MS&E 178 – The Spirit of Entrepreneurship
Is there more to entrepreneurship than inventing the better mousetrap? This course
uses the speakers from the Entrepreneurial Thought Leader seminar (MS&E 472) to
drive research and discussion about what makes an entrepreneur successful. Topics
include venture financing, business models, and interpersonal dynamics in the startup
environment.
Term:
Instructors:
Autumn 2011
Heidi Roizen ( heidi@heidiroizen.com )
Toby Corey ( toby.corey@gmail.com )
Course assistants: Priya Chawla ( priyac@stanford.edu )
Juan Carlos Lopez ( jclopezh@stanford.edu )
Units:
3 units
Grading basis:
Letter
Time:
Monday 5:15 to 6:30,
Wednesday 5:30 to 6:30
Location:
Huang Engineering Center - Classroom 18
Requirement:
Enrollment in MS&E 472 - Entrepreneurial Thought Leader (ETL)
seminar
Teaching staff email account:
msande178_staff@lists.stanford.edu
Course website:
A course website has been set up on CourseWork (http://coursework.stanford.edu)
under MS&E 178. You should be automatically listed if you have registered on Axess.
Required reading:
Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist by
Brad Feld, Jason Mendelson and Dick Costolo
Weekly assignments:
Every Monday you will receive a set of questions that should serve as a non-exhaustive
guide to that week’s assignment and the corresponding class discussion. The weekly
questions will address the relevant market, business model, and person. Select one or
two questions to conduct your research and develop your editorial. Assignments will be
due the following Friday, at 9am. You must upload your post to the corresponding
topic in the Forum section of the class’ CourseWork site.
Discussion leadership week:
Each week, a different group of students will be in charge of jump-starting our class
discussion about the week’s upcoming ETL talk. The teaching staff will not determine a
specific approach or format for the groups to implement. The idea is that the members
of the leadership group use their creativity and relevant findings to kick off and lead a
lively class discussion that motivates and involves their fellow classmates.
Grading criteria:
10% Attendance
25% Participation
25% Weekly assignments
30% Discussion leadership week
10% Final assignment / Lessons learned
Additional Information about the ETL Seminar Series:
MS&E 472 - Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Seminar
Students can earn credit for attending the ETL series by signing up for MS&E 472. Don’t
miss this opportunity to join ETL throughout the quarter to gain insights and wisdom
from these innovative thought leaders.
Wednesdays 4:30–5:30 pm
NVIDIA Auditorium
Huang Engineering Center
Free and open to all
Autumn 2011:
October 5
David Friedberg
CEO, WeatherBill
October 12
Phil Libin
CEO, Evernote
October 19
Brad Feld
Managing Director, Foundry Group; Co-Founder, TechStars
October 26
Scott Summit
Co-Founder & CTO, Bespoke Innovations
November 2
Mårten Mickos
CEO, Eucalyptus; Former CEO, MySQL AB
November 9
Adam Lowry
Co-Founder & Chief Greenskeeper, Method Products
November 16
Dana Mead
Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
November 30
Jessica Mah
Co-Founder, Architect & CEO, inDinero