)
2. Reading in the Coursepack (An Interview with an
Entrepreneur – sample student interview)
3. Reading in the Coursepack: Mullins J., Komisar R. 2010. A
business plan? Or a journey to Plan B? MIT Sloan Management
Review, March 2010.
Home task:
 Use dashboarding tool for idea enrichment. Prepare 5 min
presentation
 Read the case “The Untsiya company: Business development in
Russia”
Topic 3. Understanding the nature of opportunity
Class 3. 6 hours
Time: April 29,
10.45 – 16.15
Monday
Auditorium
302
Lecture and discussion.
Key points:
 Defining opportunity
 Windows of opportunity
 Sources and types of opportunity
 Ways for identifying opportunities
 Evaluating opportunity
 Opportunity recognition process
 Techniques for generating ideas
 Worldmaking: understand transformation
 Business ethnography as research method for identifying
customers’ needs
Learning outcomes. By the end of this topic students should be able
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to:
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Explain why it’s important to start a new firm when its
“window of opportunity” is open
Explain the difference between an opportunity and an idea
Describe the three general approaches entrepreneurs use to
identify opportunities
Identify the four environmental trends that are most
instrumental in creating business opportunities
List the personal characteristics that make some people better at
recognizing business opportunities than others
Identify the five steps in the creative process
Describe different techniques for generating ideas
Implement different types of transformation in order to create
new business ideas
Implement some tools of business ethnography in identifying
the customers’ needs
Exercise 1. Pith presentation of the business ideas using dashboarding
tool. Discussion and evaluation of the each business idea.
Exercise 2. Group discussion on identifying and evaluating an
opportunity inside Smart City concept.
Exercise 3. Group discussion on Venturing scenario. Implementation of
transformation for new idea development.
Exercise 4. Group discussion in business ethnography techniques and
presentations of the results.
Exercise 5. Case discussion on Untsiya case. Opportunity recognition
process.
Read textbook: Bruce R. Barringer and R. Duane Ireland, Pearson
Prentice Hall. Entrepreneurship: Successfully Launching New
Ventures, (2011) Chapter 2
Additional readings:
Read S., Sarasvathy S., Dew N., Witbank R., Ohlsson A-V. Effectual
Entrepreneurship, 2011, Routledge. (Chapter 2, 10)
Home task:
 Field research in chosen area for identification the main
problems and main dislikes of the customers (apply Smart city
concept). Use business ethnography techniques. Then propose
the solution of the problems based on 3 criteria: revenue for the
company; degree of innovation; customer happiness. Prepare
the presentation (10 min) for the next class.
 Assigned Case: Dve Palochki
Topic 4. Developing a Great Business Concept and Business Model
Class 4. 6 hours
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Time: May 6,
10.45 – 16.15
Monday
Auditorium
302
Lecture and discussion, pitch presentations.
Key points:
 The nature of successful business concepts; sources of concepts
 What makes for a good concept
 Business model definition
 From business concept to business model
 What is innovation business model
 Business model canvas
 Approaches to innovative business modeling
 Customer value proposition and unique selling proposition
Learning outcomes. By the end of this topic students should be able
to:
 Learn the difference between business concept and business
model
 Identify the main parts of a good business concept
 Explain a concept statement and its contents
 Develop a business concept statement
 Identify the main components of business model
 Implement the business model canvas
 Learn the different approached to business modeling
 Understand why customer discovery should be done at the early
stage of new business development
 Learn the differences between customer value proposition and
unique selling proposition
Exercise 1. Presentations of the results of the field research: problem
and innovation concept
Exercise 2. Development and testing the business concept
Exercise 3. Business model canvas. Wanted: a new consulting business
model.
Exercise 4. Business idea and customer needs. Customer value
proposition and unique selling proposition.
Exercise 5. Case discussion on Dve Palochki case. The business
concept and the business model of the company.
Read textbook:
Bruce R. Barringer and R. Duane Ireland, Pearson Prentice Hall.
Entrepreneurship: Successfully Launching New Ventures, (2011),
Chapter 6.
Additional readings:
Osterwalder A., Pigneur Y. Business Model Generation: A Handbook
for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers, 2010. New Jersey:
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Home task:
 Prepare the presentation of your business model using the
business model canvas (5 min)
 Assigned case: Chainaya Lozhka company
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Topic 5. Feasibility analysis and ecosystem analysis
Class 5. 6 hours
Time: May 13,
10.45 – 16.15
Monday
Auditorium
302
Lecture, discussion, pitch presentations.
Key points:
 The importance of feasibility analysis
 Product/service feasibility analysis
 New business concept test
 Industry/target market feasibility analysis
 Types of markets according to Steve Blank
 Organizational feasibility analysis
 Financial feasibility analysis
 First screen as a template for completing a feasibility analysis
 Ecosystem analysis
Learning outcomes. By the end of this topic students should be able
to:
 Explain what a feasibility analysis is and why it’s important
 Discuss the proper time to complete a feasibility analysis when
developing an entrepreneurial venture
 Describe the purpose of a product/service feasibility analysis
and two primary issues that a proposed business should
consider in this area
 Describe the purpose of a buying intentions survey and how it’s
administered
 Describe the purpose of industry/market feasibility analysis and
the two primary issues to consider in this area
 Identify three different types of markets
 Describe the purpose of organizational feasibility analysis and
the two primary issues to consider in this area
 Explain the importance of financial feasibility analysis and list
the most critical issues to consider in this area
 Apply the First Screen template for feasibility analysis
Exercise 1. Warm-up on creativity. Silly cow. Develop a business
model based on the cow.
Exercise 2. Group discussion on feasibility analysis of the business
ideas. Presentations of the results to the class.
Exercise 3. Case discussion: Intuit: The Value of Validating Business
Ideas
Exercise 4. Presentations of the business models by the teams.
Exercise 5. Case discussion on Chainaya Lozhka company
Read textbook:
Bruce R. Barringer and R. Duane Ireland, Pearson Prentice Hall.
Entrepreneurship: Successfully Launching New Ventures, (2011),
Chapter 3.
Additional readings:
Timmons J.A., Spinelli S. New Venture Creation: Entrepreneurship for
the 21st Century, 2008, McGrawHill.
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Home task:
1. Prepare feasibility analysis for your business model using the
First Screen template
2. Assigned Case: IMVU
Topic 6. Getting to Plan B: Breaking through to a Better Business Model
Class 6. 6 hours
Time: May 20,
Lecture and discussion, pitch presentations.
10.45 – 16.15
Key points:
Monday
 The product development model vs. The customer
development model
Auditorium
 Customer discovery
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 Customer validation
 Customer creation and company building
 The Lean start-up concept
 The strategy is based on assumptions
Learning outcomes. By the end of this topic students should be able
to:
 Learn the main differences between product development
model and the customer development model
 Understand why the process of customer discovery is
important
 Learn the main principles of the lean start-up concept and
how to implement these principles to company building
process
Exercise 1. Presentation of the results of the feasibility analysis and the
new business models based on this analysis.
Exercise 2. Case discussion on IMVU case. The basic principles of the
lean start-up concept.
Read textbook:
Bruce R. Barringer and R. Duane Ireland, Pearson Prentice Hall.
Entrepreneurship: Successfully Launching New Ventures, (2011),
Chapter 4.
Additional readings:
1. Blank S. The Four Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies
for Products that Win, 2006. Lulu.com,
2. Blank S., Dorf B. The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-ByStep Guide for Building a Great Company, 2010,
3. Mullins J., Komisar R. Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to
a Better Business Model, 2009. Harvard Business Press.
4. Reis E. The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use
Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful
Businesses, 2011. New York: Crown Publishing Group
Home task:
 Apply the lean start-up principles to your business model in
order to create a plan for company creation
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Assigned case: DiPaul company
Topic 7. Growing the Venture
Class 7. 6 hours
Time: May 27,
Monday
10.45 – 16.15
Auditorium
302
Lecture, discussion, pitch presentations.
Key points:
 Pyramid of organizational development. Stages of
organizational growth by E. Flamholtz.
 The ten most common organizational growing pains
 Preparing for and evaluating the challenges of growth
 Growth through internationalization
 Transition from entrepreneurship to professional management
 Comparison of professional management and entrepreneurial
management.
 Steps of transition to professional management.
 Why entrepreneurs are not always great managers
 Management and mismanagement styles. What is a good
manager?
Learning outcomes. By the end of this topic students should be able
to:
 Explain what a main sources for entrepreneurial firm growth
 Identify the stages of entrepreneurial firm behavior
 Implement the tool for evaluating the growing pain level
 Learn the different internationalization strategies of
entrepreneurial firms
Exercise 1. Presentations of the business models based on lean startup
principles.
Exercise 2. Case discussion on DiPaul company
Video: I.Adizes “Management and mismanagement styles”,
“Transition from entrepreneurship to professional management”
Read textbook:
Bruce R. Barringer and R. Duane Ireland, Pearson Prentice Hall.
Entrepreneurship: Successfully Launching New Ventures, (2011),
Chapter 14.
Additional readings:
1. Flamholtz E., Hua W. Strategic Organizational Development,
Growing Pains and Corporate Financial Performance: An
Empirical Test. European Management Journal. 2002. 20 (5);
527-536.
2. Iacobucci, D. and P. Rosa (2005), “Growth, Diversification, and
Business Group Formation in Entrepreneurial Firms”, Small
Business Economics 25, Springer, pp. 65 – 82.
Students’ presentations of the business model
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Class 8. 3 hours
Time: May 29,
Wednesday
10.45 – 13.45
Auditorium
302
Final-term evaluation is based on the presentation of the business
model and accumulated results for class participation
Final test
Class 9. 1 hour
Time: May 29,
Wednesday
14.00 – 15.00
Auditorium
302
Final test
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