Building the New Venture

Undergraduate / Graduate

This course is intended for students who are interested in starting new entrepreneurial businesses. It is tactical, hands-on, and covers the nuts and bolts of starting a company with a lesser emphasis on investing in entrepreneurial ventures. Students will learn how to raise seed funding, compensate for limited human and financial resources, establish brand values and positioning, secure a strong niche position, determine appropriate sourcing and sales channels, and develop execution plans in sales, marketing, product development and operations. The emphasis is managerial and entrepreneurial, essentially a working model for starting an enterprise. This class is executed through a combination of lectures, group assignments based on student's new venture ideas, case discussions, VC and entrepreneur guest lectures and panels, and ultimately ties together in a pitch at the end of the quarter to a panel of VC observers.