Workshop (Course) in Entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley

1 | P a g e Gründerskolen, University of Oslo 2018 Naeem Zafar UC Berkeley

Workshop (Course) in Entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley Students from Gründerskolen, University of Oslo 2018

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This Workshop (Course) is held at the University of California, Berkeley. All Workshop (Course) credits are granted by the University of Oslo, Centre for Entrepreneurship.

Purpose of the Course

This is a course for students who are curious about, considering, or are committed to starting a new venture. The course focuses on how to start and grow a successful, high-potential enterprise with a focus on ventures that can be expected to grow into complex, major enterprises.

A key vehicle for this effort is the business plan. The plan helps the entrepreneur attract support from others, because it tells them what the business is about and what its strategy will be. It helps the entrepreneur to manage a growing and necessarily complex set of dynamics by providing mileposts and indicating the resources that will be required to achieve them. It also provides a continuously updated set of standards against which to compare actual performance.

The course will address the key challenges facing a startup venture. These challenges include opportunity recognition and assessment, strategic positioning and business model selection, marketing/sales, financing/venture capital, assembling the venture team and harvesting alternatives. Experienced guest speakers will add their perspective on the venture development process.

The mission is to learn and apply the tools, techniques, and methods employed by successful entrepreneurs and prepare you for a career in which you deliberately and repeatedly launch high potential new ventures.

Class Format

The class will be a mixture of cases, lectures, and guest speakers for a total of 48 hours of teaching. Students will work in teams to pursue a project and develop a business plan (Executive Summary and an investor pitch). Each week there will be 3+ hours of lecture, guest speakers, office hours and project advisement sessions. The instructor will also provide feedback on the internships that students will be engaged in. There will be additional sessions on professional skills most needed to be effective in Silicon Valley (networking, public speaking, negotiating etc.)

Lectures usually consist of three parts: a lecture part, presenting concepts and theory, a case discussion based on Harvard Business School cases, and a relevant presentation by an entrepreneur from Silicon Valley, discussing real life experiences and cases.


Required Textbooks:

Zafar, Naeem. 2010. Market Research on a Shoestring. Get a Reality Check on Your Big Idea for Less than $100. Cupertino, CA: Five Mountain Press. Zafar, Naeem. 2010. Get Funded! Definitive Guide to seek the right funding from the right source, at the right time Price: $24.00. Hard copies or PDF will be available for purchase in the class as well as can be downloaded from www.startup-advisor.com Book exists as e-Book and Paperback.

Also Recommended Textbook:

Holiday, Ryan (2013) Growth Hacker Marketing, Penguin

Geoffrey A. Moore. 2002. Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers. New York: HarperCollins. Can be ordered from: http://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-Marketing-Disruptive-Mainstream/dp/0060517123 Price: $17.99 (Sale: $12.23). We suggest that students make one order of 40 copies of the book and get a good price and get the copies shipped to one of the students.

Supplemental Reading Students are encouraged to read these articles and books for additional insights to the topics that will be covered in the class:

1) “New Venture Financing”; Stevenson & Roberts, HBS Publishing [9-802-131]2) “Angel Investing”, article published by HBS Publishing & MIT Sloan School [9-800-273]3) “How VC Evaluate Potential Venture Opportunities”, Roberts & Barley, HBS Publishing [9-805-019]4) “Relationship between Venture Capitalist & the Entrepreneur”, by Brook Byers5) “Negotiating Strategic Alliances” by Michael Watkins, HBS Publishing [9-902-166]6) “Funding New Ventures: Valuation, Financing & Cap Tables”, Michael Roberts, HBSP [9-806-058]7) “Notes on Marketing Strategy” HBS Publishing [9-598-061]8) “Notes on Business Model Analysis for the Entrepreneur”, Hamermesh & Marshall, HBS 9-802-0489) “The Discipline of Teams”, Harvard Biz Review article, 199310) “The Questions all Entrepreneurs Must Answer” Amar Bhide, Harvard Business Review 1996

For all Harvard Publishing articles call 800-988-0886 or www.hbrreprints.com or www.hbsp.harvard.edu

Basis for Final Grade

1. Written Business Plan: Students must write a mini business plan (executive Summary is whatinvestors need to see) and make a professional presentation on a new venture to complete thecourse. We encourage you to bring your own new venture ideas and opportunities to work on

http://www.startup-advisor.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-Marketing-Disruptive-Mainstream/dp/0060517123

http://www.hbrreprints.com/

http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/


in class. You will be required to form or join a team of 3-4 students to pursue a single venture idea. The business plan and appendices with documentation are due on the day of the final exam.

2. Oral Presentation: The final presentation will be to a panel of instructors, possible supplemented by representatives of the business community. This presentation will be a funding “pitch” for venture capital financing. There are presentations and deliverables throughout the semester on the business plan.

3. Weekly Assignments: Prior to each lecture you are expected to hand in a one-page discussion (Reaction Paper) of the topic of the lecture. You choose one of the two or more study questions (Reaction Paper Questions) for that lecture. The purpose of the Reaction Papers is to have you reflect on readings prior to coming to class in order to improve class discussions. The purpose is not to give you feedback on your written work. Reaction Papers are standard practice in U.S. higher education and are part of the course requirements. Submit your answer by midnight the day before the class meeting by email to: [email protected]

4. Additional assignments given on a weekly basis for the team to complete.

Classes will start on Friday June 8th & End on August 10th

Internship Monitoring: We have scheduled four sessions on Friday afternoons where you will have a chance to meet with the instructor to discuss how class teaching is aligning with the internship experience. You are requested to bring in a 1/2 page document to these sessions so that the instructor can advise on any issues to address the teaching material to help you with the internship experince.

mailto:[email protected]


Grunderskolen: Class Schedule 2018

Week, Day, Date (month/day/year) Time Topic Lecturers

Week 01: Monday 06/4/2018 Barrows Hall room 420

10:00-12:00 12:00-13:00 13:00-15:00 15:00-16:30

Intro & Overview (Bio) by: EunYoung Wendy Lee Lunch Overview CSS by Susan Saechao Campus Tour

Wendy Lee

Susan Saechao

Week 01: Friday 06/8/2018 9:00-12:30 13:30-17:00

Program structure, syllabus, overview Entrepreneurship, Startup Process & Opportunity Conducting market research

Naeem Zafar

Week 02: Friday 06/15 09:00-12:30 13:30-17:00

Opportunity Recognition & Market research Customer Value Creation [Team Creation]Reflection & advise session on internship

Naeem Zafar

Week 03: Friday 06/29/2018 09:00-12:30 13:30-14:30 14:45-17:00 17:30-19:30

Entrepreneurial Organizations, Startup Culture Team formation, equity & dilution Lecture: U.S. Higher Education System Reception at The Faculty Club: Dinner and Drinks

Naeem Zafar

Trond Petersen all

Week 04: Friday 07/06/2018 09:00-12:30 13:30-17:00

Customer Value proposition, Positioning Reflection & advise session on internshipGuest speaker

Naeem Zafar Naeem Zafar

Week 05: Friday 07/13/2018 09:00-12:30 13:30-14:30 14:45-17:00

Business Models, Market Sizing, Source of Capital Consultation & Office Hours Advising on group projects (mentoring)

Naeem Zafar Naeem Zafar Naeem Zafar

Week 06: Friday 07/20/2018 09:00-12:30 13:30-17:00

Go-to-Market strategies, Sales & marketing Reflection & advise session on internship

Naeem Zafar

Week 07: Friday 07/27/2018 09:00-12:30 13:30-14:30 14:45-17:00

Financial models, estimating capital needs Consultation & Office Hours Advising on group projects (mentoring)

Naeem Zafar Naeem Zafar Naeem Zafar

Week 08: Friday 07/28/2018 09:00-12:30 13:30-17:00

IP, Legal formation, Exits Team present project status

Naeem Zafar

Week 09: Wed 08/03/2018 18:00-20:15 Practice investor pitches & being investor ready Reflection & advise session on internship

Naeem Zafar

Week 10: Friday 08/10/2018 09:00-12:30 13:30-14:30 14:45-17:00 18:00-21:00

Pitching to Investors, Consultation & Office Hours Post project Reflection (mentoring) Reception & party

Naeem Zafar Naeem Zafar Naeem Zafar all


Detailed Syllabus

Instructor: Naeem Zafar The central teaching tool in the Workshop is the Case Study Methodology. In order to prepare for this teaching tool please read:

Case Study Methodology Preparation (with instructions on how to read the next two cases) Learning by the Case Study Method, HBS Case 2002

There will be one class on the Case Study Methodology.

Class 1: Entrepreneurship, Startup Process & Opportunity Recognition

Pretext: Driven by founders’ passion, hinged on assumptions of market need, a startup is a careful alignment of a number of moving parts. Knowledge of these parts is crucial to move them in harmony. A surgeon cannot operate without understanding their patient and startup execs cannot move profitably forward without developing deep understanding of their moving parts – people, positioning, markets, etc.

Learning Objectives: What is a startup and the process of creating a venture from scratch? Understand course objectives and key themes, consider reasons for creating a business plan, share business plan assumptions and think about what makes a great business plan. Understand what is expected from students & what should their final product look like.

Case to be Prepared: None (“Deodorant” case will be discussed in class) Written Assignments: A ½ page description of ~5 business ideas about which you might want to create a startup

in the class with at least one co-founder listed (another student from the class) if already identified. (It will be ideal to have formed a team of 4 or 5 persons)

Plan Related: Be prepared in class to give a 1 minute “sales pitch” for your business plan ideas --4 to 5 people per team expected.

Class 2 Opportunity Recognition & Conducting Market research

Pretext: To see things far we have telescopes, for things near we have microscopes … for opportunities we have mostly intuition. What if we had a prism that could dissect an opportunity and augment our intuition?

Learning Objectives: Think about how to screen entrepreneurial ideas and begin to create your own opportunity screen.

Case to be Prepared: EcoWash Questions to prepare: a) who should be their target audience?

Assigned reading: Class activity: Plan Related:

b) Fill out Lean Canvas (Google it) for one of the proposed target customer typec) What questions will you ask them if you got a chance to interview the customer?Market Research on a Shoestring! Read Section 1 (Chapter 1-4)finalize team formation & initial ideas [Break-out sections]Be prepared in class to give a 1-minute pitch for your business plan idea (to finalize your team composition.


• Assigned reading: Market Research on a Shoestring! Read Section 1 (Chapter 1-4)

Week 3 Entrepreneurial Organizations, Startup Culture, Equity & Dilution

Learning objective: Startup dynamics & politics within the founding team and how they influence the growth of the business, and the key dos and don’ts of personnel issues in the early phase of a startup. Managing and setting up global teams. Dividing equity among co-founders and using 3 currencies that an entrepreneur has to attract talent.

Case to be Prepared: Vermeer Technologies (A) Prep questions: a) What qualifies a person to be considered a “founder”?

b) What type of resources must you gather for a startup? How did Vermeer do as ateam?c) Imagine you are Ferguson – will you accept the deal from the VC?

Assigned reading: none

Reaction Paper Questions:

1. How should one assemble a top-notch team? What characteristics should you look for? Wherewill you go to recruit them?

2. What screens should you use to identify the right people for your start-up? Tests? Interviewquestions? What specific skills or attributes should the founders look for?

3. If you were Charles Ferguson, would you accept the deal offered by the venture capitalists asproposed? What would you have done differently to build Vermeer?

Week 4 Customer Value Proposition & Positioning

Learning Objectives: Learn why and how you must establish customer value proposition and then chose channel and execution plan to deliver that value.

Guest Speaker: Dave Whetstone & Rob Gray (Founders Virgin Mobile USA) Case: Virgin Mobile USA [Harvard case 9-504-028] Assigned reading: Market Research on a Shoestring! Section 3 (chapters 10-13)

Readings:

• Virgin Mobile USA: 2007. Harvard Business School. Case 9-504-028• Zafar, Naeem. Market Research on a Shoestring! Read Section 3 (chapters 10-13).• Stevenson, H.H.: A Perspective of Entrepreneurship. Harvard Business School, Case 9-384-131.

2006.

Case questions to prepare for in-class case discussion: a) What segment should Virgin Mobile target in a crowded space?b) How can you differentiate your offerings?


c) What are the risks that you must mitigate for the target segment?


1) How a new entrant in the market does carves a niche? What factors must be considered toenter a crowded market?

2) What are the components of the business model that must be looked at to allow a newbie toenter and thrive in a market that is already dominated by the big players who have set the rulesto favor them?

3) Name and analyze some of the factors that are likely to distinguish a great idea from a greatbusiness opportunity. Comment on instances where this has not been true: where a good ideaseemingly without the basis for a successful business, turns out to be a great businessopportunity. What are some of the determining factors?

Week 5 Business Models, Market Sizing, Source of Capital

Learning Objectives: To understand various startup business models, the key lessons in business models, and how to size a market. Sizing your market and weighing various business models and their pros and cons.

Case to be Prepared: Urban Water Partners Questions to prep:

Assigned reading: Deliverable:

a) Does this business even makes sense?b) Once the business stabilizes how profitable can it be?c) How much money do we need to raise in the first 1-2 years to get this business going?d) How do feel about doing business in foreign environment with new social rules?

Guest speaker: TBA


1. How does a startup make money? What options exist as business models?2. How does a company assess how much money to raise?3. What are the key metrics a company needs to monitor to know how well the company is

doing?

Week 6 Go-to-Market strategies, Sales & marketing

Learning Objectives:

Assigned reading: Case: Guest speaker: Deliverable:

How to think about creating a brand, manage channels and decide how to bring a product to market. How has the Internet changed the landscape for product launch? How does one build a sales organization? Get Funded, Chapter 5 (Getting Investor-Ready) GolfLogixTBAResearch comparable public companies in your space and outline what percent of


revenue do they spend on (a) R&D, (b) sales and marketing, (c) G&A, their gross profit and net income as a % of their revenue.

Week 7 Financial models, estimating capital needs

Learning Objectives: How to build a financial model – estimating how much do you need? How much money should you raise? How to estimate the financial needs? What is dilution & how does it work. How does one negotiate with investors? Basics of the term sheets. Understand how VCs view entrepreneurs & how the process of seeking investment works. How to compare term sheets and what is important regarding getting funded. Funding ecosystem – accelerators, angels, VCs, strategic, Grants

Guest speaker: TBA Case to be Prepared: Elite Personal Training (Ivey case no: 907NO5) Questions to prep: a) who should Menard & Craciun target & at what price point?

b) How much should they allocate as the startup capital?c) how much will it take to run this business? Make a 2-year budgetd) does it make sense to build the 3rd gym?

Assigned Reading: “How Venture Capital Works” HBS Reprint 98611 (December 1998) Assigned Reading: Get Funded, chapter 8 (Funding process & term sheets)

Week 8 IP, Legal formation, Exits

Learning Objectives: Understand how IP should be protected and what legal issues surround startups.

Format

Assigned reading: Guest speaker:

Understanding basic legal structure and aligning the agendas of the founders and investors. How does one think about creating meaningful partnerships? How to get started? Accelerator or Incubator, Visa Issues A few teams will be randomly selected to present their partnership strategy while the rest will be the judge & provide feedback Get Funded, Chapter 6 (Approaching Investors) TBA

Case to be prepared none Assigned Reading: “Legal forms of organizations”, M. Roberts, HBS 9-898-245

Deliverable: Generate revenue projections for your startup for the first 5 years. State your assumptions. Financial section of the business plan- 1-pager on 5-year P&L statement

Week 9 Pitching to Investors, being investor ready

Learning Objective Understand how VCs view entrepreneurs & how the process of seeking investment works. How to compare term sheets and what is important regarding getting funded.

Assigned Reading: Get Funded, chapter 8 (Funding process & term sheets)

All teams present first 5 minutes of their VC presentation and seek feedback from

https://www.study.net/r_mat.asp?mat_id=50041960&Crs_ID=30010614&check=passed

https://www.study.net/r_mat.asp?mat_id=50041960&Crs_ID=30010614&check=passed


instructors and peers– feedback from VC on what they like to see and not see from entrepreneurs

Class activity Review key metrics of financial plan for each team Each team will list these numbers on the board: 1) Revenue for year 1, 3 & 52) Market size3) % of revenue spent in year 5 on S&M, R&D, G&A4) Amount being raised from investors5) How long this money will last?

Deliverable: Financial section of the business plan- 1-pager on 5-year P&L statementInclude Yearly revenue, COGS, Gross Profit, costs by Dept. and net income. Must alsoinclude % of revenue column for Year 5

Speaker: TBA

Week 10 Final Exam & Pitching

9:00 AM: Summary and concluding remarks 9:30 AM Each team will pitch to a panel of investors

15 min pitch [deliver 4 copies of Exec Summary & Investor Pitch].

11:30 AM: Evaluations & conclusion


Instructors' Biography:

Naeem Zafar

Naeem is a Dean’s Teaching Fellow at the Fung Institute and a member of the faculty at the University of California Berkeley, Center of Entrepreneurship and Technology. He is also the Professor of the Practice at Brown University. He teaches courses in Entrepreneurship, Technology Strategy, Innovation and New Venture Finance at Brown and Berkeley. He started his teaching career at the Haas Business School at Berkeley in 2005. Naeem is also the founder and CEO of TeleSense, an Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) company.

Naeem started his own business at the age of 26 and subsequently went on to start, or work at, six startups. His first job out of Brown University with a degree in electrical engineering was to design chips and electronic systems. Twenty years, two kids, one IPO and three CEO stints later, he founded Startup-Advisor, a company focused on educating and advising entrepreneurs on all aspects of starting and running a business (www.Startup-Advsior.com ).

Naeem works frequently with the US State Department in promoting innovation and entrepreneurship across the world and was invited to the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship in Washington, DC to participate in a dialogue about starting an entrepreneurial ecosystem worldwide. He is on the International advisory board for the North African initiative at the Aspen Institute. He has travelled to 76 countries to understand cultures and how business is done and considers himself a global citizen.

Naeem has authored five books on entrepreneurship on topics ranging from conducting market research to seeking the right funding to successful ways to start a business. Information can be found on www.NaeemZafar.com. His books including “7-Steps to a Successful Startup” are also available on Amazon.com, Kindle and on the iTunes App store.

Personal Homepage: http://www.naeemzafar.com/

Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

http://www.startup-advsior.com/

http://www.naeemzafar.com/

http://www.naeemzafar.com/



Workshop (Course) in Entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley

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