Johns Hopkins University
Entrepreneurship (660.460) Fall 2010
Instructor:
Lawrence Aronhime
Contact Information:
104 Whitehead Hall
Aronhime@jhu.edu
Office hours: Mon, Wed, Fri: 1:00pm – 2:00pm
Time and Room:
Tue and Thu: 10:30 to 11:45
Shaffer 2
Course Description:
This course provides students with a solid introduction to the entrepreneurial
process of creating new businesses. Students will gain an appreciation for the
different perspectives of entrepreneurs, investors, and corporate managers in
assessing opportunities, evaluating strategies, market analysis, and operational and
financial planning. The course will cover the principle components of building a
successful venture including the creation, development, and protection of
competitive advantage. Course work will include case studies and the development
of ideas for actual entrepreneurial ventures.
.
Required Materials:
Entrepreneurship, By William Bygrave and Andrew Zacharakis (ISBN-10:
0471755451)
Blue Ocean Strategy, by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne (ISBN-10: 591396190)
The New Business Road Test, by John Mullins (ISBN-10: 0273708058)
Brand New : How Entrepreneurs Earned Consumers' Trust from Wedgwood to Dell, by
Nancy F. Koehn (ISBN-10: 1578512212)
Supplemental Readings on electronic reserve at:
http://reserves.library.jhu.edu/access/reserves/findit/articles/aronhime/aronhime.php
Password: ARO460
Johns Hopkins University
Entrepreneurship (660.460) Fall 2010
Course Objectives:
This course seeks to provide the undergraduate business student with a foundation
in planning and organizing new business ventures. Upon completion of this course, the
student will be fully cognizant of what is required to create, fund, operate, and harvest a
new venture. Specifically, a student who successfully completes this course should be
capable of analyzing:
•
•
•
•
entrepreneurial opportunities
business plans
financial projections
business valuations
Student Responsibilities:
This is a rigorous course. At a minimum, prior to each class session, students are
expected to have completed the assigned readings and case.
Students are expected to be able to present the case as required before their peers.
It is the responsibility of the student to obtain notes and assignments from colleagues
for any classes that were missed.
Cases will be done individually.
No Senior Options will be offered.
Evaluations:
A
90-100
B
80-89
C
70-79
Plusses and minuses will be used at the discretion of the instructor.
Assignments:
Cases
Projects
Final Project
Readings (including unannounced quizzes)
35%
35%
20%
10%
Cases must be submitted in hard copy on time, without exception.
The instructor reserves the right to change topics, readings, cases, and assignments in order
to further appropriate course outcomes.
Johns Hopkins University
Entrepreneurship (660.460) Fall 2010
Cases:
During a case course, you may find it hard to measure how much you are learning from the
cases. This contrasts with lecture and/or problem courses where experience has given you
an intuitive feeling for how well you are acquiring substantive knowledge of theoretical
concepts, problem-solving techniques and institutional practices. But in a case course
where analytical ability and the skill of making sound judgments are less apparent, you
may lack a sense of solid accomplishment, at least at first. Admittedly, additions to one’s
managerial skills and powers of diagnosis are not as noticeable or as tangible as a binder
full of lecture notes. But this does not mean they are any less real or that you are making
any less progress in learning how to be a manager.
In the process of searching for solutions, very likely you will find that you have acquired a
considerable knowledge about types of organizations, the nature of various businesses and
the range of management practices. Moreover, you will be gaining a better grasp of how
to evaluate risk and cope with the uncertainties of enterprise. Likewise, you will develop a
sharper appreciation of the common and the unique aspects of managerial encounters.
Such is the essence of management, and learning through the case method is no less an
achievement. If throughout the course you can remain open to the diverse views found in
your community of students while developing your own skills of critical reasoning and
decision making, your learning will climb to heights accessible to a select few.
Excerpted from "Case Preparation for the Beginner: A Nudge Toward an Open Door",
written by Associate Professor William F. Crittenden of Northeastern University, Jan.
1998, p. 41 .
Ethics Policy
The strength of the university depends on academic and personal integrity. In this course,
you must be honest and truthful. Ethical violations include cheating on exams, plagiarism,
reuse of assignments, improper use of the Internet and electronic devices, unauthorized
collaboration, alteration of graded assignments, forgery and falsification, lying, facilitating
academic dishonesty, and unfair competition.
Report any violations you witness to the instructor. You may consult the associate dean of
student affairs and/or the chairman of the Ethics Board beforehand. See the guide on
“Academic Ethics for Undergraduates” and the Ethics Board Web site
(http://ethics.jhu.edu) for more information.
Johns Hopkins University
Entrepreneurship (660.460) Fall 2010
Date
Day
Lecture Subject
Readings
Assignments Due
8/30
Tue
Introduction to
Entrepreneurship
9/1
Thu
Defining Entrepreneurship
The Nature of New Ventures
9/6
Tue
Opportunity Recognition
9/8
Thu
Generating Ideas
9/13
Tue
Generating Ideas
Opportunities found by living and
experiencing the customer
problem
9/15
Thu
Generating Ideas
Opportunities created through
scientific research
9/20
Tue
Generating Ideas
Opportunities proven elsewhere
that you can pursue here
9/22
Thu
The Value Proposition
9/27
Tue
Generating Solutions:
Brainstorming through Mind
Maps
9/29
Thu
No Class
Group Assignment 1
(in class)
Bygrave: ch. 1 and 2
Koehn: ch. 1
Harold Livesay: Entrepreneurial Dominance
Robert Reich: Entrepreneurship Reconsidered
Bygrave: ch. 3
Koehn: ch. 2
Bhide: The Question Every Entrepreneur Must Answer
Blue Ocean Strategy
Bygrave: ch. 4
Koehn: ch. 4
Malincho
Alison Barnard
R&R
Opportunities created by macro
trends in society
Adam Aircraft
Opportunity List
Group Assignment 2
Johns Hopkins University
Entrepreneurship (660.460) Fall 2010
Date
Day
Lecture Subject
Readings
Assignments Due
10/4
Tue
Generating Solutions:
Brainstorming through the
Babson Model
10/6
Thu
Screening Opportunities
10/11
Tue
Group Presentations
10/13
Thu
No Class
10/18
Tue
The Business Plan
10/20
Thu
No Class
10/25
Tue
Group Presentations
10/27
Thu
Finding Customers
Analyzing Competitors
11/1
Tue
Marketing Strategies
The Marketing Plan
Jim Poss
11/3
Thu
Group Presentations
Seven Dimensions Model 3
11/8
Tue
Preparing Financial Plans
Group Assignment 3
The New Business Road Test
Seven Dimensions Model 1
Bygrave: ch. 6 and 7
Koehn: ch. 3
Sahlman: How to Write a Great Business Plan
Rich and Gumpert: How to Write a Winning Business
Plan
Ajay Bam
P’kolino
Seven Dimensions Model 2
Bygrave: ch. 5
Koehn: ch. 5
Bhide: How Entrepreneurs Craft Strategies that Work
Bygrave: ch. 8
Koehn: ch. 6
ClearVue
Financial exercises
Johns Hopkins University
Entrepreneurship (660.460) Fall 2010
Date
Day
Lecture Subject
Readings
Assignments Due
Sahlman: The Financial Perspective
11/10
Thu
Preparing Financial Plans
Financial exercises
11/15
Tue
Preparing Financial Plans
Financial exercises
11/17
Thu
Financing a New Venture
11/22
Tue
Valuation
11/24
Thu
Thanksgiving Break
11/29
Tue
12/1
Thu
Bygrave: ch. 9, 10, and 11
Koehn: ch. 7
Bhide: Bootstrap Finance
DayOne
Jon Hirschtick’s New Venture
Legal Forms of Business
Intellectual Property
Bygrave: ch. 12 and 13
Ridley: Preliminary Legal Considerations
Cadence Design Systems and
Avant! (A and B)
Growing a Business
Harvesting a Business
Bygrave: ch. 14
Koehn: ch. 8
Roberts: Managing Growth
Von Krogh and Cusumano: Three Strategies for
Managing Fast Growth
Petty: Harvesting Firm Value
Final Presentations
Business Plan
Johns Hopkins University
Entrepreneurship (660.460) Fall 2010
Group Assignment 1
1. You and your team have $50 to start a business
2. Prepare a plan explaining
a. How you will spend the money
b. How you will attract customers
c. How much to charge them
d. How much money you will make
3. Prepare a formal presentation
Group Assignment 2
1. You and your team have 100K to start a food business
2. Define the opportunity, including
a. Products sold and/or services delivered
b. Location
c. Operational details
d. Pricing
e. Customers
3. Describe the competition
4. What are the barriers to entry
Group Assignment 3
1. Devise a business idea for an addition to a leading consumer electronics product, or
completely new product
2. The idea must be realistic, but there are no resource limitations
3. Define the product and or service, including
a. Customers
b. Resources needed
4. Develop a customer profile for your idea
5. Who are the most important competitors, including market share and key products
6. What are the barriers to entry
Johns Hopkins University
Entrepreneurship (660.460) Fall 2010
Case Questions
1) For cases in the Bygrave text, use the questions at the end of the case
2) R&R
a) What combination of factors created the opportunity?
b) What risks and obstacles had to be overcome? How did Bob Reiss accomplish this?
c) Would this approach have worked for a large corporation?
d) How successful was Bob Reiss? How much money did he make? Include a detailed
schedule.
e) Why was Bob Reiss so successful? What lessons are there for all entrepreneurs?
f) What should Bob Reiss do about Whoozit?
Required Summaries of Readings:
1. For biographical readings (Koehn book):
a. Summarize the story.
b. Describe the origins of the new venture idea (e.g., macro-trends, scientific research,
living the customer problem, an idea that works in one place and can be moved to
another, all per John Mullins).
c. Describe the factors that determined success or failure.
d. What personal attributes of the entrepreneur mattered to the success or failure of the
venture?
e. With hindsight, what might have changed or improved the outcome?
f. What are the implications for young entrepreneurs?
2. For articles:
a. Summarize the article
b. What are the implications for young entrepreneurs?
Johns Hopkins University
Entrepreneurship (660.460) Fall 2010
Seven Dimensions Model (maximum two students per group)
Each primary category in the seven dimensions model must be addressed (see below). Here are
examples of the kinds of information that might be helpful in analyzing the opportunity.
1. Description of target market segment
o Can you identify any customers?
o what customer pain will your business idea resolve
o evidence that your idea is superior (better, faster, cheaper) enough to get
customers to change what they are doing now
o evidence that customers will buy
o list of initial customers
o Defining a targeted market segment
o who, in terms of demographics or psycho-graphics
o where, in terms of geography
o benefit expected
o Will this segment lead to others?
2. Market attractiveness
o What sort of business do you want?
o niche or promising
o How large is the market?
o number of customers
o How much do they spend?
o How fast has the market grown, and will it continue to grow?
o large markets offer the chance for multiple players and for segmentation
o What economic, demographic, socio-cultural, technological, regulatory, or fashion trends
will affect your market positively or negatively?
3. Industry attractiveness
o What industry are you competing in?
o How difficult is it for others to enter this industry?
o Do suppliers have the power to set terms and conditions?
o Do customers have the power to set terms and conditions?
o What are the substitute products and services to yours?
o How difficult is it for them to steal your customers?
o How intense is the competitive rivalry in the industry?
o How attractive is this industry?
4. Sustainable advantage
o Do you possess proprietary advantages that other firms cannot duplicate?
o What is the evidence?
o Can your business develop and deploy superior organizational resources, processes, or
values that other companies will have difficulty in matching?
o What is the evidence?
Johns Hopkins University
Entrepreneurship (660.460) Fall 2010
o Is your business model viable?
o Can it be expanded to new markets?
o How much time do you have till you run out of cash?
5. Team domain
o Can you identify the few critical success factors, the ones that really make a difference?
o Can you and your team really do this?
o Where is the evidence?
o Do you have the experience and drive?
o Can you sell this product/service?
o Who do you know up, down and across the value chain?
o How well do you know this business, the customers, the key suppliers, other key
players from whom you will need support?
6. Overall assessment
o Should you pursue this opportunity, or not?
o Why? Be specific.
o Weight all the categories.
Johns Hopkins University
Entrepreneurship (660.460) Fall 2010
Final Project: Business Plan (maximum two students per group)
Purpose: To write a thorough business plan for a new venture, including marketing, financial
and operational plans. Although any model is acceptable, it is suggested that the plan
include the following topics as appropriate:
1. Cover page
2. Executive summary
3. Table of contents
4. Background, problem, and opportunity
5. Solution: the product or service offered
6. Market analysis
7. Competitor analysis
8. Operational plans including timelines and milestones
9. Projected Financial Plans
10. Appendices
11. Final Presentation overheads
12. FINAL PROJECTS MUST BE SUBMITTED IN A PROFESSIONAL BINDER
Criteria by which the Plans will be Judged:
1. Is the value proposition realistic?
2. Are the competitive advantages believable?
3. Is the target market clearly identified and sensible?
4. Are the market and competitive landscapes clearly analyzed?
5. Considering the value proposition, competitive advantage and target market prediction, does
the revenue and profit model make sense?
6. Are the people necessary to make this plan happen in reality clearly identified?
7. What is the expected timeframe and pay-off for new investors?
8. Is it likely the business will be around in five years?
9. Is the plan clear and well written?
10. Is the plan well documented?