MSING002: Mastering Entrepreneurship
Level: M
UCL credits/ECTS 15/6
Start: September or January
End: June
Prerequisites
Course has no prereqs, but students are expected to be familiar with the following:
• Some understanding of management principles including basic accounting
• Basic knowledge of the roles of different professions within organisations (e.g., marketing,
manufacturing, finance)
Course Aims and Objectives
Aims
This course will be of interest to those who are considering forming their own business or who
envisage having a role promoting new initiatives within existing organisations.
The aim of the course is to give an understanding of:
• the criteria for success of a new business (personal, market & technical),
• business planning and securing the necessary resources (including finance) for the new
business.
The course will draw for illustration and illumination on a range of case studies.
Objectives
By the end of the course students should:
• have a clearer view of how to judge the potential of a high-potential business concept
• understand the difference between a true opportunity and just another idea
• recognise the effort and dedication needed to make a business succeed
• be aware of the different marketing challenges faced by ‘breakthrough’ products and ‘me-too’
products.
• recognise the importance of direct experience in an industry and of reputation and existing
relationships with others in the industry
• have an understanding of the various sources of finance (conventional and unconventional) and
to know how to make a case to financial investors
Method of Instruction
Lectures, case discussions and guest lectures and seminars.
Assessment
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A written examination based on a case study (2-hour, 70%) This examination contains an
unseen case study, which must be collected from the Management Science & Innovation
student office when advised (this is usually within the last two weeks of Term 2).
 Two Individual Coursework Assignments (15% each, 30% overall)
To pass this course, students must submit work for ALL components and obtain an overall pass mark
of 50% for all sections combined.
Required (essential) reading
Technology Ventures by Richard Dorf and Thomas Byers, McGraw-Hill Higher Education (2007)
Recommended reading
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Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore, HarperCollins Publishers (2002)
Monk and the Riddle by Randy Komisar, HBS Publishing (2001)
The Inmates are Running the Asylum by Alan Cooper, Que (2004)
Background reading
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Entrepreneurs Are Made, Not Born by Lloyd E Shefsky, McGraw-Hill (1996)
Entrepreneurship by Hisrich, Peters and Shepherd, Irwin-McGraw-Hill (2007)
Entrepreneurship and Small Firms by David Deakins and Mark Freel,McGraw-Hill (2005)
Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days by Livingston, APress (2007)
How I Made It: 40 Successful Entrepreneurs Reveal All by Bridge, Kogan Page
Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Practice and Principles by Peter F. Drucker, ButterworthHeinemann Ltd (1999)
Intellectual Property Rights by Vivien Irish, Institute of Electrical Engineers (2005)
Mastering Enterpreneurship, Sue Birley,. Financial Times Prentice Hall (2003)
Raising Venture Capital by Rupert Pearce, John Wiley and Sons (2006)
Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Paul Burns, Palgrave MacMillan (2007)
Successful Marketing Strategy for High-tech Firms by Eric Viardot pub Artech House (2004)
The Business Plan Workbook by Paul Barrow, Paul Barrow & Robert Brown, Kogan Page
(2005) University Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer: Process, Design, and
Intellectual Property by Gary Libecap JAI Press (2005)