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 MSx 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. The 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. The new course builds on a predecessor course S356 "Evaluating Entrepreneurial Opportunities" 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. Since 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 of 3-4 students should preferably consist of 1 or more MSx students and graduate students from the MBA program or other Schools - Engineering, Medicine, Law, Science, Education - to bring diversity and depth to the team. The application-selection process is described on the S321/S322 website.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Rohan, D. (PI)
STRAMGT 328: Social Ventures Practicum
The Social Ventures Practicum is an experiential learning course for student teams actively working to launch a social venture (nonprofit or for-profit or tbd).n nDesigned as a follow-on to ideation courses such as
STRAMGT 356: Startup Garage or the Design for Extreme Affordability sequence, this course will focus on the business planning needed to launch your venture.n nIn weekly sessions through Winter Quarter, teams will work through topics unique to social ventures (e.g. mission, theory of change, impact measurement) as well as topics common to any venture, e.g. product/service market fit, business/economic model, financial planning, early stage financing, logistics, sales/distribution, and board/talent development. Each team will receive significant one-on-one coaching from the instructors, as well as opportunities to share their work with peers and learn from/present to guest speakers.n nTeams will emerge with a solid business and impact model, ready to raise their first round of seed funding. This course will prepare students for the Stanford Social Innovation Fellowship, Echoing Green, and other similar post-graduate funding opportunities.n nThe course will assume a level of familiarity with key social impact frameworks, so students are encouraged to take another social innovation course or to have prior experience working with mission and theory of change.
Terms: Win, Spr
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Meehan, B. (PI)
;
Starkey, K. (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: 3
Instructors:
Marks, M. (PI)
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. Each section will have a specific focus, please select the instructor(s) with your interests: Leslie, Rachleff - High tech ventures; Ellis, Chambers, Childs - Diverse types of ventures; Foster - Diverse types of ventures; Siegel, Brady - High tech emphasis, but diverse types of ventures; Reiss, Chess - Very early stage ventures.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 4
Instructors:
Ellis, J. (PI)
;
Foster, G. (PI)
;
Leslie, M. (PI)
...
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Instructors:
Ellis, J. (PI)
;
Foster, G. (PI)
;
Leslie, M. (PI)
;
Reiss, P. (PI)
;
Siegel, R. (PI)
;
Bowman, K. (SI)
;
Brady, S. (SI)
;
Chambers, J. (SI)
;
Chess, R. (SI)
;
Speiser, M. (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 45 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, Win, Spr
| Units: 4
Instructors:
Dodson, D. (PI)
;
Ellis, J. (PI)
;
Kelly, P. (PI)
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Instructors:
Dodson, D. (PI)
;
Ellis, J. (PI)
;
Kelly, P. (PI)
;
Peterson, J. (PI)
;
Kelly, P. (SI)
;
Taweel, K. (SI)
;
Weaver, G. (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. Conventional 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 course explores the many issues associated with optimizing product/market fit. A take-home midterm, a group paper, and an in-class exercise 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 361: Strategic Educational Research and Organizational Reform Practicum B
This is a two-quarter clinical course offered in the Winter and Spring Quarters that brings together upper-level graduate students in business, law, and education from Stanford to collaborate with their peers at other universities (Columbia University, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan) and provide strategic research and consulting to public education organizations. Participants engage in a rigorous and rewarding learning experience, including:nn(i) An intensive seminar in the design, leadership and management, and transformation of public school systems, charter management organizations, start-ups, and other K-12 public- and social-sector institutions;nn(ii) Comprehensive skills training in team-based problem solving, strategic policy research, managing multidimensional (operational, policy, legal) projects to specified outcomes in complex environments, client counseling, and effective communication; andnn(iii) A high-priority consulting project for a public education sector client (e.g., school district, state education agency, charter management organization, non-profit) designing and implementing solutions to a complex problem at the core of the organization's mission to improve the educational outcomes and life chances of children. The participant's team work will allow public agencies throughout the nation to receive relevant, timely, and high-quality research and advice on institutional reforms that otherwise may not receive the attention they deserve.
Terms: Spr
| 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, which is limited to 32 students, 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 plus visiting case protagonists and experts. There will be nine class sessions, each of one hour and forty-five minutes.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 2
Instructors:
Ellis, J. (PI)
;
Grousbeck, H. (PI)
STRAMGT 512: The Yin and Yang of Family Business Transitions
This seminar provides students with practical solutions to some of the challenges faced in family business transitions.nnFamily businesses are by far the dominant form of commerce world-wide, albeit the majority are small "mom and pop shops." Some research shows that large businesses, whatever the form of ownership, have an average lifespan of around forty years, while small businesses (at least in Japan and Europe) average around twelve years. So, if businesses in general do not survive, then it is a wonder that any family business can survive from one generation to another, let alone two, three, four or more.nnThere are three essential requirements to succeed in a family business transition. First, it may seem obvious that the business must succeed, but it is less obvious what advantages a family business has over its non-family-owned counterparts. Second, the ownership structure must effectively maintain family cohesion and support the business. Finally, family members need to organize in thoughtful ways to work effectively with one another.nnThe beauty of a family business is that it can be more profitable than companies with non-family ownership. Two fundamentals, at least, provide this advantage - a strong value system and a long-term economic perspective. The operative word above, however, is "can"; it is by no means a foregone conclusion that a family business will be more successful. Families must thoughtfully develop their advantages, while at the same time avoiding the pitfalls that are inherent in any family business.nnAccordingly, this course is offered for students whose families own a family business or who are interested in the special challenges faced by family businesses. International students are encouraged to register as different cultural perspectives to family business will enrich the experience for everyone. Particular focus will be given to the transitions from one generation to another and the lessons learned that can be applied during the entire life of the business.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 2
Instructors:
Francis, P. (PI)
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