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15.394

Entrepreneurial Founding and Teams

3-0-6 units · Graduate

Explores key organizational and strategic decisions in founding and building a new venture. Through a series of cases, readings, and activities, students examine the trade-offs and consequences of early founder decisions: whom to include in the founding team, how to allocate equity among co-founders, how to determine founder roles, how to hire and motivate early-employees, and whether to involve external investors. Aims to equip students with tools and frameworks to help them understand the implications of early decisions, and to build enduring resources that enable the venture to execute even if the original plan changes substantially. Meets with 15.3941 when offered concurrently. Expectations and evaluation criteria differ for students taking graduate version; consult syllabus or instructor for specific details.

Spring 2003 · Designing and Leading the Entrepreneurial Organization

This subject is about building, running, and growing an organization. Subject has four central themes: * How to think analytically about designing organizational systems * How leaders, especially founders, play a critical role in shaping an organization's culture * What really needs to be done to build a successful organization for the long-term and * What one can do to improve the likelihood of personal success. Not a survey of entrepreneurship or leadership; subject addresses the principles of organizational architecture, group behavior and performance, interpersonal influence, leadership and motivation in entrepreneurial settings. Through a series of cases, lectures, readings and exercises students develop competencies in organizational design, human resources management, leadership and organizational behavior in the context of a new, small firm.

Readings

  • Baker, Wayne. Achieving Success Through Social Capital: Tapping the Hidden Resources in Your Personal and Business Networks . Jossey-Bass, 2000.
    Required
  • Kidder, Tracy. The Soul of a New Machine . Avon Books, 1990.
    Required
  • (1) Coulter, Mary. Entrepreneurship in Action . Prentice-Hall, 2001. This is the newest textbook on entrepreneurship. It offers an overview of every aspect of the entrepreneurial process with many examples and pointers to additional resources.
    Recommended
  • (2) Bagley, Constance E., and Craig E. Dauchy. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Business Law . West Educational Publishing, 1998. This book is an overview of all of the legal issues surrounding entrepreneurship. It includes several chapters that are particularly relevant to managing people and organizations.
    Recommended

Prerequisites & course information

Prereq: None G (Fall) 3-0-6 units Credit cannot also be received for 15.3941

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