Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences
Robert D. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
Northwestern University
Spring Quarter 2011
COURSE:
325 – ENGINEERING ENTREPRENERUSHIP
TEXT:
Harvard Business School Case Packet available via:
http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/access/8997898
Entrepreneur's Toolkit: Tools and Techniques to Launch and Grow Your New
Business, 2004, Harvard Business School Press (Available from Amazon.com)
Business Model Generation, 2010 John Wiley and Sons (Available from
Amazon.com)
TIME:
Mondays and Wednesdays, 2:00 - 3:20 pm
LOCATION:
Ford ITW
PROFESSOR:
Michael Marasco
Clinical Associate Professor
Director, McCormick Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
TA:
Zhe Li ZheLi2013@u.northwestern.edu
OFFICE:
Ford 2-331
TELEPHONE:
847-467-6347 Office
FACSIMILE:
847-467-47272 Fax
EMAIL:
mmarasco@northwestern.edu
OFFICE HOURS:
I will try to be in the classroom by 1:50 and will stay after class is completed. I am
on campus every day. Please email me to schedule a time.
COURSE
OVERVIEW:
325 Engineering Entrepreneurship is designed to expose students to all aspects
of the business development process from the idea to the creation, financing and
running of a start-up business.
Engineers are uniquely positioned to create businesses since engineering is all
about the application of the sciences. In this class the concept of “application”
extends to creating businesses to leverage innovations. Engineers are great
innovators but sometimes a great innovation never reaches its potential since a
business was not created to exploit it. 325 is designed to teach you the skills to
build a business. Students that are not engineering majors will also greatly benefit
from this class.
Many of you may think that starting a business is something you will consider
after working in the “real world” for a few years. Today undergrads are starting
businesses at a faster rate than ever before. The single greatest wealth creator of
our generation and of every generation before us has been technology. Web 2.0
is a technology that has been exploited by undergrads throughout the world.
Facebook is one of the best examples
Engineering 325 Syllabus
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This class cannot make you into an entrepreneur. It can help you better assess
whether an idea is a business opportunity and how to transform that opportunity
into a business.
As you already know, the best way to learn something is to actually do it. Since
we cannot find companies for all of you to run, we will do the next best thing. The
class project will involve putting together a business plan within small groups.
This process should help students take advantage of whatever current or future
business opportunities they may choose to pursue.
COURSE GOALS:
Our overall goal is to help you understand how to evolve an idea into a business.
Our course objectives include:
How to develop an idea
How to assess whether and idea is a good business opportunity
Developing sound business strategy
Understand how to create value in a business
How to market your business
Building a successful team
Developing and protecting intellectual property
Developing compelling elevator pitches and business plans
Understanding how to value a business
How to raise capital
Understand how to allocate equity among founders and employees
Over time, you will more than likely forget the some of the cases and other things
you learn here. My hope is you never forget how to spot a good idea and develop
it into a business.
STUDENT ROLE:
For you to spend the time reading, analyzing and writing up the cases, it is my
responsibility to see that you get the most out of your efforts. I hope to create a
classroom environment that is interesting and fun. Your participation in class is
CRITICAL to accomplishing our goal. You should come prepared to discuss the
assigned case and reading.
INSTRUCTOR ROLE: We will abandon the traditional learning approach where the instructor lectures
and you take notes. Believe it or not, you will learn from each other. My role as
instructor is to facilitate the learning. You will do the majority of the talking. I will
be taking notes on the board to help provide a path through the case.
GRADING:
Now we get to the real meat of this document: How will your grade be
determined. Your grade will be compiled from six different components:
CLASS PARTICIPATION
HOMEWORK
BUSINESS IDEA/CANVAS
BUSINESS PITCH
BUSINESS PLAN/CANVAS PRES.
BUSINESS PLAN/CANVAS
10%
20%
10%
10%
15%
35%
Class participation will be graded based on quality versus quantity. I place high
Engineering 325 Syllabus
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importance on comments that move the class discussion forward. Class
attendance will be factored into your participation score.
For the business plan/canvas, the students will form groups of up to four people
and develop an elevator pitch and a complete business plan for an idea they
would consider pursuing on their own or within an existing company. Within a 3050 page business plan/canvas, the team must make a compelling business case
to fund their business. On the final day of class, the team will provide a 10-15
minute presentation summarizing their plan.
COURSE
PREREQUISITE
FINAL THOUGHT
It is your responsibility to insure that you meet the prerequisites for this course.
An understanding of accounting and finance is required.
Keep in mind that there is no right or wrong answer to a case. I am much more
interested in how you think through the case problems.
Engineering 325 Syllabus
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CLASS
OBJECTIVES
TOPIC AND ASSIGNMENT
3/28
Class Introduction
CASE: Facebook
LEAD: Mike Marasco
Toolkit: Chapter 1
3/30
Market Research
CASE: SKOLAR, MD
STANFORD NOTE: Note on Market Research
LEAD: Mike Marasco
4/2
Business Models
CASE: Aardvark
LEAD: Mike Marasco
BMG: Canvas
4/6
Strategy/Business Model
CASE: RealWide.com
LEAD: Mike Marasco
Toolkit: Chapter 4
4/11
BIG IDEA and Elevator Pitches
HBS NOTE: Developing an Elevator Pitch for a New
Venture (Blackboard download)
LEAD: Mike Marasco
BMG: Patterns
4/13
Accounting
CASE: Thumbs-Up Video, Inc.
LEAD: Mike Marasco
Toolkit: Appendix A&B
Business Idea/Canvas Team Document
Due by end of day on 4/14
4/18
Business Plan Deep Dive
CASE: Business Plan for Room for Dessert
LEAD: Mike Marasco
Toolkit: Chapter 5
BMG: Design
4/20
Finance & Business Valuation
CASE: Business Plan for Room for Dessert
HBS NOTE: A Note on Pre and Post-Money Valuation
LEAD: Mike Marasco
Toolkit: Chapter 6, Appendix C
4/25
Elevator Pitches
Team Business Pitch Presentations
4/27
Elevator Pitches
Team Business Pitch Presentations
5/2
Product & Business Development
CASE: Threadless.com Multimedia Case
LEAD: Mike Marasco
Toolkit: Chapter 5
BMG: Strategy
5/4
Intellectual Property
CASES: Threadless.com (cont.) & Beta Golf
LEAD: Mike Marasco
KELLOGG NOTE: Intellectual Prop.-The Ground Rules
Engineering 325 Syllabus
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CLASS
OBJECTIVES
TOPIC AND ASSIGNMENT
5/9
Managing Growth
CASE: Innocent Drink
LEAD: Mike Marasco
Toolkit: Chapter 9&10
5/11
Organization, Team Selection
And Equity Allocation
CASE: NanoGene Technologies
LEAD: Mike Marasco
Toolkit: Chapter 3
5/16
Angel and Venture Capital
CASE: Cutlass Capital, L.P.
LEAD: Mike Marasco
Toolkit: Chapter 7
5/18
Business Plan Reviews
Team Business Plan Reviews
5/23
Term Sheets
CASE: A "Rich-vs.-King" Approach to Term Sheet
Negotiations
LEAD: Mike Marasco
5/24
Farley Summit (All students required to attend)
5/25
Harvesting
5/30
Memorial Day-No Class
6/1
Capstone
CASE: Feedburner
LEAD: Mike Marasco
6/8
Final Exam
Business Plan Presentations–2:30-5:30
CASE: RightNow Technologies
LEAD: Mike Marasco
Toolkit: Chapter 8 & 11
Engineering 325 Syllabus
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325: Engineering Entrepreneurship
STUDENT SURVEY
NAME:
ADDRESS:
MOBILE#:
EMAIL:
YEAR:
SCHOOL/MAJOR:
CURRENT COMPANY AND POSTION (if applicable):
LIST YOUR THREE (3) GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
1.
2.
3.
WHY ARE YOU INTERESTED IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP?
HAVE YOU EVER STARTED A BUSINESS? IF SO, PLEASE PROVIDE SOME DETAILS.
Engineering 325 Syllabus
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