printer friendly pageSTRAMGT 110Q: Making Sense of Strategy
Get the strategy right, and the chance for success is great. Nowhere is this more evident than in today's world of major challenges. Strategy is at the heart of problem solving and achieving objectives, yet few people can define strategy, much less understand how to conceptualize, design, and execute effective strategies that yield the best outcomes.This course focuses on interesting and engaging case studies, each of which illustrates a key ingredient of strategy. Some are well-known historical events, while others are less obvious, but all have a strategic lesson to share. They are quite diverse, from the planning of a high-risk rescue in the Colorado Rockies, to a product crisis in a Fortune 50 company, to a little-known failed military mission of WWII, to a commercial airline disaster. The ability to think through challenging and varied scenarios is both instructive and mind-stretching. There will be some pre-reading on each case study and there may be a field trip for students to
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Get the strategy right, and the chance for success is great. Nowhere is this more evident than in today's world of major challenges. Strategy is at the heart of problem solving and achieving objectives, yet few people can define strategy, much less understand how to conceptualize, design, and execute effective strategies that yield the best outcomes.This course focuses on interesting and engaging case studies, each of which illustrates a key ingredient of strategy. Some are well-known historical events, while others are less obvious, but all have a strategic lesson to share. They are quite diverse, from the planning of a high-risk rescue in the Colorado Rockies, to a product crisis in a Fortune 50 company, to a little-known failed military mission of WWII, to a commercial airline disaster. The ability to think through challenging and varied scenarios is both instructive and mind-stretching. There will be some pre-reading on each case study and there may be a field trip for students to put their lessons into practice. The course is designed to be highly interactive; all to enable students to unravel the mystery and power of strategic thinking. Students will also have the opportunity to select and analyze a case reflecting interests of their own. This course can help students not only prepare for a career in a range of fields, but also as they meet the challenges of their current coursework. Problem-solving skills are central in every walk of life; this seminar can help students build a stronger foundation for sound decision-making.
Terms: Aut, Win
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Demarest, D. (PI)
STRAMGT 202: Strategic Leadership: Crafting and Leading Strategy
This course is about the process of crafting, assessing and implementing strategies to win in the market. It is designed to help you understand, shape, and lead your organization's strategy by providing you with a framework for thinking about the issues that shape your organization's economic prosperity. In addition to an analytical framework, the course will provide you with insight into the process of formulating and assessing strategy for roles with cross-functional responsibility at all levels. The emphasis will be on how to articulate what the organization's strategy is, how to create alignment between the strategy, organizational design, and market environment, and the process of growing, managing and transforming organizations. The course is particularly well suited for students who have limited exposure to strategic analysis and/or who anticipate pursuing roles with primary responsibility for the success of products and services in both new and established organizations.
Terms: Win
| Units: 2
Instructors:
Sorensen, J. (PI)
STRAMGT 325: Impact: From Idea to Enterprise
This class is for students who want start or work at an impact venture, or to invest in or grant to such an enterprise. The class deals with situations from the perspective of the entrepreneur/manager, and the funder. Students will:n- Learn to evaluate impact and business opportunities in social enterprises - Understand the potential tension between impact and revenue/profit in impact enterprises and how to manage it - Start, grow, and manage a team and a board of directors for a social enterprise - Become versed in the landscape of impact funders - Be introduced to how entrepreneurs create social change - Be exposed to the personal journeys and careers of impact entrepreneursnFor purposes of this course an impact venture is 'an organization whose mission is to provide a sustainable solution to a social problem.' The focus on mission makes impact enterprises different in kind from commercial enterprises. That said, it is the instructors' views that, in most ways, impact ventures should
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This class is for students who want start or work at an impact venture, or to invest in or grant to such an enterprise. The class deals with situations from the perspective of the entrepreneur/manager, and the funder. Students will:n- Learn to evaluate impact and business opportunities in social enterprises - Understand the potential tension between impact and revenue/profit in impact enterprises and how to manage it - Start, grow, and manage a team and a board of directors for a social enterprise - Become versed in the landscape of impact funders - Be introduced to how entrepreneurs create social change - Be exposed to the personal journeys and careers of impact entrepreneursnFor purposes of this course an impact venture is 'an organization whose mission is to provide a sustainable solution to a social problem.' The focus on mission makes impact enterprises different in kind from commercial enterprises. That said, it is the instructors' views that, in most ways, impact ventures should be treated and managed like commercial ventures, and this course reflects this perspective. Even so, there are some important differences which are critical to understand to effectively launch, manage or fund an impact enterprise. We will highlight these throughout our sessions. All the cases and class discussions will be exclusively about enterprises and organizations in the impact venture space, some for-profit, and some non-profit, but all run more or less like commercial businesses, e.g., the enterprise focus is on delivering solutions for 'customers' or 'recipients' to solve a social problem, create value and generating revenue (and/or profit). Impact: From Idea to Enterprise is integrative and will allow students to apply many facets of their business school education. We will have a mixture of case discussions, lectures, student-led exercises, panel discussions, and guest speakers. The final project involves engagement with a current impact venture and its management. The instructors, Laura Hattendorf and Russell Siegelman, are both Lecturers in Management at GSB with practical experience in the startup and impact venture space.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Siegelman, R. (PI)
;
Hattendorf, L. (SI)
STRAMGT 330: Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital: Partnership for Growth
This course is designed for students interested in entrepreneurship, early-stage investing, and/or venture capital. Venture capital is going through a dramatic cycle as venture capital investment doubled from 2021 to 2022, then dropped by a third from 2021 into 2022, ending with the slowest quarter of investing in 9 years. Together with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, it is a challenge for both the entrepreneur and the investor. We believe there is opportunity within that chaos and our course is designed to show you how to navigate and stand out in the current environment. Our course gives you that tactical edge with a special combination of two class projects, guest speakers and case-based instruction. You will be able to apply what you learn as we (and the guest speakers) offer candid and instant feedback. The course is fast paced with very current content. You will hear from over 15 investors and a half dozen entrepreneurs. The course is designed to complement other popular GSB
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This course is designed for students interested in entrepreneurship, early-stage investing, and/or venture capital. Venture capital is going through a dramatic cycle as venture capital investment doubled from 2021 to 2022, then dropped by a third from 2021 into 2022, ending with the slowest quarter of investing in 9 years. Together with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, it is a challenge for both the entrepreneur and the investor. We believe there is opportunity within that chaos and our course is designed to show you how to navigate and stand out in the current environment. Our course gives you that tactical edge with a special combination of two class projects, guest speakers and case-based instruction. You will be able to apply what you learn as we (and the guest speakers) offer candid and instant feedback. The course is fast paced with very current content. You will hear from over 15 investors and a half dozen entrepreneurs. The course is designed to complement other popular GSB courses about entrepreneurship such as Start-up Garage, Formation of New Ventures, and Lean Launchpad. Notably, students are permitted to use the same business idea in our course's team project that they use for those courses (with instructor permission). If you do not have a business idea or market sector interest, we will team you with another student with similar interests. We offer class topics that are typically not covered in other business school courses - such as how to find and use the power of early stage advisors and board members in building and funding a company, how Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) can make or break the evaluation of your early-stage company, how to find that ideal co-founder and figure out the equity split amongst the founding team, and what do VCs say behind closed doors at the VC's partners; meeting after the founder gives their funding pitch? We encourage challenging and meaningful class discussion to take the guests off-script and focus on sharing the street smarts of the entrepreneur and investor community. The course attracts students from diverse backgrounds (we intentionally reserve 10 seats for graduate students from outside the GSB). Students range in experience from serial entrepreneurs to students who are experimenting with entrepreneurship for the first time. We also see students with significant investment experience share their start-up investor experience as they add to the class dynamic.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Ziebelman, P. (PI)
;
Munce, C. (SI)
STRAMGT 353: Entrepreneurship: Formation of New Ventures
This course is offered for students who seek to understand the dynamics of new ventures from the point of view of the entrepreneur/manager rather than the passive investor. At some stage this understanding will enhance your decision making about whether to pursue a career in playing a key role in creating or building a new venture. It will also enhance your understanding if you will be negotiating with executives at new ventures. Many cases involve visitors, since the premise is that opportunity and action have large idiosyncratic components. Students must assess opportunity and action in light of the perceived capabilities of the individuals and the nature of the environments they face. The course is integrative and will allow students to apply many facets of their business school education.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 4
Instructors:
Ellis, J. (PI)
;
Foster, G. (PI)
;
Nakache, P. (PI)
...
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Instructors:
Ellis, J. (PI)
;
Foster, G. (PI)
;
Nakache, P. (PI)
;
Brady, S. (SI)
;
Jurich, L. (SI)
;
Nakache, P. (SI)
;
Saloner, G. (SI)
;
Singh, H. (SI)
STRAMGT 354: Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital
Many of America's most successful entrepreneurial companies have been substantially influenced by professionally managed venture capital. This relationship is examined from both the entrepreneur's and the venture capitalist's perspective. From the point of view of the entrepreneur, the course considers how significant business opportunities are identified, planned, and built into real companies; how resources are matched with opportunity; and how, within this framework, entrepreneurs seek capital and other assistance from venture capitalists or other sources. From the point of view of the venture capitalist, the course considers how potential entrepreneurial investments are evaluated, valued, structured, and enhanced; how different venture capital strategies are deployed; and how venture capitalists raise and manage their own funds. The course includes a term-long project where students work in teams (4-5 students per team) to write a business plan (or a business model canvas) for a venture of the team's choosing.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
STRAMGT 355: Managing Growing Enterprises
This course is offered for students who aspire to lead growing businesses. The seminar, which is limited to 40-45 students, has a strong implementation focus, and deals in some depth with certain selected, entrepreneurial issues, viewed from the perspective of the owner/manager. Broad utilization is made of case materials, background readings, visiting experts, and role playing.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 4
Instructors:
Andrews, C. (PI)
;
Dodson, D. (PI)
;
Kelly, P. (PI)
...
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Instructors:
Andrews, C. (PI)
;
Dodson, D. (PI)
;
Kelly, P. (PI)
;
Weaver, G. (PI)
;
Dulski, J. (SI)
STRAMGT 366: Startup Garage: Testing and Launch
(Same as
BIOE 377) In this intensive, project-based course, teams continue to develop their ventures based on a prototype, business model, and value proposition that they validated in advance of the course. They build out more elaborate versions of their prototypes and Business Model Canvas, run experiments on de-risking the venture, and test hypotheses about the product, business model, value proposition, customer acquisition, revenue generation, etc. Students develop entrepreneurial skills as they 1) get feedback from users, investors, and advisors, 2) work through their operating plans and unit economics, 3) test go-to-market strategies, 4) make decisions about pivoting, 5) consider equity splits, 6) learn term sheet negotiations, and 7) practice pitching. At the end, teams deliver a fundraising pitch to a panel of investors. PREREQUISITE:
STRAMGT 356 /
BIOE 376 or team application. Details and application:
http://startupgarage.stanford.edu/details.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
STRAMGT 510: Conversations in Management
This case-based course is offered for students who want to refine their ability to manage challenging professional conversations. The class will focus on the preparation for and execution of role-played dialogue as well as on postmortem analysis. Most of the respondent roles will be external to one's company, and some will be front line or mid-level people with limited educational credentials. Broad utilization will be made of background readings and an occasional visiting expert.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 2
Instructors:
Ellis, J. (PI)
;
Grousbeck, H. (PI)
;
Detter, T. (SI)
...
more instructors for STRAMGT 510 »
Instructors:
Ellis, J. (PI)
;
Grousbeck, H. (PI)
;
Detter, T. (SI)
;
Rosenthal, S. (SI)
;
Steele, D. (SI)
;
Taweel, K. (SI)
STRAMGT 514: Product/Market Fit
The premise of this course is the success of a startup (and even a large company launching a new product) is most dependent on finding a market that is desperate for its product. Focusing on product/market fit conflicts with the conventional view that a startup's limited resources should be applied to perfecting the execution of day to day activities. Interestingly almost every successful product driven technology company followed a similar path to find its product/market fit, but it was usually by accident. In this course we attempt to define the consistent process each successful company pursued, which in most cases is highly counterintuitive, and how to apply it to different situations. Our class highlights the potential conflict between pursuing a conventional approach and optimizing product/market fit. In order to really bring out this conflict, we employ a seminar format with only 25 students so every issue can be evaluated in detail. Our lessons are limited to information techno
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The premise of this course is the success of a startup (and even a large company launching a new product) is most dependent on finding a market that is desperate for its product. Focusing on product/market fit conflicts with the conventional view that a startup's limited resources should be applied to perfecting the execution of day to day activities. Interestingly almost every successful product driven technology company followed a similar path to find its product/market fit, but it was usually by accident. In this course we attempt to define the consistent process each successful company pursued, which in most cases is highly counterintuitive, and how to apply it to different situations. Our class highlights the potential conflict between pursuing a conventional approach and optimizing product/market fit. In order to really bring out this conflict, we employ a seminar format with only 25 students so every issue can be evaluated in detail. Our lessons are limited to information technology-based companies, but we have been told they may be more broadly applicable. That being said, this course has been designed for someone who is truly interested in technology-based entrepreneurship. Students who choose to take this course must be committed to read all the assigned articles and books to have the proper foundation to address the frequent counterintuitive learnings. In some cases that might require an entire (although relatively short) book be read for an individual class. A written assignment addressing at least one of the learnings from each reading will be required to be submitted at least four hours prior to each class. Failure to submit even one of the written assignments will result in a U. In addition to the daily written assignments, there will be a large individual project required at the end of the course. In other words, this course requires far more commitment than a typical GSB course, especially for one that offers only two credits. However I promise this course will be invaluable should you choose an operating or investment career in the technology business.
Terms: Win
| Units: 2
Instructors:
Rachleff, A. (PI)
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