printer friendly pageSTRAMGT 322: Create a New Venture: From Idea to Launch II
This is an integrated lab course in Entrepreneurship designed to teach students the process of creating a new viable venture from idea to launch. It is a dynamic and interactive course organized around projects undertaken by teams of 3 to 4 registered students from the Sloan and MBA programs, together with other graduate students within Stanford who bring expertise of particular relevance to the idea being pursued. This course is designed not only for students with immediate entrepreneurial aspirations, but also for any student considering starting an entrepreneurial venture at some point in his or her career.nnnThe course is a two quarter class, with admission to the class by team and idea. In the winter quarter, teams will research, craft, and morph their idea into a viable business concept. In the spring quarter they will further refine their concept and develop a strategy and plan to attract financial, human and other resources. At the end of the spring quarter, teams will present their plan to a panel of experts and potential investors to simulate the funding process.nnnThe course is taught by a serial entrepreneur and former CEO who also led and taught the predecessor course S356 "Evaluating Entrepreneurial Opportunities". The new course builds on this experience and encapsulates new and important research and findings as they relate to the process of new venture creation. The teaching method is primarily learning by doing (LBD) through a structured process and supported by relevant lectures. Learning is further enhanced through meetings with the instructor, coaching by experienced mentors and review by peers. Field research as well as prototype product development are integral to the course.nnnSince admittance to S321/S322 is by team and the quality of their idea, team formation takes place during the autumn quarter. Informal student mixers and seminars will be held to facilitate team formation and idea generation. Each team must consist of at least 2 enrolled Sloan students and preferably 1-2 enrolled graduate students from the MBA program or other Schools to bring diversity and depth to the team. The application-selection process is described on the S321/S322 website.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
Instructors:
Rohan, D. (PI)
STRAMGT 348: Creating and Managing Very Early Stage Ventures
The early stages of a new venture pose special challenges and issues for founders. For some entrepreneurs, the questions are basic: Should I seek to start a new business? And, How can I find an idea worth pursuing? Later, the question is: How do I evaluate whether my (our) idea is worth pursuing? To answer these questions, it is useful for founders to have an integrated framework for evaluating new business opportunities. In this class we develop such a framework and show how it can usefully compare and contrast new product or service businesses. We also consider the very first steps startups must take. These include how startups can begin to accumulate resources, as well as early legal, organizational, personnel and financial issues that must be handled. The course is largely case-based. It is supplemented with lectures and guests. The target audience is students who are thinking about forming a new venture early in their career. This class is appropriate for first or second year MBAs who have not yet taken S356, as well as other Stanford graduate students.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
Instructors:
Reiss, P. (PI)
;
Chess, R. (SI)
STRAMGT 350: Global Value Chain Strategies
This course addresses how the increasingly large number of firms that use or provide outsourcing and "offshoring" can create a sustainable competitive advantage. Students who complete the course will have a framework and a set of concepts that can be used to position a firm for strategic advantage in these supply networks. Positioning in and strategic analysis of product markets is covered in a variety of courses and books. A distinguishing feature of this course is that it addresses positioning and strategic analysis for firms operating as part of a network of providers, sellers and buyers... the factor markets. The course takes a general management perspective and provides examples through cases and discussions with visitors. The major theme of the course is that these firms must carefully consider how they position themselves in both the product and factor markets.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
Instructors:
Lee, H. (PI)
;
Marks, M. (SI)
STRAMGT 351: Building and Managing Professional Sales Organizations
The focus of this class is on the challenges and key issues associated with the creation and management of a professional sales organization. Our emphasis is developing and managing the selling effort of business-to-business and business-to-consumer capital goods and services. There will be relatively little emphasis on sales technique (i.e., students should not expect a course on "How to be a Better Salesperson"). The course is organized to follow the development of the sales function from strategic inception through to execution and implementation: choosing a go-to-market model (e.g., direct sales, VARs, OEMs, hybrid models); building and structuring the sales organization (e.g., sales learning curve, organizational structure, allocating territories and quotas); and managing the sales force (e.g., hiring/firing, compensation, forecasting, culture). We will address these topics in the context of both early stage ventures and later stage enterprises.
Terms: Win, Spr
| Units: 4
STRAMGT 353: Entrepreneurship: Formation of New Ventures
This course is offered for students who at some time may want to undertake an entrepreneurial career by pursuing opportunities leading to partial or full ownership and control of a business. The course deals with case situations from the point of view of the entrepreneur/manager rather than the passive investor. 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)
;
Holloway, C. (PI)
...
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Instructors:
Ellis, J. (PI)
;
Foster, G. (PI)
;
Holloway, C. (PI)
;
Leslie, M. (PI)
;
Chambers, J. (SI)
;
Chess, R. (SI)
;
Child, M. (SI)
;
Ellis, J. (SI)
;
Morgridge, J. (SI)
;
Rachleff, A. (SI)
STRAMGT 355: Managing Growing Enterprises
This course is offered for students who, in the near term, aspire to the management and full or partial ownership of a new or newly-acquired business. The seminar, which is limited to 40 students, has a strong implementation focus, and deals in some depth with certain selected, generic entrepreneurial issues, viewed from the perspective of the owner/manager. Broad utilization is made of case materials, background readings, visiting experts, and role playing. Throughout the course, emphasis is placed on the application of analytical tools to administrative practice.
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 4
Instructors:
Dodson, D. (PI)
;
Ellis, J. (PI)
;
Grousbeck, H. (PI)
...
more instructors for STRAMGT 355 »
Instructors:
Dodson, D. (PI)
;
Ellis, J. (PI)
;
Grousbeck, H. (PI)
;
Peterson, J. (PI)
;
Dodson, D. (SI)
;
Kelly, P. (SI)
;
Taweel, K. (SI)
STRAMGT 359: Aligning Start-ups with their Market
Most everyone associated with technology start-ups would agree that the most important initial characteristic of a successful endeavor is a compelling vision. The journey from vision to escape velocity is highly dependent on management's ability to translate that vision into a product or service that closely and economically addresses a customer's significant point of pain. Without a tight product market fit, the start-up's offering will not be able to break through the market's gravitational forces which strongly favor existing solutions, resulting in likely failure. With tight product/market fit, it is far more likely the company will achieve repeatable and growing sales success.nnnConventional wisdom dictates that a start-up launching a new product should focus its energy understanding what the market wants (problem) and then translating that knowledge into an optimal set of product features (solution). This is the ideal strategy if one is attacking a market that already exists. However if the start-up pursues an entirely new market or re-segments an existing market, customers are unlikely to be able to articulate the benefits and features they will need. The approaches required to pursue new or re-segmented markets are radically different from those applied to existing markets. As a result it is not relentless execution and exploitation of a well understood market that will lead to success, but discovery of a new market or segment that is in need of the product as envisioned. If done well, this process of finding the optimal product/market fit has a disproportionate impact on success. Our intention is to create a course that explores the many issues associated with optimizing product/market fit. nnnTwo group papers comprise 50% of a student's grade with class participation representing the remainder.
STRAMGT 353 is recommended prior to taking this course.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
Instructors:
Barnett, W. (PI)
;
Rachleff, A. (SI)
STRAMGT 367: Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation
This course examines individuals and organizations that use entrepreneurial skills and approaches to develop innovative responses to social problems. Entrepreneurship has traditionally been seen as a way of creating wealth for the entrepreneur and for those who back her/his work. Social entrepreneurs employ "entrepreneurial skills," such as finding opportunities, inventing new approaches, securing and focusing resources and managing risk, in the service of creating a social value. As the intensity and complexity of social and environmental problems has grown in recent years social entrepreneurship, defined as innovative, social value creating activity that can occur within or across the nonprofit, government or business sectors, has become increasingly prominent. While virtually all enterprises, commercial and social, generate social value, fundamental to this definition is that the primary focus of social entrepreneurship is to achieve social impact above all else. We will study some of the most promising and the best-proven innovations for improving people's lives. We will also examine mature projects that are now tackling the issue of "scale", moving from local innovations to solutions that create deep systemic changes for larger numbers of economically disadvantaged individuals and communities throughout the world. This year we will focus on what are the constraints and opportunities for creating a social enterprise at scale. nn nnThe process of "scale" poses tremendous challenges. Even when organizations manage to overcome the many obstacles to growth, and achieve appreciable scale, this approach is seldom sufficient to achieve significant social impact on its own. This year our course will pay particular attention to network approaches which require the mobilization of a vast array of actors and resources, but have the potential to generate rapid and sustained social impact.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Aubry, R. (PI)
;
Wei, J. (SI)
STRAMGT 513: New Venture Pitch Workshop
This workshop provides students with a forum through which they can develop and receive feedback on a new venture idea. Class time will be devoted to understanding how to improve the viability of a new venture idea and how to present that idea clearly to others. At the course conclusion, students will present their idea to others in the class and outside guests. The workshop can handle up to 15 ideas or teams; you may develop your own idea and pitch, or partner with other students. You must have your team formed before registering for the course. Note: students should be pitching ideas that are at an EARLY stage, ones that have not been pitched previously or are existing businesses.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 2
Instructors:
Reiss, P. (PI)
STRAMGT 583: The Challenges in/with China
This course is designed to provide MBAs with a solid grasp of the socio-economic, business and political situation in China (with its challenges for China, the rest of the world and the planet). It will identify the multicausality conducive to the achievements and the performance of China (a "Chinese Renaissance") while assessing some of the important issues faced by China today. The dysfunctions brought by success will be discussed with their implications for foreign partners operating in China. Learning will be drawn from recent examples of corporate behavior in China and from Chinese strategies outside China. From the course and with a prospective perspective - we will explore alternative strategic approaches and responsible management practices likely to make less difficult the maintenance of a sustainable, mutually rewarding interdependence between China and the rest of the world.nnThe course will rely upon different pedagogical methods and use a number of recent cases and research results.nnThis course will be taught by Henri-Claude de BETTIGNIES, The Aviva Chair of Leadership and Responsibility, Emeritus Professor of Asian Business at INSEAD. He is also Distinguished Professor of Globally Responsible Leadership, Emeritus, at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), in Shanghai, where he has spent the last 5 years. Previously, he was for 16 years (1988-2004) Visiting Professor at the GSB, Stanford University.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 2
Instructors:
de Bettignies, H. (PI)
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